Gamification for Learning Sustainability in the Blackboard System: Motivators and Obstacles from Faculty Members’ Perspectives

Abstract

Gamification is one of the basic components that enhance the sustainability of learning management systems (LMSs) in improving learning outcomes and motivating learners to face challenges and continue effectively in implementing educational tasks. Some of the LMSs do not have an integrated structure for gamification, but there are some simple tools that can be relied upon in managing gamification processes, and among these is the Blackboard system. Blackboard is witnessing a high level of use in the educational process within King Abdulaziz University, as it has been the main e-learning system at the university since the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the present study was an attempt to identify the motivators and obstacles of employing gamification through the Blackboard system from the faculty members’ point of view. The study relied on the interpretive paradigm, where a phenomenological approach was used to find out the motivators that encourage 12 faculty members at King Abdulaziz University to use gamification via Blackboard, and to identify the obstacles that might dissuade them. The results of the study were as follows: the main motivators included attracting attention, engaging in learning, motivation, and entertainment, while the main obstacles included time, digital skills, technical issues, lack of resources, contentment, and indifference. The results of this study suggest that while there are motivators for faculty members to employ gamification in electronic courses, there are still the same number of obstacles facing staff members in employing gamification in digital learning environments.

1. Introduction

One of the new technologies that has become popular in the educational field is gamification [1]. Gamifications means using game elements in non-game-like contexts to improve user experience and engagement [2]. It also refers to the use of game design elements or mechanisms in contexts different from the context of the game itself in order to promote desired behaviors [3]. Gamification elements aim to elicit the principles of digital games by knowing why and how they motivate the learner and applying them in the educational context. Digital game motivation includes three main elements—dynamic, mechanical, and components—and each component involves many different processes [4].

The importance of studying gamification within learning management systems is based on the ability of gamification to raise the cognitive growth rates of students, in addition to enhancing their abilities related to the completion of educational courses [5]. The use of gamification also contributes to increasing student productivity and raising morale [6]. Gamification can also be relied upon to launch adaptive stimuli that enhance cooperative learning processes in a more interactive way [7]. Moreover, gamification facilitates learning and improves students’ participation and interaction with educational content [8]. Despite the great boom provided by gamification tools in the performance of digital platforms for their educational role, the use of platforms and learning management systems based on gamification faces many challenges [4]. Digital platforms and their qualitative gamification-based tools have provided new opportunities in the teaching and learning processes. However, these opportunities are accompanied by many challenges for teaching staff in higher education institutions [9]. Therefore, the importance of studying gamification as a subject comes with many advantages, but these advantages collide with a large number of obstacles that prevent the benefit from gamification in the educational environment.

1.1. Motivators and Obstacles of Gamification in Previous Studies

A review of the previous literature indicates that there are many motivators and obstacles associated with employing gamification in learning environments, but the majority of these motivators and obstacles were for various contexts that are unrelated to the context of using gamification within the Blackboard system from the point of view of the faculty members involved in the recruitment process. In the context of studies that frame the motivators of gamification, the results of many studies have shown a great effectiveness of gamification, as the use of gamification leads to many advantages, including improving self-regulated learning [10] and its ability to enhance motivation [9].

Employing gamification also leads to high rates of engagement in educational tasks [10]. The use of gamification tools makes low-achieving students more active in carrying out educational tasks [11]. Moreover, the use of gamification in electronic courses makes the course more interesting, motivating, interactive, and efficient than traditional electronic courses [12]. Furthermore, gamification contributes to improving psychological happiness [13]. Additionally, the purpose of using gamification in e-learning is to enhance awareness by increasing students’ motivation to participate in and review classroom content [14]. It also gives students the freedom to try many times without fear of failure when learning [15]. It allows for a trial-and-error process, making errors recoverable [16]. It works to raise the level of engagement in learning [17] and provides immediate and frequent feedback [18]. Moreover, it provides educational scaffolding that facilitates supportive learning based on the needs of each individual student [17], as well as providing a visual presentation of the student’s progress in the learning process [18], encouraging motivation through competition [19].

In the context of obstacles, some teachers have criticized the use of gamification because the context of its use is associated with a lack of seriousness, while educational environments require more serious measures [20]. Moreover, faculty members are reluctant to employ gamification in academic courses due to the lack of awareness of the concept of gamification and its ability to improve understanding among students [21]. Furthermore, the lack of awareness of gamification tools and how to use them in educational situations is considered to be one of the most important obstacles to the use of gamification in the educational process [22]. The issue of time is one of the critical issues that is considered to be an obstacle in employing gamification in educational situations, as those in charge of employing gamification believe that more time is needed to prepare educational lessons based on gamification [23]. It can be said that some curricula are not flexible enough to encourage the use of gamification in the educational environment [24]. The study of Hakak, Noor, Ayub, Affal, Hussin, and Imran [25] also pointed seven obstacles to employing gamification in educational curricula: material costs, definition of gamification elements, scalability of gamification in other subjects, effectiveness of gamification, the impact of digitization on learners’ emotions, ease of use and selection of cloud services, and resource allocation and scheduling challenges. Likewise, the integration of gamification and its accompanying technologies—and their employment in learning environments—is one of the most prominent challenges facing faculty members in universities, due to the limited resources (human, financial, and time) and the lack of knowledge entrusted to them [26]. Moreover, the lack of resources related to gamification is considered to be one of the main obstacles to the use of gamification within e-learning environments [27]. Furthermore, higher education students’ acceptance of gamification procedures and activities is a concern for faculty members with regard to the educational climate [28]. Additionally, there are some doubts about the effects of negative gamification on students’ internal motivation rates, as linking learning events only to external stimuli may lead to the extinction of learners’ responses after a period of time [29,30]. On the other hand, self-efficacy, teaching experience, and technical support are among the challenges that teachers face when using technology and its specific tools in learning environments [31].

1.2. Statement of Problem and Rationale

In light of the previous results, the decision of implementing gamification in electronic courses constitutes a challenge for faculty members in higher education institutions, at a time when previous studies have acknowledged that the role of the faculty member in e-learning may represent one of the main reasons for the lack of a positive effect expected from gamification [32]. Moreover, studies largely ignore the important role played by the faculty member in gamification recruitment [21]. Although many of the results of experimental studies that are carried out on students may indicate great motivators for employing gamification in educational settings, ignoring the faculty members’ views towards employing gamification may affect decisions related to the generalization of the results of experimental studies. Thus, the objective of the present study is to gain better knowledge about the factors that act as drivers or as barriers for faculty members to use gamification in electronic courses through a learning management system. Among those widespread systems is the Blackboard system, which is one of the most popular systems used globally, and in universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in particular [33,34]. A better understanding of faculty members’ experiences and beliefs with respect to the use of gamification can help faculty members who are interested in its successful implementation within the Blackboard learning management system. The outputs of the present study may constitute an important guide for the concerned authorities in higher education institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with respect to the employment of gamification within the Blackboard system. The context of employing gamification within Blackboard has not been addressed by studies that have identified the motivators and obstacles to employing gamification from the point of view of those in charge of the recruitment process, and since Blackboard is the official learning management system in public universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is important to build a clear perception of the motivators and obstacles to employing gamification within this official system by faculty members, as they are among the main factors for the success of the gamification system. Accordingly, the present study uses a phenomenological approach to study the perceptions of faculty members at King Abdulaziz University in order to reach a deep and comprehensive understanding of the motivators and obstacles associated with employing gamification within Blackboard.

1.3. Research Questions and Objective

The present study aims to identify the main motivators that encourage faculty members to use gamification through electronic courses via Blackboard, as well as the main obstacles that prevent them from doing so. Therefore, the present study addresses research questions about faculty members’ beliefs about the main motivators and challenges that they face when using gamification in electronic courses by answering the following two main questions:

▪

How do faculty members describe the motivators that encourage them to employ gamification in electronic courses via Blackboard?

▪

How do faculty members describe the obstacles they face in employing gamification in electronic courses via Blackboard?

The answers to the above questions can contribute to supporting those responsible for e-learning in higher education institutions with evidence that includes the most important pivotal indicators of the motivators that enhance opportunities to benefit from gamification, as well as the obstacles that may affect the benefit from employing gamification in electronic courses provided through the Blackboard system from the point of view of members of the teaching staff, on whom a great deal of the success of the gamification system relies.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the conceptual framework of gamification. Section 3 includes the research methods. Section 4 presents the main findings regarding drivers and obstacles to employing gamification within Blackboard. In Section 5, we discuss the results. In Section 6, the limitations of the study are indicated. Finally, Section 7 summarizes the findings of the research, with recommendations for future work.

2. Conceptual Framework

The present study relies on the concept of gamification, which is defined as “the use of video game elements in contexts devoid of those elements in order to improve user experience and engagement” [2]. This definition makes clear the difference between playing and gaming: the concept of play expresses a free process that is not bound by certain procedures, while a game takes place according to an organized process and is directed to certain goals [2,4]. The most popular gamification elements are points, badges, leaderboards, and levels [35,36]. The importance behind applying game design elements to non-game contexts such as education lies in their ability to stimulate student engagement, flow, and participation, leading to increased motivation, participation, and performance in educational activities [36]. Gamification creates a sense of empowerment in the ways that students work to achieve tasks, making these tasks more attractive and leading to enhanced collaborative work, more effort, and the improvement of other positive values [37]. Moreover, Hanus and Fox [16] reported that, through motivation, students can learn in new ways and enjoy challenging tasks indirectly. The elements that make games fun, along with the nature of the game itself, are intrinsically motivating for students [38]; therefore, the application of game elements and mechanics in electronic courses leads to an increase in self-motivation for learning among students [16].

According to motivation theory, which posits that individuals are more involved in carrying out tasks when it stems from their intrinsic motivations that lead them to feel enjoyment of everything they do [39], the results of the study of Metwally, Chang, Wang, and Yousef [40] indicated that students are generally more likely to have intrinsic motivation when gamification activities and tasks are managed according to factors under their control, which enhances the use of gamification as a supporter of intrinsic motivation, without worrying about gamification as an extrinsic motivator.

Deterding [41] explored several approaches to gamification design and identified six key requirements for creating a gamification-based design, including practical and empirical findings. The first requirement is designing gamification by satisfying the learner’s needs based on self-determination theory, i.e., creating experiments that provide competence, independence, and connection. The second requirement is challenge-based design that actually engages the user’s activity, without adding excessive complexity. The third requirement is design by including fun, stimulation, and challenge in a systematic way that provides gamification as an integrated system. The fourth requirement is identifying the goals, needs, and challenges that the learner is going through in the activity. The fifth requirement is the learner’s participation in their goals, needs, and challenges through thinking about and evaluating ideas for designing digital game stimuli. Finally, the sixth design requirement is the use of digital game stimuli to activate knowledge in design.

When designing gamification, it is important to understand and involve the user in the design process. The goals of gamification must be clearly defined to guide and evaluate the success of the task. The work should be tested as soon as possible and subjected to continuous monitoring, with the aim of improving the design. Gamification must be viewed from a holistic perspective, including knowledge about theories, human motivation, and the design of digital game motivators, keeping key stakeholders in mind [42]. The gamification elements must also be compatible with the implementation context, and the modification and changes of the design of the gamification elements must be flexible and sympathetic to the evaluations generated during the design process, and the gamification elements must not become the goal in itself, but instead must be supportive of the goals that the user and the organization try to achieve [43]. It is important to integrate all design aspects related to the gamification system so that it can be a source of continuous motivation that leads to sustainable positive behavior by students [44].

3. Methodology

3.1. Approach

Based on the study problem and its questions, the present study used a phenomenological approach, which aims by its nature to understand the meaning of the phenomenon through the events and experiences of individuals, allowing researchers to understand how individuals construct the reality in which they live [45]. To answer the first question “What are the main motivators that encourage faculty members to use digital game stimuli in electronic courses via Blackboard?” and the second question “What are the difficulties faced by faculty members from using digital game stimuli in electronic courses via Blackboard?”, the present study used an online structured interview tool to collect data via the Zoom program. The study also used the snowball sampling technique to select the study participants.

3.2. Participants

The final sample of participants in the study included 12 faculty members at King Abdulaziz University, who had used gamification in electronic courses via Blackboard at least once. It is possible to reach saturation in the responses of the participants in the qualitative research through 12 interviews, although 6 interviews may be sufficient to provide a complete description of the aspects of the concepts included in the research [46]. Online structured interviews were conducted. The age of the participants in the study ranged from 32 to 49 years, so the average age of the participants was 38.91. The percentage of female participants was 33.33%, while the percentage of men was 66.66%. The average experience in employing digital game stimuli in electronic courses was 4 years. Most of the disciplines participating in the study were English language majors, with a rate of 25%, while the other majors were diverse, including educational technologies, special education, computer science, algebra, information management, microbiology, and analytical chemistry. The participants in the study were coded so that the male faculty members were given the code (a) with the numbers (1–8). As for the women, they were given the code (B) with numbers (1–4). Before conducting the study interviews, the gamification elements that were used by the participants were clarified, and they explained that the majority of the elements were based on points, badges, and leaderboards. The participants also indicated that the platforms and applications through which gamification elements were used most frequently were Edmodo, TalentLMS, and Kahoot. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Blackboard was the primary system, or providing 100% of the academic courses over a period of about 18 months; accordingly, the majority of the faculty members had good experience in using Blackboard.

Table 1. Information of the study participants.

The Years of Employing Gamification	E-Course	Major	Age	Gender
5 years	Readings in education technology	Education technologies	41	Male
4 years	Introduction to special education	Special education	37	Female
8 years	Computer skills	Computer science	49	Male
4 years	Training sessions	Algebra	47	Male
3 years	Introduction to education technology	Education technologies	40	Male
2 years	Knowledge management	Information management	35	Female
4 years	English language	English language	33	Male
4 years	Reading	English language	32	Male
2 years	General biology	Microbiology	37	Male
4 years	English language	English language	34	Male
5 years	General chemistry	Analytical chemistry	43	Female
3 years	Organizing information	Information management	39	Female

reviews the information of the study participants.

3.3. Procedures

An email was sent to faculty members affiliated with King Abdulaziz University. The e-mail included a request for faculty members who used gamification elements to participate in the present study. We asked faculty members to forward e-mails to fellow faculty members in the same college who employed gamification in their online courses, so that the largest possible number of interviewees could be recruited. An appointment was set for each faculty member who expressed their consent to participate in the study. The interviews were organized via Zoom so that only one member was interviewed per evening and at the appropriate time for a faculty member from 6 to 10 p.m. after the end of the official work period. The interviews were based on online structured interview questions. The average duration of the interviews with the faculty members was 20 min. The interviews were conducted in Arabic. All interviews were recorded and transcribed before being re-presented to the faculty members participating in the experiment to ensure their accuracy.

3.4. Data Analysis

After obtaining the participants’ responses, which were transcribed verbatim, the text coding was analyzed and grouped, then placed into subthemes and, finally, classified according to the main themes related to both motivations and obstacles. All analyses were carried out using the MAXQDA program, which allows coding and aggregation of data and the creation of subtopics through response files for each participant in the experiment. The data analysis regarding motivators showed that there were four main themes with 12 codes, while the results of the data analysis on obstacles showed that there were five main themes with 12 codes. The main themes of motivation in employing digital game stimuli in electronic courses included the following: (1) attracting attention, (2) engaging in learning, (3) motivation, and (4) entertainment. Meanwhile, the main topics of challenges in employing digital game stimuli in electronic courses included the following: (1) time, (2) digital skills, (3) technical problems, (4) lack of resources, and (5) contentment and indifference. Figure 1, shown below, reviews the main motivators and obstacles associated with employing gamification in electronic courses via Blackboard from the participants’ point of view, according to the objective analysis processes that were implemented.

3.5. The Study’s Ethical Issues

The present study complied with the scientific research ethics guide of King Abdulaziz University. The participants in the study signed a document that included the rights of the participants, which included voluntary participation, the ability to withdraw at any time during the study, preservation of the participants’ data and the confidentiality of the information that they provided in the interviews, and permissions to publish the qualitative data for the purposes of the present study.

4. Results

In this section, the results are presented in two parts: the first part describes the motivators that encourage faculty members to employ gamification in courses through Blackboard, while the second part focuses on the obstacles that hinder the employment of gamification within the Blackboard system.

4.1. How Do Faculty Members Describe the Motivators That Encourage Them to Employ Gamification in Electronic Courses via Blackboard?

Based on the responses of the participants, four main motivators emerged that encouraged faculty members to employ gamification in electronic courses through the Blackboard system: (1) attracting attention, (2) engaging in learning, (3) motivation, and (4) entertainment. The participants’ responses can be explained as follows:

4.1.1. Attracting Attention

The primary motive for employing gamification in electronic courses within the Blackboard environment by faculty members was to attract attention. The responses of the participants in this respect came with different experiences that support the use of gamification to attract attention through its ability to create excitement and banish boredom within e-learning environments. The elements of gamification, such as points and badges, contributed to attracting students’ attention to the learning environment and made the environment exciting in general, which means that these environments can be more attractive than the traditional learning environment that takes place in regular classrooms, face to face. One participant mentioned the following:

“Gaming creates excitement and distances itself from the traditional stereotypes, boredom, and monotony of normal educational situations, as gamification helps to make the educational environment attractive and exciting through competitions that are implemented through gamification systems that make the elements of the educational environment rich in stimuli”

(B1).

The gamification elements that are used, such as points and badges, can act as elements to draw students’ attention to important learning events. The elements of gamification act as attractive stimuli for students and encourage them to pay attention to important tasks through which points and badges that contribute to their promotion can be collected, as one of the participants mentioned:

“Students often need this type of stimulus to add and add a kind of attractiveness. Students find themselves drawn to carry out educational tasks that are linked to the stimuli because they will receive various rewards in the form of points and badges”

(M1).

In addition to the excitement and attraction caused by the use of gamification in the Blackboard system, one of the faculty members added that the use of gamification helps him break the ice—especially at the beginning of courses—and consolidates the relationship between the teacher and the student, which facilitates the delivery of the goals set for the educational situation. The elements of gamification make the relationship between the teacher and the student flexible, as the teacher gives students rewards, which makes the students attracted and willing to interact with educational situations.

“I always use gamification tools in learning systems to communicate and break the ice at the beginning of the meeting, and this helps me to continue greatly in implementing the educational goals. The rewards that are given to students make them more willing to communicate with me and initiate interaction”

(A2).

4.1.2. Engaging in Learning

Engaging in learning is one of the motivators for employing gamification in electronic courses. Perhaps the first of the subtopics in this respect is student engagement. The responses of the participants were that gamification helps in engaging students in the electronic course because of its ability to push learners towards active participation and integration in educational activities. The students’ involvement stems from their preoccupation with rewards that prove their effectiveness and efficiency within the Blackboard environment.

“The atmosphere is very positive because I keep all the students busy, and thus they are busy as if they were a beehive. At the same time, I prevent the student from being preoccupied with anything the second he gets distracted, and it does not distract his thinking or focus for me, especially in e-learning environments”

(A4).

The opinions of faculty members also indicated that the noticeable increase in student activity during the educational situation within the electronic course prompts them to employ gamification, reflecting the ability of gamification to make the students active in the electronic course. The activation of students enhances their involvement in educational situations, as gamification helps to create a state of permanent activity associated with the pursuit of collecting rewards related to education. One participant mentioned the following:

“The use of gamification helps to activate students during educational meetings and lessons, as the student’s activity makes him able to earn rewards that improve his position in the educational environment”

(A3).

Gamification contributes to stimulating positive communication between teacher and student. Gamification also helps maintain the pace of engagement in learning through the teacher’s keenness to use gamification in everything that keeps students engaged in learning tasks and activities. One participant mentioned the following:

“Gaming helps greatly in that there is constant communication between the lecturer and the student, and this communication often makes the students immersed in the educational process and focused on tasks in order to maintain their position”

(B2).

4.1.3. Motivation

Additionally, some added that the use of digital game stimuli is a motivation for the faculty member to use gamification as a motivational evaluation tool for the student, whether the evaluation is during or at the end of the virtual lecture. The employment of gamification in the learning environment is not limited to attracting the students’ attention and increasing their motivation, but rather extends to their evaluation through the use of gamification in the educational situation, which makes the evaluation as a whole a motivation and incentive for the student towards continuing the educational process. One participant mentioned the following:

“The most important characteristic of gamification is its use as a tool of evaluation, whether structural or formative evaluation within the lecture or final evaluation at the end of the lecture, and the use and evaluation using stimuli makes the evaluation process as a whole one of the basic elements of motivation to continue the learning process”

(A6).

Finally, in this respect, the feedback component came as one of the motivators that encourage faculty members to employ gamification. Feedback is important for the faculty member in determining the level of cognitive achievement of the student, and it is also important for the student in enhancing their learning. The points and badges that the student receives represent an important feedback tool that shows the student the results of what they have implemented and serves as an indicator of the accuracy of the tasks that have been implemented. One participant mentioned the following:

“The presence of digital stimuli helps to obtain feedback; it means in two directions, either for the student or for me as a professor, and the presence of gamification elements is considered the most important feedback tool that informs the student of his level of performance in the learning environment”

(A5).

4.1.4. Entertainment

Entertainment within the electronic course was mentioned in a share of the responses of the participants in the study. One of the responses was that the happiness and joy that gamification adds to the electronic courses is a motive for the faculty member to feel the happiness of the students enrolled in the electronic course. Gamification as a general case within the course creates a special kind of joy and happiness in the implementation of educational tasks. One of the participants mentioned the following:

“The frankness of the special motives in it is the joy I feel from the students, as the students in general feel that the learning environment is enjoyable and contains motivational elements that encourage happiness”

(B4).

Moreover, the faculty members described gamification as an indirect teaching method to deliver the set educational goals—especially in forming correct sentences in the English language course. Thus, gamification helps the faculty member to achieve the objectives of the educational situation without the student feeling that it is a compulsory task. One of the participants mentioned the following:

“Surely the student will have a bank of words according to each game and its correct formation of sentences, and the student will benefit indirectly while he does not know”

(A8).

In addition to the fact that it is fun to employ gamification in electronic courses and as an indirect learning method to deliver the desired educational goals, one of the faculty members pointed to the ability of the elements of gamification to deliver information quickly and easily in electronic courses. The student is more willing to receive information when it is linked to motivational rewards. One of the participants mentioned the following:

“If I want to communicate a specific piece of information quickly, I feel that gamification shortens the distance and helps me very much because it delivers the information faster to the student because the students are more ready to receive the new information”

(A7).

4.2. How Do Faculty Members Describe the Obstacles That They Face in Employing Gamification in Electronic Courses via Blackboard?

Based on the results of the interviews, five main challenges were revealed that prevent faculty members from employing digital game stimuli in electronic courses via Blackboard: (1) time, (2) digital skills, (3) technical problems, (4) lack of resources, and (5) conviction and indifference. These responses can be explained as follows:

4.2.1. Time

The main challenge in employing gamification in electronic courses is time. The responses of the participants in this respect included a variety of points of view and agreed that time is the main obstacle to employing gamification in electronic courses. The views indicated that the use of gamification requires additional time, especially since some elements of gamification must be managed manually because they are not fully available through Blackboard—such as badges, whereas Blackboard is limited to points and leaderboards only. One participant mentioned the following:

“I think that it consumes a lot of time, which means it leads to an opposite result. Instead of what he used for his good performance in managing the class and presenting the lesson, it could have a negative impact, especially since some gamification elements are managed manually through the Blackboard system”

(A5).

Another point of view was that the faculty member has limited time due to the intensity of the contents included in some courses during the university semester. This is in addition to the administrative work at the university, which prevents the faculty from preparing lessons using gamification. One participant mentioned the following:

“Our curricula are very long and we are obliged to teach the entire course, and therefore I do not find the time to prepare lessons according to the incentives of digital games. We also have many administrative burdens that affect the amount of time available to employ gamification within electronic courses”

(A2).

Finally, the responses of some faculty members were about designing lessons according to the stimuli of digital games. Some of them mentioned that preparing lessons stresses them, leading them to avoid designing lessons using gamification in the Blackboard environment. One of the participants mentioned the following:

“Preparing competitions and motives is very tiring and takes time, as linking each educational task to gamification elements according to timetables consumes a lot of time”

(A6).

4.2.2. Digital Skills

In this regard, when faculty members were asked about the main obstacles to employing gamification in electronic courses through the Blackboard system, the answers stressed the weakness of digital skills among some students. Some students lack sufficient numerical skills to handle gamification elements. The elements of gamification require a lot of activities across the Blackboard system, and these activities require dealing with a variety of tools that students may find difficult to deal with. One participant mentioned the following:

“Lack of experience among students. Everyone does not have the ability and skill to use technology during the educational process, and the more gamification processes increase, the more tools that students may not be technically familiar with”

(A4).

Meanwhile, some argued that refraining from using gamification in electronic courses may be due to the absence of a digital culture among some students. These faculty members mentioned that students who do not have a digital culture will not perceive the importance of employing gamification in the electronic course and, therefore, may refrain or withhold from participating in the educational process. One participant mentioned the following:

“The other challenge is the absence of digital culture among some students. Some students do not have a culture of gamification in general. The culture of gamification improves students’ ability to participate in gamification-based courses”

(B4).

4.2.3. Technical Issues

Another challenge in employing gamification in electronic courses is the technical problems. The responses of the participants in this respect dealt with aspects of the problems facing their students in electronic courses, which reflect negatively on the employment of gamification. Where gamification is a component of electronic courses, the existence of a problem facing the course greatly affects the system, including the tools it contains for gamification.

Among these technical challenges are those related to communication and the Internet. As one of the faculty members stated, problems related to the Internet service negatively affect the completion of the goal of employing gamification in the electronic course, making it difficult to communicate with students in the electronic learning environment and give them the required rewards due to the lack of digital communication. One participant mentioned the following:

“Technical challenge, and I mean problems with communication and access to the Internet that affect access to the course in general and also affect the granting of rewards and incentives within the gamification system”

(A1).

Among the challenges that must be taken into account are the specifications of the devices for faculty members and students, as some of them are not qualified to deal with the Blackboard system, which needs devices with fast specifications. This means that students’ devices and their digital equipment may represent one of the main obstacles facing the use of gamification within the electronic course environment. One participant mentioned the following:

“In technical matters, for example, there is a problem with the laptop or the learning management system for the lecture, and problems with hardware and software can be considered one of the obstacles to not employing gamification within electronic courses”

(A7).

The responses of faculty members also concerned some technical problems related to accessing the Blackboard system. Access to the Blackboard system is linked to entering the system through the university’s electronic portal. Sometimes the access from the portal has multiple problems that may affect the use of gamification in general in the Blackboard system. One participant indicated the following:

“Sometimes problems occur that affect direct access to the Blackboard system through the main electronic portal of the university, which affects the use of the system, and the gamification tools it contains”

(B1).

4.2.4. Lack of Resources

Lack of resources is another challenge facing faculty members in employing gamification in electronic courses. One of the responses described the weakness of financial resources and their role in reducing the chances of benefiting from the possibilities of employing gamification in electronic courses. Some faculty members pointed out that some gamification-based websites that can be linked with Blackboard require payment to use them. Moreover, the students’ lack of possession of personal electronic devices is one of the potential challenges facing faculty members in employing gamification.

“The sites available for electronic games, which have high capabilities, are often with monthly subscriptions. They give you a short period of time and it is free, and then it is applied with monthly subscriptions, and this is considered an obstacle for us in our work”

(B3).

“The student must have smart devices of any kind, a mobile tablet, and some students have someone to share the device with”

(A8).

4.2.5. Contentment and Indifference

In this context, the responses of faculty members varied, as some faculty members expressed that lack of conviction by students with respect to the importance of employing gamification in the educational situation may cause them to behave in undesirable ways, and that many students may feel that they are playing and not learning. Furthermore, lack of conviction is not only related to students, as some faculty members may also not find sufficient justification for the use of gamification.

“There are some students who you may feel that they are missing or that they do not have a need, and this is the most possible thing that hinders the subject. Some students feel that we are playing games in the lecture, and many times I think that gamification is not useful to students and will not be a magic wand to improve students’ understanding”

(A3).

Moreover, some faculty members added that one of the challenges preventing the use of gamification is the students’ lack of conviction in gamification-based activities. When the student is not convinced that gamification is nothing but an educational method through which learning takes place, they tend to leave the electronic course and, thus, not participate in educational activities.

“Also, some students leave because they are not convinced that this type of gamification-based activity is included in educational situations, which makes them indifferent to any activities that are presented in this context”

(B2).

5. Discussion

The most prominent findings of the present study were based on the existence of a group of motivators that may encourage faculty members to employ gamification within Blackboard. The most prominent of these motivators were the ability of gamification to attract students’ attention, encouraging students to engage in learning, and creating motivation among students. This is in addition to helping to make the learning environment an entertainment-based environment that stimulates happiness. The results of the present study also showed that there are several obstacles that may affect the employment of gamification within the Blackboard system. The time required is one of the main obstacles revealed by the results regarding the use of gamification within Blackboard. Moreover, the digital skills that must be available to students represent a major challenge in terms of employing gamification in Blackboard. In addition, the presence of some technical problems related to networks, etc., may represent an obstacle to benefiting from the Blackboard and its gamification tools. Likewise, the weakness and lack of resources that can be used to support the employment of gamification within Blackboard is considered to be one of the most challenging obstacles in this context. The results also showed that some students may have convictions about the insignificance of academic contents that are linked to elements of gamification. These results are discussed in the following two sections, taking into account the status of the present study with respect to the findings of previous studies.

5.1. Motivators for Employing Gamification in Electronic Courses via Blackboard

5.1.1. Attracting Attention

The results showed that the elements of gamification can be relied upon as indicators to attract students’ attention, and that gamification and its various elements can be relied upon to remove stereotypes and monotony in regular lessons. It can be said that the results of the present study are consistent with the findings of Freitas and his colleagues [47], which showed that gamification is a powerful tool to attract students’ attention as it stimulates their interest in learning tasks and their contents, while also being able to attract attention for a long period of time. Therefore, the use of gamification within the courses that are offered through Blackboard can be relied upon as a decisive factor in attracting the attention of learners and increasing their focus on learning topics for the longest possible period of time. From another perspective, Putra and his research team [48] believe that the role of gamification in attracting attention presents the possibility of using it primarily for treating students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), due to its ability to provide students with multiple practices that make them perform tasks based on thinking and determination, which may contribute to solving their attention deficit problems.

5.1.2. Engaging in Learning

The results of this study showed that gamification encourages students to engage in learning, while stimulating them to actively participate in educational situations. Moreover, gamification maintains the continuity of student activity by providing a set of rewards that set the student on a continuous journey in order to reap these rewards. Gamification also stimulates interactive communication processes between students and teachers. There is no doubt that all of these factors created by gamification help to enhance students’ abilities associated with engaging in learning. Gamification has a clear role in promoting engagement in learning, as it puts students in a state of constant activity and motivation that pushes them towards practicing all of their tasks independently, while controlling the educational environment [10]. In addition, it creates an urgent desire among students to overcome the educational challenges that they face [49,50]. It helps them improve their skills and personal growth related to learning topics [14]. This generally enhances the levels of engagement in learning among students and, thus, enhances the chances of success in employing gamification in the Blackboard system.

5.1.3. Motivation

Motivation is one of the main factors that encourage faculty members to use gamification in the Blackboard system. Gamification greatly affects students’ motivation and makes it as high as possible by providing various opportunities to obtain rewards whenever the student succeeds in implementing learning tasks [9]. Gamification, through the rewards that it offers, can be relied upon to compensate for the difference between the real level of the student and the level that they want to reach, helping to create a state of positive motivation towards continuing the learning process [51]. Gamification increases the factors that make any activity enjoyable and motivating, including autonomy, competence, and relatedness [52]. Gamification stimulates independence by giving the student a sense of will and freedom in carrying out tasks. It also stimulates efficiency by giving the learner a sense of effectiveness in completing tasks and influencing the environment in which the learner is present. Finally, it facilitates the connections made through students’ social relationships with their peers, along with the sense of belonging to the group that they develops in the learning environment and in the performance of their tasks [53,54,55,56,57,58]. The results of many studies have shown the effectiveness of gamification in developing motivation to achieve as one of the basic learning outcomes [32,59]. This result is consistent with the findings of some semi-experimental studies that aimed to enhance motivation using gamification, as the results indicated that there is a direct effect of gamification on students’ motivation [60]. The success of gamification in enhancing motivation will lead to positive repercussions that contribute to achieving the fourth goal of the proposed Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, i.e., “improving the quality of education” [61]. In a related context, the recommendation to use gamification to improve the quality of education and enhance its sustainability comes based on the consensus of both faculty members and students that gamification helps in improving the motives that lead towards the sustainability and efficiency of learning, making it necessary to pay attention to employing gamification in the educational system [62]. This reinforces the results of the present study, which consider motivation as one of the main drivers for employing gamification within the Blackboard system.

5.1.4. Entertainment

Entertainment represents the fourth motivator among the group of motivators that the participants saw the most important in motivating the employment of gamification within the Blackboard system. The participants assumed that the pleasure that they feel in the learning environment has changed the traditional teaching methods and helped to communicate information to students in an easy and smooth manner. In this regard, the study of Hanus and Fox [16] stated that although educational environments based on gamification present arduous tasks and require more procedures, the student finds pleasure in completing these tasks due to the ability of gamification to use stimuli, promoting happiness and enjoyment of the learning process. The responses were also consistent with the results of Gachkova, Somova, and Gaftandzhieva [12]—which stated that joining electronic courses that use gamification is more enjoyable for students than traditional courses—and the study of Alhalafawy and Zaki [13], which indicated the effectiveness of gamification in developing psychological happiness among higher education students, as gamification gives students increased autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relationships with others, purpose life, and self-acceptance, all of which are motivating elements for happiness and enjoyment of the learning environment.

5.2. Obstacles to Employing Gamification in Electronic Courses via Blackboard

5.2.1. Time

Time is considered to be one of the first obstacles according to the results of the present study, where the challenge is that gamification requires a lot of time to implement as a general strategy within educational situations. The results also showed that faculty members have limited time to prepare educational situations related to gamification. Gamification as a strategy and tool requires preparation for its use in educational situations, which requires more time than usual when using conventional methods. Therefore, time is considered to be one of the most important factors affecting faculty decisions related to the use of gamification in educational settings [26], as despite the benefits that gamification provides, the prolonged time required for the faculty members to design gamification scenarios may limit their orientation towards employing it [63]. Gamification in general, despite its importance to the educational process, is a daunting task for educators, as it demands a great deal of time from teachers in the design processes and in checking the suitability of the procedures for the set educational goals [22]. On the other hand, any system based on gamification must have specific learning processes within it and a time limit that cannot be exceeded, which may lead to confusion for some users as a result of their feeling of limited time to complete the required tasks, which can be considered to be one of the main obstacles facing the use of gamification by faculty members [64].

5.2.2. Digital Skills

The results showed that the use of gamification within the Blackboard system requires digital practices from students, but some students may not have sufficient skills that qualify them to use gamification tools within electronic courses. In addition, the digital culture associated with the functional use of gamification tools within the Blackboard system may not be available, which affects decisions to employ gamification within Blackboard. In this context, the awareness of students related to their level of culture towards gamification and its use in the educational process is not high most of the time; rather, in many cases the level of awareness is medium, which affects the employment of gamification in education in general [65]. According to the technology acceptance model (TAM), it can be said that there is a relationship between the levels of digital skills and the level of acceptance of gamification as an emerging technology, and that the higher the level of technical skills, the higher the level of acceptance of gamification—and conversely, the lower the digital skills of students, the more this is an obstacle to their acceptance of gamification [66]. The use of gamification as a technology requires a variety of interrelated digital skills, and the lack of these skills may affect the expected results from the use of gamification [67]. This can be attributed to the fact that the skills required to use gamification are multiple and varied, as they are a mixture of behaviors, experience, knowledge, work habits, personal traits, tendencies, and critical understandings, meaning that the minimum availability of these skills must be taken into account to ensure the success of gamification [66].

5.2.3. Technical Issues

Employing gamification within the Blackboard system makes it part of the system as a whole. There is no doubt that the use of the Blackboard system and its components is greatly affected by many technical problems, such as poor Internet connection, lack of network connection, or problems related to access from the main electronic portal of the university, which affect the use of gamification as a basic component of the Blackboard system. In a direct question about what could prevent teachers from using gamification in the educational process, the study of Brooks et al. (Brooks et al., 2019) answered that this is due to many reasons, but the most influential of these reasons were the technical obstacles that prevent the benefits from gamification. Therefore, the success of employing gamification is linked to the need to work on providing contexts that guarantee usability without any obstacles associated with the drawbacks of digital infrastructure. According to Zainuddin, Chu, Shujahat, and Perera [68], technical problems are considered to be among the most important obstacles to employing gamification. Problems such as computers not working, power outages, or instability of Internet service cannot be considered as simple problems, but rather as basic obstacles preventing courses from taking advantage of gamification. The future success in integrating gamification into the educational structure will be linked to the necessity of integrating the educational and technical aspects in creating a supportive climate for the use of gamification in the educational process by defining the educational foundations, along with the existence of a valid technical infrastructure for all digital practices of gamification [69]. The success of gamification depends on framing the technical problems that may impede the benefits of gamification, and then working on developing solutions that ensure the provision of an appropriate technical environment for its implementation [70].

5.2.4. Lack of Resources

The lack of resources (whether financial or material) emerged in the present study as one of the challenges that prevent the employment of gamification by faculty members, and there is no doubt that the application of any new technology must be based on financial and technical support. In general, the lack of resources is one of the main factors preventing teachers from applying technological innovations in education, and the application of any new ideas must be linked to an appropriate structure of resources [71]. Building a new culture of higher education that moves students from traditional education to networked education based on innovations and modern trends is linked to the necessity of having financial, material, and information resources that enhance the building of this culture [72], and it can be said that the success of gamification as a new culture is linked to the presence of all resources that promote this culture. The use of gamification may require expensive hardware and software, as well as financial support and intensive training courses, all of which are factors that constitute a lack of tools and financial support that affect gamification and are considered to be among the greatest obstacles to benefiting from it [73]. Furthermore, the lack of resources and informational materials on how to use gamification in education may be one of the main obstacles preventing the optimization of gamification [74].

5.2.5. Contentment and Indifference

The results showed that some students believe that the educational situation based on gamification is not serious, and that educational situations based on gamification are just games and not an educational environment. Moreover, some faculty members are not convinced of the feasibility of employing gamification within Blackboard. Gamification requires a lot of effort from students and causes stress through the competition on which it is based, causing some students to be unconvinced of gamification or the benefits that can be obtained through it [75]. The use of gamification may cause conflicts among students based on the nature of the challenges that arise from gamification competitions to obtain a high status within the educational environment [27]. Faculty members may also be reluctant to adopt gamification elements in their teaching plans because they are not convinced of the concept itself and its capabilities in improving student understanding [21]. Faculty members may not believe in employing gamification due to their conviction that students understand gamification as “playing, not teaching”; therefore, faculty members must design educational activities based on gamification carefully, so that students can realize the value of learning in the structure of gamification-based activities [73]. The lack of understanding related to the importance of gamification and how to use it in education may cause a state of dissatisfaction with the use of gamification in educational environments [74], and it may be difficult to prepare educational lessons based on gamification as long as the students are not convinced or interested [73].

6. Limitations

There were 12 participants in this study. It was difficult to obtain a larger number. E-mails were sent to a large number of faculty members, inviting them to participate in the study, but the number of respondents was small. The snowball system was relied upon to obtain additional faculty nominations. We recommend addressing this phenomenon with a larger number of participants in order to achieve a deeper and greater understanding of the phenomenon of employing gamification in the Blackboard system. The specializations of the participants were limited to only eight disciplines. Therefore, we recommend expanding the study of employing gamification in the Blackboard system through extensive studies related to specific specializations. The Blackboard system is the official and only learning management system at the university, so it was relied upon as a basic environment for employing gamification in electronic courses. With the differences in the components of learning management systems from one system to another, it will be possible to conduct the same study but on other learning systems.

7. Conclusions

The main objective of the present study was to determine the motivators and obstacles associated with employing gamification in electronic courses via Blackboard by faculty members in higher education. The results showed that the motivators centered around attracting attention, engaging in learning, motivation, and entertainment, while the main obstacles included time, digital skills, technical issues, lack of resources, contentment, and indifference. Finally, the faculty members face a challenge in the lack of conviction of some students and of the faculty members themselves with respect to the importance of employing gamification in the structure of the educational system. The foregoing explanation of the motivators and challenges facing teachers in employing gamification in electronic courses can help faculty members who are interested in the successful implementation of gamification in electronic courses. It also provides decision-makers in educational institutions with the challenges facing their employees, helping to address and avoid them and facilitating ways to overcome them to ensure optimal employment of gamification incentives in electronic courses. This study recommends conducting studies on the motivators and challenges of employing gamification in electronic courses in different digital educational environments. Furthermore, the perceptions of the real beneficiaries of gamification (i.e., the students) should be examined in order to identify the motivators that encourage them to learn from gamification-based courses and the challenges that prevent them from benefiting from them.