Digital Game-Based Learning and Gamified Learning: What’s Next?

Dear Colleagues,

Digital games (hereinafter referred to as “games”) are regarded as an effective tool for promoting students’ learning motivation and engagement, which can lead to better learning achievements (Jong et al., 2008; Shaffer, 2007). The pedagogic strategy of harnessing games in education is commonly termed game-based learning (Gee, 2013; Jong et al., 2013). Instead of the direct adoption of games in the learning process, an alternative way to harness the idea of “educational gaming” is gamified learning. It refers to the pedagogic infusion of game mechanics into the course of learning for motivating and engaging students to achieve intended educational goals (Jong et al., 2018; Kapp, 20012). While both game-based learning and gamified learning are not new research areas in the realm of educational technology, more scholarly efforts are needed to address the problems and limitations regarding their adoption, deployment and sustainability in various educational settings, as highlighted by recent studies (e.g., Jong, 2015, 2016, 2019). Moreover, the field needs new theoretical and practical insights into how to design, implement and evaluate both game-based learning and gamified learning that ride on the recent advancement of technologies such as mixed reality (MR), extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI), etc. (e.g., Bower et al., 2020; Jong et al., 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021; Lan et al., 2018; Lin et al., 2021). This Special Issue solicits high-quality papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics of interest:

• New pedagogical and/or technological perspectives of harnessing game-based learning/gamified learning in early childhood education, K-12 education, and higher education;
• Leveraging advanced learning technologies in educational gamification;
• MR-/ XR-supported game-based learning;
• AI in educational game design;
• Learning analytics in game-based learning/gamified learning;
• Flipped game-based learning/gamified learning;
• Teachers’ facilitation roles in game-based learning/gamified learning;
• Challenges/strategies for introducing game-based learning/gamification in formal schooling contexts;
• Game-based learning/gamified learning in STEM/STEAM education;
• Game-based learning/gamified learning in special education.

References:

Bower, M., & Jong, M. S. Y. (2020). Immersive virtual reality in education. British Journal of Education Technology, 51(6), 1981–1990.

Gee, J. P. (2013). Creating smarter students through digital learning. Palgrave.

Jong, M. S. Y. (2015). Does online game-based learning work in formal education at school? The Curriculum Journal, 26(2), 249–267.

Jong, M. S. Y. (2016). Teachers’ concerns about adopting constructivist online game-based learning in formal curriculum teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(4), 601–617.

Jong, M. S. Y. (2019). Sustaining the adoption of gamified outdoor social enquiry learning in high schools through addressing teachers’ emerging concerns: A three-year study. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(3), 1275–1293.

Jong, M. S. Y., Chan, T., Hue, M. T., & Tam, V. (2018). Gamifying and mobilising social enquiry‐based learning in authentic outdoor environments. Educational Technology & Society, 21(4), 277–292.

Jong, M. S. Y., Chan, T., Tam, V., & Jiang, M. Y. C. (2021). Design-based research on gamified outdoor social enquiry learning with context-aware technology: Integration of teacher facilitation for advancing the pedagogical effectiveness. International Journal of Mobile Learning & Organisation, 15(1), 107–126.

Jong, M. S. Y., Chen, G. W., Tam, V., & Chai, C. S. (2019). Adoption of flipped learning in social humanities education: The FIBER experience in secondary schools. Interactive Learning Environments, 27(8), 1222–1238.

Jong, M. S. Y., Dong, A. M., & Luk, E. T. H. (2017). Design-based research on teacher facilitation practices for serious gaming in formal schooling. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 12(19), 1–16.

Jong, M. S. Y., Lee, J. H. M., & Shang, J. J. (2013). Educational use of computer game: Where we are and what's next? In R. Huang, Kinshuk, & J. M. Spector, (Eds.), Reshaping learning: Frontiers of learning technology in a global context (pp. 299–320). Springer.

Jong, M. S. Y., Shang, J. J., Lee, F. L., & Lee, J. H. M. (2008). Harnessing games in education. Journal of Distance Education Technologies, 6(1), 1–9.

Jong, M. S. Y., Tsai, C. C., Xie, H., & Wong, F. K. K. (2020). Integrating interactive learner-immersed video-based virtual reality into learning and teaching of physical geography. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(6), 2063–2078.

Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction. Pfeiffer

Lan, Y. J., Botha, A., Shang, J. J., & Jong, M. S. Y. (2018). Technology-enhanced contextual game-based language learning. Educational Technology & Society, 21(3), 86–89.

Lin, P. Y., Chai, C. S., Jong, M. S. Y., Dai, Y., Guo, Y., & Qin, J. (2021). Modeling the structural relationship among primary students’ motivation to learn artificial intelligence. Computers & Education: Artificial Intelligence, 2, 100006.

Shaffer, D. W. (2007). How computer games help children to learn. Palgrave Macmillan.

Prof. Dr. Morris JONG Siu-yung
Prof. Dr. Hanna Elina Wirman
Guest Editors

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• gamified learning
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