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Chapter 12
Gamification Techniques
Capitalizing on State-of-
the-Art Technologies
Ilias Logothetis Orestis Charalampakos
Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece

Anastasios Kristofer Barianos Iraklis Katsaris

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6709-9250 Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece
Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece
Michail Kalogiannakis
Alexandros Papadakis https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9124-2245
Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece University of Crete in Greece, Greece

Eirini Christinaki Nikolas Vidakis

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5785-1509 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0726-8627
KU Leuven, Belgium Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece

ABSTRACT
Teachers incorporate gamification techniques and game-based learning (GBL) into the learning mate-
rial rapidly. Technological advancements on the world wide web have essentially assisted GBL as it has
allowed the creation of many educational platforms and applications. Despite these web applications’
advancements, technology has more to offer than a just website, moving into virtual worlds, enhancing
the real world with digital content and artefacts, using users’ geolocation to navigate them into learn-
ing material around their physical world, and gathering, processing, and analysing information about
the users with the purpose to better adjust the information provided to them. The collaboration between
gamification techniques and modern technologies are explored to showcase the possibilities this merger
can give. Applications using state-of-the-art technologies and gamification techniques tend to increase
engagement and motivation of students, increase their soft skills, and develop a positive perspective
towards learning and education.

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-4461-0.ch012

Copyright © 2022, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Gamification Techniques Capitalizing on State-of-the-Art Technologies

INTRODUCTION

Students are quickly bored with the traditional learning methods, and most of them do not appreciate paper
books and long text studying. Students seek interactive and fast-paced content to intrigue their attention
and boost their interest. Therefore, Gamification techniques are essential to spark the students’ interest
and keep them motivated and engaged with the learning material. The goal of gamification in education
is to use the motivational power of video games in the classroom (Ahmad, Migniot, and Dipanda, 2019).
Teachers achieve motivation by changing students’ gaming involvement into an instructional context that
intends to influence students’ behaviour and encourage the completion of learning objectives (Vidakis
et al., 2014). Goals related to knowledge acquisition and the old teaching model are being transferred
to a new method outlined in previous decades by the educational community. The use of knowledge
and the construction of a pleasant classroom environment for enhanced creativity are two of the main
goals of this innovative method (Mahayuddin and Saif 2020). Students may stimulate curiosity through
discussion, investigation, and experimentation, making learning more enjoyable.
Traditional teaching methods do not make substantial use of new technologies, causing students to
lose interest in school. While students are accustomed to working and being engaged in environments
with a wide range of stimuli in their daily lives, the traditional school remains a place with limited options
(Mahayuddin and Saif 2020). A transition to a new model is required to make learning more creative
and engaging by incorporating new visual learning modes (Huang, Chen, and Chou, 2016). Students can
increase their thinking and concentration (Schechter et al., 2015) around a topic by playing, a fun and
engaging way to achieve particular learning goals (Téllez Alarcia & Iturriaga Barco, 2014). Students’
engagement aids them in achieving a range of goals outside of learning, such as improved awareness
and a deeper understanding of the subject (Chu and Hung 2015).
As a result of technological advancements in software and hardware and particularly significant
advances in the performance of smart devices, our daily lives have been adapted to the utilization of
such devices (Papadakis, 2021). One of the many areas where these technological breakthroughs are
gradually becoming apparent is education (Kapaniaris & Zampetoglou, 2021). Virtual worlds that offer
immersive experiences, Augmented Reality (AR) applications that superimpose virtual content into the
physical world and general applications utilizing touchscreens, cameras, or head-mounted devices are
expected to diversify instruction in the coming years (Radu, 2014).
AR technology is compatible with and may be used in conjunction with gamification, and Game-
Based Learning (GBL) approaches to improve educational processes. It can also help learners with their
studies’ cognitive and motivational aspects. In this book chapter, the authors aim to show how gamifica-
tion techniques and GBL approaches can be combined with modern Information and Communications
Technologies (ICT) to provide an enhanced learning experience that is best suited to the needs and
requirements of students. The expectations are that combining the two will increase learners’ interest
and motivation in the subjects they are studying.

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BACKGROUND

Gamification

Gamification can be defined as the attempt to incorporate game elements and principles into a non-
game context, thus offering game-like experiences to intensify user engagement (Deterding et al., 2011).
Gamification is based on the instincts and desires of the user, and such instincts include competition,
mastery, a sense of victory and more. Common strategies for gamification include rewarding systems
to make the user feel a sense of progression, completion, and competition to lure them into engagement
with learning. Common game design elements widely used and adopted are awarding points and badges,
providing performance information through leaderboards and graphs, and giving depth into the content
through meaningful stories, avatars, and teammates to engage users in collaboration. The following
paragraphs describe the most frequently used gamification techniques to understand better where and
how it is appropriate to use each one.

Points

Points are elements rewarded to a user upon completing a task and are commonly employed to measure
progress or performance (Brewer et al., 2013). Studies (Alomari, Al-Samarraie, and Yousef, 2019)
indicate that point-based systems can motivate students as they crave the rewards from engagement in
learning activities. Points make students feel challenged (Davis et al., 2018; Diniz et al., 2017; Wang &
Lieberoth, 2016) as they represent their progress. Points can be of many forms depending on the reason
they are invoked. As the points acquisition can be an essential element of students’ participation in
learning activities, this promotes student-centred learning (Hew et al., 2016).

Badges

Badges are a rewarding system awarded to individuals to represent achievements earned from a gamified
activity (Seaborn and Fels 2015). Like point-based systems, badges also aid motivation and performance
advancement (Suh, Wagner, and Liu, 2018). Social interaction between learners is another aspect in
which the badges help strengthen (Ding, Er, and Orey 2018). They indicate the possession of achieve-
ment and allow individuals to become members of badge owners. Furthermore, badges can influence
one’s decisions as the selection of challenges and pathways can be made based on the rewarding badge
(Wang and Sun 2011).

Leaderboards

Leaderboards are used to rank users among others based on specific criteria, measuring the success rate
within a learning activity. It is a competitive process that aims to increase motivation (Seaborn and Fels
2015) and performance as they try to place themselves in the higher ranks on the leaderboard. While
leaderboards can have positive effects, it is crucial to note that for a learner, ranking among the lower
positions on the leaderboard can have the opposite effects (Werbach and Hunter 2015). Engagement in
learning activities is also increased through leaderboards (Burguillo, 2010) as learners can feel pressure
to increase their scores and ascend the ranking ladder of the leaderboard.

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Performance Graphs

Performance graphs measure users’ performance, but in contrast to leaderboards, it is measured not
against other users but based on their performance during the game (Sailer et al., 2017). This can serve
as an evaluation metric for the users over time and allow them to improve. Sailer et al. (2017) report that
this technique drives users to master a task based on their criteria based on motivation theory.

Levels

Levels serve as a ranking or measure system for an individual’s advancement through certain stages,
based on activities and challenges to move onto the next stage. It is commonly accepted that lower
levels represent low difficulty, while higher levels demand more time and effort to complete (Nah et
al., 2014). This technique can increase motivation as learners can focus on the task at hand and pursue
the solution in contemplation of completing the level (Butler & Bodnar, 2017; Diniz et al., 2017; Kim,
Rothrock, and Freivalds, 2016; Mekler et al., 2017). Levels assist in setting goals leading to a smooth
performance improvement.

Meaningful Stories

This technique attempts to bring meaning into otherwise simple tasks and questions to complete a goal.
Adding a story to an activity can be as simple as forging a compelling title or even building a complete
storyline as those found in role-playing games (Kapp, 2012). Meaningful stories can increase the moti-
vation and interest of users as a compelling story can intrigue one’s interest.

Progress Bar

Progress bars, like most gamification techniques, have been used mainly to increase the motivation and
engagement of learners in an activity as they can track their progression. Another use of progress bars
is to measure the contribution of each member within a group activity and better visualize their overall
involvement (Ding et al., 2018; Roosta, Taghiyareh, and Mosharraf, 2016).

Avatars

Avatars usually represent the users inside the gamified environment (Werbach and Hunter 2015), created
or selected by them. They can be from simple images to 3D models, and their goal is to serve as an alter-
native identity within the gamified environment with that the user will interact through it(Annetta, 2010).

Teammates

This technique mainly seeks to bolster cooperation within a group, addressing users into teams with the
requirement to work together to achieve a common goal. (Werbach and Hunter 2015).

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Game-Based Learning

In contrast to gamification, game-based learning employs a game as a means of instruction, allowing

users to learn by playing. In game-based learning, the player is assigned tasks to complete, and the points
or levels are just an extra element of the game, and they do not act as the primary motivational engine
for the user (Poultsakis, Papadakis, Kalogiannakis & Psycharis, 2021). Through game-based learning,
learners can develop soft skills such as leadership, team and time management, as they are called to solve
problems to advance through the game (Sousa and Rocha 2017; Katsaris & Vidakis, 2021). Game-based
learning promotes enjoyable conditions that lead learners to be more creative (Mahayuddin and Saif
2020). There are three perspectives on game-based learning theory (Sousa and Rocha 2017). The first
perspective identifies the learning as a result of playing a game. In this approach, learning is perceived
through game technologies (Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2003). The second perspective considers pedagogical
theories and game technologies and believes that the learning is achieved not only through the game but
also through complementary activities completed along with the game (Barianos, Papadakis & Vidakis,
2022). The third perspective utilizes game mechanics and gamifies the learning process, focussing on
innovating the learning experience through game design ideas (Kapp, 2012).

Criticism

Although gamification offers many positive aspects to learning, some reports support the opinion that
gamification can also produce adverse effects (Lazarinis, Boididis, Kozanidis & Kanellopoulos, 2022).
These negative effects can be due to some users’ unfamiliarity with the gamified content (Ding et al., 2018).
Furthermore, it can be unmotivating as users get frustrated or lose confidence when their performance
is lower than desired (Vidakis et al., 2019). Additionally, studies on gamification in online training and
GBL suggest that users can develop negative feelings, poor relationships, and anxiety while collecting
points and rewards rather than focusing on the learning content itself (Alabbasi, 2018). Another study
in GBL shows that the students can ignore the learning material to win the game (Guribye, Wake, and
Wasson 2014). Nadolny et al. (2017) study the effects of game mechanics in academic grades to present
which mechanics are more effective in each grade and which are not (Nadolny et al., 2017).

STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGIES AND FRAMEWORKS

Technology can act as a medium to deliver educational content to learners in an intriguing and more
personalized way. Technology has been rapidly evolving in recent years, and youngsters are more com-
fortable using it. Advancements in communication, collaboration, sharing content, and more are some
contributions that technology has offered (Saleem, Noori, and Ozdamli 2022). Education has also started
adapting to a technological approach to take advantage of these new capabilities, gamification elements,
and gaming concepts (Bouchrika et al., 2021). This section presents state-of-the-art technologies com-
bined with gamification techniques to achieve an elevated learning experience.

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Extended Reality in Education

Extended reality is an umbrella term that holds technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual
Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and, more broadly, any combination of real-virtual environments.
Such technologies allow users to completely immerse themselves in a virtual world and interact with the
artificially created environment. This can be a great benefit because educators can create virtual content
as field trips and allow students to experience and explore the environment in places that would otherwise
be difficult or impossible to visit (Cheng and Tsai 2020). Through MR and AR, a combination of the
natural and virtual world, it is achieved the ability to enrich the physical world with virtual 3D objects,
images, or sounds. This added material displayed in the real world can help students understand many
laborious topics as they can see their effects in real-time and interact with them (Cai et al., 2017; Laine
et al., 2016). A distinguished advantage and one of the reasons that AR is highly adopted in education
is the low cost of the required devices. The only requirement for such technology to run is a relatively
new smart device.

Location-Based Games

Location-based games (LBG) push users to move to pre-defined locations of interest to complete tasks
and advance in-game (Lehmann, 2012). LBGs rely mainly upon the global positioning system (GPS)
to locate places or users’ positions. These games are targeted toward mobile devices as they require the
constant movement of the user. The leading premise of these games is that players integrate information
and physical activities that occur in the real world, particularly in educationally valuable locations such as
historic city centres (Papadakis et al., 2020). LBGs can serve both academic and pedagogical purposes.
Such games (Vidakis, Syntychakis, Kostantinos Kalafatis, et al. 2015) are ludic and blend learning with
enjoyment. The properties of such games reinforce the capacity to engage users in meaningful indoor
and outdoor learning activities (Wijers, Jonker, and Drijvers 2010). LBGs combination with AR is a very
intriguing topic as a user can move into a location and experience the history of the place through AR.

Physical Hand Interaction and Natural User Interfaces (NUI)

Physical hand interaction and Natural User Interfaces provide an alternative way of interacting with
digital content in XR environments. Users have the freedom to use their hands, similar to how they
complete everyday tasks. This enables a more natural interaction without using different devices such
as a keyboard and mouse, which alone require further training or familiarization to operate (Christinaki,
Vidakis, and Triantafyllidis 2014). There are many techniques to achieve such interaction. All of them
depend on recognizing and tracking the user’s hands, a task that is a very challenging problem in the
scientific community. Devices for tracking the hands alone, such as Leap Motion, have been developed,
as have devices capable of tracking the entire human body, such as Microsoft Kinect. A modern approach
to this problem incorporates machine learning and computer vision algorithms to track the hands through
an RGB or RGB-D camera (Ahmad et al., 2019).

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Personalize Content and Content Builders

It is important to note, especially as the world is moving toward digitization, that there is an increasing
necessity for frameworks and platforms that assist educators or teachers in creating digital educational
material and guide them throughout the process to ensure that the desired outcome is served (Vidakis et
al., 2020). Furthermore, such platforms and frameworks have the potential to gather information about
users, for example, their preferences and performance. This information can be processed to provide
more personalized content to the user. The ability of information retrieval from educational platforms is
an essential aspect of education as the student can receive educational content that represents the meth-
ods and format that can better understand and perceive (Vidakis, Syntychakis, Konstantinos Kalafatis,
et al. 2015).

RESEARCH

This chapter presents various existing research employing gamification techniques and game-based
learning to enhance the learning experience. The purpose of the applications is to furnish an appealing
environment for the users to learn the material. To achieve this, technologies such as AR, the creation of
virtual worlds, location-based techniques, and alternative means of interaction. Such means of interac-
tion involve those of physical hand-virtual object interaction using a Kinect device or by recognizing a
hand through an RGB camera. The authors created the applications in this section to provide alternative
methods for learners to explore topics excitingly and engagingly. These applications consider the gamifica-
tion above technics and utilize state-of-the-art technologies and hardware to deliver educational content.

Heraklion Fortification Gates LBG

The fortification gates of Heraklion are part of the Venetian Walls of the city, and they are among the
best-preserved gates in Europe and comprise one of the main attractions in the city. The “Heraklion
Fortification Gates LBG” (Vassilakis et al., 2018) application implements AR and GPS technologies to
prompt users to explore Heraklion city enjoyably. The basic flow of the gamified application (Figure 1)
when a user downloads and opens the application is to wait for the application to find the user’s loca-
tion from GPS and give navigation instructions for a specific location. While the user searches for the
location, the application displays information concerning this location on the smart device’s screen.
Upon arrival at the location, the user must scan the area to find a pattern that will present a 3D ob-
ject on the screen in an AR environment setting. When the pattern is found, a multiple-choice question
(Figure 2) will also be displayed on the screen that the user has to answer. Finally, the user is asked to
take a selfie before moving to the following location. When all places are visited, the user can see the
correct answers to the previously asked questions and the selfies captured.
The application was developed using the Unity3D Game Engine (Unity n.d.) and the Vuforia5 (Vufo-
ria n.d.) library to enable AR functionality and execution for smart devices. The GPS method was used
for the user’s position as it offers high accuracy. A flow diagram of the application is shown in Figure
3. The application is built on “Search and Find”, a typical build pattern in Location-based games. The
application gives instructions to navigate the users to specific locations.

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Figure 1. Example flow through the screens of the application

While the user searches for the following location, the information presented to the user has various
forms, such as text, videos, and images about this point of interest. Switching between instructions about
the location and the information presentations is available during the searching process. When the player
reaches the location, a notification indicating the arrival is triggered, and the user has to search for the
pattern or select to abandon the search (Figure 4). If the user does not wish to search for the pattern, a
uestionn is shown immediately instead of the 3D object. After answering the question, the user can take
a selfie at the point with the AR object regardless of the previous choice of searching for it or not. For
each correct answer, the user is awarded one point added on a simple scoring system and with none if
the answer is wrong. Additionally, the user loses a point if he does not find the AR object.

Figure 2. From left to right: quiz question with AR, quiz question without AR, selfie with the 3D object,
the final score

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Figure 3. Flow diagram

Figure 4. Navigation & information presentation and select whether to search for the object or proceed
to the question

A Novel Educational Game for teaching Emotion Identification

Skills to Preschoolers with Autism Diagnosis

Aiming to aid children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in recognizing and learning about emotions,
a gesture-based serious game is proposed (Christinaki et al., 2014). The game is played on a computer
using physical interaction for navigation and interaction within the game. The game includes traditional
methodologies, visual support, positive reinforcement, and reward. To offer a comfortable environment
for children with minimal distractions, the game environment is simple with a white background, context
coloured in black and grayscale stimuli. Instructions are given at the beginning of the game to let the

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Figure 5. Instruction Page sample

children know what and how to complete the tasks. The instructions are given both in text and audio
(Figure 5). The child can start the game when the instructions are well understood.
There are three levels of increasing difficulty. The first level (Figure 6) aims to teach the children to
associate emotions between texts and images. The second level recognizes emotions from their descrip-
tion and facial features. The third level steps further into understanding emotions and aims to teach the
children to identify why an emotion can occur in various scenarios. This is provided as social stories.
These levels aim to issue recognition, matching, observation, understanding, and generalization of facial
emotions; these elements are extracted from Kolb’s learning and Piaget’s cognitive models.
The images used for the game are taken from the California Facial Expressions (CAFE) (M. N. Dailey
n.d.) dataset and comprise 15 grayscale pictures of male and female faces. The emotions selected for
this game are those of happiness, sadness, anger, fright, and surprise, as those are the most possible for
children at a young age to recognize. The game uses Microsoft Kinect for the physical interaction within
the game as it can track movement and offers reliable results in skeleton tracking. It provides a Software
Development Kit (SDK) compatible with the C# programming language. The game was implemented
using C# within XNA Game Studio with the addition of XNA libraries for the graphics.
The game offers a natural user interface controlled by hand gestures removing the need for a keyboard
and a mouse. All the interaction needed for the game is performed with three actions: choosing the left
or right image or continuing to the next. The gestures for these actions are related to the action itself,
meaning that for choosing the left or right image, the player needs to move the corresponding hand above
the head, and for the following image action, it is required to raise both hands above the head.
While the game is in progress, it informs the player about the correct and incorrect selections by
visual and audio feedback, rewarding the player with a “Bravo” and changing the colour of the image
into green or cheering to try again, saying “, Try again” and changing the colour of the image into red
upon a wrong selection.

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Figure 6. First level example (wrong selection)

ThimelEdu

A complementary tool for teaching ancient theatre architecture (Vidakis et al., 2018) was created to
trigger students’ interest in the topic by providing an alternative to the traditional methods. This ap-
proach allows a student to experience a 3D world with an ancient theatre and the landscape around it.
The navigation in this virtual world is in first-person and supports a single player, meaning that a user is
interacting in the environment alone without other users. While in this world, the user can roam freely
to explore ancient theatre artefacts located around the world and interact with them to acquire more
information about them and their role in the ancient theatre. Additionally, the user is called to complete
quizzes during the interaction process.
The virtual world is created in Unity 3D Game Engine and designed to support adaptably personalized
and customizable content through the IOLAOS’s framework and API (Vidakis et al., 2014).
The main interface of this application remains simple (Figure 7), showing only necessary information
to the user, such as a mini-map that shows the points of interest around the ancient theatre, the score of
the user, a helper menu, and the user’s information. The points of interest are shown in three different
colours (Figure 8) that annotate the state of the point; blue if the point is not visited yet, green if it is
visited and the quiz is completed correctly, and red if the quiz outcome was wrong.
The information presented to users during their interaction with the various artefacts inside the
world is designed to handle many forms of data. A dialogue box on the screen holds all the necessary
information about an artefact in the available forms of data, such as articles, images, and other media.
The ability to switch between each available media for the artefact and study it for as long as the user
requires (Figure 9) is supported. Furthermore, real-time text adjustments are supported to enable the
user to customize the size and style of the text.
A similar dialogue box is displayed for the quizzes about an artefact (Figure 10). These quizzes include
questions of “True/False” or multiple-choice nature. Upon answering a question, the user gets visual and
audio feedback that notifies the user if the answer was correct or wrong. For answering correct questions,

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Figure 7. Graphical user interface: mock-up (left), In-Game main window (right)

Figure 8. In-game maps

Figure 9. Dialog box showing information about artefacts

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Figure 10. Dialog box for quiz questions

the user is awarded points that are added together to form a simple incremental scoring system. When
the user answers all the questions correctly, the application ends, and rewards are provided to the user
as a recognition of the acquired knowledge.
At the start of the application, automatic customization based on the user is triggered. There are three
possible options: No customization when the user is a guest, aka there is no profile about this user; User
with no preferences when the user has a partially completed profile through the IOLAOS platform; Full
customization when the user has a complete profile through IOLAOS platform. There are also more
customization options for users to tweak, offering a better game experience. Such customizations include
shadows visibility, the field of view, brightness, text colour and more.

The Word Hangman Game

Another application aiming at the development of students’ vocabulary around specific topics (recycling
and covid19) and increasing their creativity by storytelling using the previously learned vocabulary was
developed utilizing AR, GBR and gamification techniques to capture the attention of learners with this
alternative presentation of the classic word game of hangman (Logothetis et al., 2021). For this appli-
cation, technologies such as AR and physical interaction with virtual objects are incorporated to make
the content more enjoyable and encourage the students to engage with the learning material actively.
The development is based on a custom tool created in Unity3D Game Engine and Python to facilitate
the development of applications in AR environments and physical interaction. The tool’s architecture is
shown in Figure 11; it is separated into two modules, one that handles the hand recognition and one that
provides components to create the desired application. The usage of sockets achieves the communica-
tion between the two components. As the name suggests, the “Hand Tracking Module” is responsible
for recognizing where the hand is located in an image and sending the points that the hand is located to
the “Unity Module”. The “Unity Module” offers components such as a virtual hand visualization and
functionality, gesture definitions, actions that can be taken using the hand, collision detection and other
utility components like image acquisition through the device’s camera.

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Figure 11. Toolset architecture

To bring off the goals of the application, two tasks are created. The first task involves the classic
word game of hangman and is intended to support language learning, while the second aims to increase
students’ creativity by storytelling. The word hangman game is separated into five levels with increas-
ing difficulty and contains a word that the student has to find. The word’s first letter is filled from the
beginning to navigate the student towards the possible answer. The rest of the letters are presented
with the underscore symbol that indicates the number of letters the word contains. A set of letters are
provided below the word to guess so the student can “grab” with their hands (Figure 12) and move into
the correct position.
When the student completes the word, an image with the word is displayed on the screen (Figure 13),
and the game moves on to the next level. The next word is of increased difficulty regarding the letters
the words contain.
To correctly guess the word, the student has five tries, and as extra assistance, an image showing the
object describing the word is displayed to the student after two wrong letter placements. The option to
retry the level is provided additionally to encourage the student to try again and complete all five levels
in the end. If the retry option is selected, the letters available to the student for placement are more ac-
cessible as extra help.
The student correctly guesses each word, and the student is awarded a card (Figure 14) with an image
describing the word found. The goal is for the students to complete all levels because with the progres-
sion through levels, the student can better understand the game’s topics. The completion of five levels is

Figure 12. Letter grab and movement

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Figure 13. Completed word

also essential because these cards will be used on the second task of the application; thus, each student
should be awarded five cards by the end of the first task.

Figure 14. Rewarded paper cards

The second task calls the students to place the cards previously collected around the classroom and
create a story. While storytelling, the student can move around the cards with a mobile device and scan
the cards to display a 3D virtual object of the item displayed in the card (Figure 15).

Concealing Education into Games

It is essential to be able to support someone that wants to create educational games and learning environ-
ments in general. To this end, developing a framework focusing on enhancing serious games’ effective-

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Figure 15. 3D objects during the storytelling process

ness for learners, educators, and parents is fundamental. The Open Authorable Digital Adaptive and
Ludic platform (Vidakis, Syntychakis, Konstantinos Kalafatis, et al. 2015) implements a framework that
seeks to codify educational methods, learning styles and the generation of educational games based on
the requirements and skills and learning goals.
The overall architecture of the platform is shown in Figure 16. The modules of the Open Authorable
Digital Adaptive and Ludic platform are the following:

1. Abstract Educational Game Model – Protocol (AEGM-P): This module is responsible for hold-
ing the guidelines on how a serious game prototype should be created. It utilizes the functionality
of the other modules to be of service in the corresponding role, for example, personalizing the

Figure 16. Open authorable digital adaptive and ludic platform architecture

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Figure 17. Game compiler module rewarding scenes

content of learners and adjusting the game specifications to match the educational standards of an
individual.
2. Common Data Center: Responsible for holding the data of the platform. It can support various
data storing formats like RDBs, OWL and JSON.
3. Multimodality Amalgamator (MA): This component detects the user’s device so it can adapt to
different inputs and produce the correct output for the user.
4. Models and Rule Base Module (MRB): Within this module are contained services to store,
retrieve and modify through an API and a graphical user interface (GUI), information such as
Learning styles, pedagogical methods, and cognitive limitations. The API allows modifications on
run time, while the GUI offers a simple environment for the educator to add new material through
four simple steps. Progressing through these steps, the educator defines the basic information such
as name, description and learning styles, and information about which elements of the selected
learning styles will be included. Evaluation, feedback, rewards, and penalty data are recorded based
on the selections made on educational theories and learning styles. Finally, information about the
target group is stored to better personalize the game’s content, therefore serving a formal learning
process.

Education – Training Session Module (ETS): Handles the functionality for the real-life session
configuration. Services for observation, intervention and evaluation of the session are also included in
this module. The educator can manage the learning session based on the target group’s necessities through
this module. The educator can send invitations to individuals upon the initiation of a session. After the
initialization of the session, the session manager is responsible for the distribution of the game data and
the communication between the invited students and the teacher. If not limited by the educator, each
user can have different controls depending on the devices accessing the game (Figure 17 and Figure 18).

5. Game Compiler Module (GC): The contribution of this module is services for creating prototypes
and personalizing serious games in compliance with the learning and user preferences. These two
services are assigned to a separate module each. Figure 16 Game designers and educators use the
game prototype module to yield their proposals and game prototypes. Tools are employed to guide
the game creator through the process and ensure that the chosen options provided by the AEGM
– P are not violated during the creation phase by prompting the creator to make changes if the
content is not in compliance with a rule. The creator can adjust the background colour, characters,

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Figure 18. Sample gameplay scenario

rewarding and evaluation systems, items and characters, and the game’s general rules. I stored all
this information in JSON format inside the CDC module to be available to be referenced in the
future. After the prototype creation, the creator can always modify it to make it more suitable to
the needs of the target users. The actual game can take shape when the prototype is customized
correctly based on the AEGM – P. The creator uses an interface that makes the process within a
few simple steps (Figure 19). Finally, the evaluation and rewarding systems are defined.

Figure 19. Game compiler module scene creation

STUDIES AND RESULTS

The Word Hangman Game

A field study involving the transformed word hangman game into an AR game enriched with a second
task, the task of storytelling, drawing inspiration from the words correctly completed from the previ-
ous step. The study involved 36 students, both boys and girls, who traditionally played the game using
pen and paper, and the new version utilizes AR and physical hand interaction. The study shows that the
students playing the game using modern technology enhance their involvement within the class, and
learning goals are fulfilled enjoyably.

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In detail, remarkable differences were observed in the task of storytelling. The students using technol-
ogy developed their imagination further. They used the previously acquired cards, placed them around
the classroom, and could actively present their story to their classmates. The collaboration between
students strengthened as they started having conversations and expressing their thoughts about the sub-
jects. A significant factor for their increased involvement, as observed, is the rewarding of the cards on
the game’s first task. In terms of vocabulary development, both the traditional and the AR games were
the same result. The only difference between the two ways was the students’ excitement about playing
the game using AR.
Students that played the AR game presented a slightly better understanding of the topics of recycling
and Covid 19. Students’ awareness improved, and they started to suggest actions about the improve-
ment of recycling and ways to better protect themselves and society in general from viruses. They also
were more accepting of following the protocol about Covid 19 and were more precautious when using
disinfectants and with their hygiene.

Educational Game for Teaching Emotion Identification Skills

This study explored interaction techniques that seek to eliminate the distraction introduced by interaction
devices that require attention to operate. The focus falls on NUI devices to enhance engagement and
effectiveness in learning task completion. This study explores the advantages of NUI devices and their
impact on player involvement and performance. Moreover, it observes how such games can aid users’
emotional state and their effects on their learning abilities. Finally, the player’s cooperation behaviour
is reviewed concerning the environment during the engagement with the game. A survey conducted
throughout sessions was separated into five main sections. These sections include the emotional state,
surroundings, the game, instructor acknowledgement before the session, and the game interaction.
The study’s results show that NUI devices can improve the player’s involvement, thus enhancing
the overall learning process. Despite the environment changes, despite it being known that even small
changes can seriously affect the game experience and process when using NUI devices, minor to no
effect was observed. This confirms that such devices can offer an upgraded learning process. On the
other hand, the player’s emotional state can seriously affect the learning process, and such games cannot
conquer this barrier.

DISCUSSION

Through this research, gamification techniques combined with modern technologies were presented
in pursuit of enhancing the learning experience and increasing the engagement of learners (Papadakis,
Kalogiannakis, Sifaki, & Vidakis, 2018). Merging technology with gamification techniques can produce
compelling results that are capable of intriguing one’s interest. Moreover, the authors present insights
on how to combine gamification techniques and state-of-the-art technologies and what the resulting ap-
plications resemble. The experimental studies support the literature hypothesis that such techniques can
increase students’ motivation and engagement and help them develop soft skills such as this teamwork
and collaboration (Zourmpakis, Papadakis & Kalogiannakis, 2022).
In detail, rewarding students for completing tasks increase their motivation and engagement. The
reward can be relative to the theme of the task. This way, rewards gain meaning and let students process

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the learning material longer. Another exciting outcome of gamification and GBL is that the students
can stay focused on the subject for more extended periods and external distractions have lower effects
than traditional teaching techniques. Students and young people are attracted to technology alone can
increase their interest. Using technology in the right way can offer great possibilities for learning, such
as these virtual field trips to remote places or the simulations of complex devices. The utilization of
technology has to be guided to not deviate from the educational purposes of the application. For this
reason, guidelines and tools to assist educators and creators of educational material in creating such
applications should be developed and explored.

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