How gamification is being implemented in MOOCs? A systematic literature review

Abstract

Although MOOCs are being established as a very popular technology to support learning, they are often criticized for their lack of support to active pedagogies and the high drop-out rates. One approach to face this problem is gamification, due to the promising benefits already shown at small-scale environments. Attending to the current and growing use of game elements in MOOCs, this paper presents a systematic literature review of the usage of gamification in MOOCs, aimed at analyzing how gamification is being implemented in MOOCs, and to identify unexplored research opportunities in this field. The results show that gamification is still at an early stage in MOOCs, and it is being implemented in similar ways to those at small scale contexts.