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Abstract: Gamification is the use of game design elements in non-game contexts and it is gaining momentum in a wide range of areas including education. Despite increasing academic research exploring the use of gamification in education little is known about teachers' main drivers and barriers to using gamification in their courses. Using a phenomenology approach, 16 online structured interviews were conducted in order to explore the main drivers that encourage teachers serving in Higher Education institutions to using gamification in their courses. The main barriers that prevent teachers from using gamification were also analysed. Four main drivers (attention-motivation, entertainment, interactivity, and easiness to learn) and four main barriers (lack of resources, students' apathy, subject fit, and classroom dynamics) were identified. Results suggest that teachers perceive the use of gamification both as beneficial but also as a potential risk for classroom atmosphere. Managerial recommendations for managers of Higher Education institutions, limitations of the study, and future research lines are also addressed.
Keywords: gamification, games and learning, drivers, barriers, teachers, Higher Education.
1. Introduction
Technological developments and teaching methodologies associated with them represent new opportunities in education but also a challenge for teachers of Higher Education institutions. Teachers must face questions regarding whether to implement new teaching methodologies in their courses based on their beliefs on expected outcomes, performance, costs, and benefits. For example, associated costs when implementing a new teaching technology in a course vary from personal costs (e.g. time devoted to preparing new teaching materials) to institutional costs (e.g. new equipment like digital blackboards or computers). Not less important are the uncertainty of the expected learning outcomes or students' satisfaction with the new teaching methodology. For example, previous research found that students show different attitudes towards active learning methodologies that demand a more proactive learning role on the student side (Liu and Littlewood, 1997). Moreover, previous research also found that students can show a resistant attitude towards active learning methodologies such as group-based projects (Livingstone and Lynch, 2000). Gamification represents such a challenge for teachers serving in Higher Education institutions as it is becoming a trending topic in education. Although gamification is not limited to the use of technology-driven games for educational purposes (for example, educational video games in the shape of serious games),...