Enhancing Fun Through Gamification to Improve Engagement in MOOC

• Main Authors: Oriol Borrás-Gené, Margarita Martínez-Núñez, Luis Martín-Fernández
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-07-01
• Series: Informatics
• Subjects: gamification; MOOC; fun; social networks; virtual learning communities
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9709/6/3/28

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), regardless of their topic, are a perfect space to generate, through virtual learning communities associated with them, very valuable resources for their participants and, in general, anyone interested in the topic covered. If in the design of these learning spaces, elements specific to games are added to them, which is known as gamification, we can try to increase the engagement of the student towards the course and, therefore, towards the community. This paper presents an experience of a MOOC of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain) with a connectivist approach. Aspects such as fun and motivation have been worked on in the design, through the application of gamified activities and the use of elements from social networks, considered as gamification, with the aim of increasing participation and engagement within a Facebook group, used as a community to support the course. We have analyzed aspects such as enjoyment and motivation, the result of which has been active participation and high engagement within the MOOC community in the form of content and especially great interaction, highlighting the existence of continuous activity once the edition of the MOOC is finished, as a consequence of a habit generated in the student.