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Gamification is the use of game design and mechanics to enhance non-game contexts by increasing participation, engagement, loyalty and competition. Games can motivate students as it makes learning an interesting experience. There are two forms of gamification, structural with no subject matter changes, and the altered content method that adds subject matter. Games applied in learning can be considered as serious games, where the learning experience is centred around serious stories. The serious story is “impressive in quality” and “part of a thoughtful process” to achieve learning goals. The difference between game-based learning and gamification is that in the former the students create their own games or play existing ones, while the latter is a learning method that contains game elements but is not necessarily a game.

Some common elements of games that can be used in learning are the subsequent: Progress mechanics, Narrative and characters, Player control, Immediate feedback, Opportunities for collaborative problem solving, Scaffolded learning with increasing challenges and Social connection.

Some of the potential benefits of successful gamification initiatives in the classroom include: giving students ownership of their learning, opportunities for identity work through taking on alternate selves,freedom to fail and try again without negative repercussions, chances to increase fun and joy in the classroom, opportunities for differentiated instruction, making learning visible, providing a manageable set of subtasks and tasks, inspiring students to discover intrinsic motivators for learning and motivating students with dyslexia with low levels of motivation.

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