Gamification may be considered a convivial teachnology (Kelly, 2011) promoting flexi-bility in terms of modification and adjustment while promoting collaboration between people and institutions. Hämäläinen et al. (2018) call for a better understanding of the social processes related to gaming and conclude that “emphasising and applying different game mechanics with different collaboration roles (scripted vs. emergent) can be used to support the different educational aims of games” (p. 51). According to Deterding (2015),
“Enjoyment or fun are among the most desired experiences” (p. 294). Inglehart (2008) describes modern society through the concept of self-realisation, with an increasing
em-phasis on self-expression values. The need for different experiences and the commercial-isation of evolving technologies affect individuals’ purchasing decisions (Pine & Gilmore, 2011). Undoubtedly, the idea of intentionally experimental transformation also applies to education and should be reviewed carefully. Economic terms may seem cold in the context of education, but society has become dependent on evolutionary technologies that cross different disciplines (Kelly, 2011). Further, gamification seeks to increase user engagement and commitment to meet goals, which generally reflect intended behaviour-al outcomes but behaviour-also rely on service profitability (Hamari, 2017).
A decade ago, the developing Internet technologies and related digital solutions of-fered to support a variety of online and location-based gaming applications and their related business models (Nacke & Deterding, 2017). These applications exploited the basic idea of gamification - to improve human conditions (Hamari, 2017). This indus-try-originated practice is based on simple game design elements instead of ludic qual-ities – the ‘gamefulness’ of gameful design (Deterding, 2015). The idea of gamification is to use game elements and techniques in a new context, to motivate users towards desired behaviours and to improve their user experience (Nacke & Deterding, 2017); it seeks to arouse enthusiasm about online learning in a way similar to the excitement and enjoyment experienced while playing games (Deterding, 2012; 2015). Gamified learn-ing applications retain only the simplest components of gamification, such as badges, levels, points and a leaderboard (Deterding, 2012). Of these, badges are the most stud-ied concept (Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014). Developing technologies promote novel possibilities, raising the question of how to combine gamification with digital badging in non-game platforms and contexts.
2.6.1 Structuralising Motivation in Gamification
Deterding’s (2011; 2012; 2015) studies offer significant insights into the motivation and design of single game elements while addressing the social situation of game play. In 2011, he introduced the concept of situated motivational affordances (Figure 5) to con-ceptualise the motivational pull of single game design elements in varying contexts. He argues that “the concept of motivational affordances and the connected macro-theory of human motivation – self-determination theory – provides a good theoretical starting point to the study of the motivational dynamics of ‘gamified’ applications and services, if we extend them towards situated motivational affordances” (p. 4).
Krapp (2002) argues that the outcomes are identical for interest-based activities, whether the task is compulsory or play with the precondition of undivided interest based on intrinsic motivation. Deterding (2011) states that labelling an assignment as “play” or
“game” already serves to transform the actors’ perceptions and subsequent performance.
As illustrated in Figure 5, the situation-specific meaning of an artefact - the ‘transfer’ of a design element from a ‘play’ context into another usage context - should be supported
by subjectively constructed social meaning, satisfying motivational needs and thus mo-tivating continued activity.
This research relies on Deterding’s (2015) study of different motivational lenses in gamification, particularly in terms of conceptualising the layers of gamification in digital open badge-driven learning. Deterding reviews existing methods and identifies challeng-es and requirements for gameful dchalleng-esign while introducing a gameful dchalleng-esign method that uses skill atoms and design lenses to identify challenges inherent to a user’s goal pur-suit. The research provides guidance on restructuring these challenges to include game-play characteristics, creating motivating, enjoyable experiences. Deterding emphasises Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) study of flow, calling it “arguably one of the most influential models of enjoyment” (p. 296). Deterding (2015) points out that the “central components of gaming motivation are basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and re-latedness, and a central component of gaming enjoyment is the experience of having these needs satisfied” (p. 301).
Deterding, Dixon et al. (2011) suggest applying a 2 × 2 matrix of the paidia (pleasura-ble play; see Kendrick, 2011) and ludus (rule-bound, complex play; see Kendrick, 2011) and qualities of such to game-related design practices with a determination to distinguish gamification from gameful design, game design and toy design. Respectively, Deterd-ing (2015) outlines how gameful design might inform experience-driven design more generally. He analyses the characteristics of gameplay experience in terms of how game structures afford them, how game design creates these structures, and how this informa-tion can be translated into interacinforma-tion design, arriving at a list of six criteria (p. 327-328):
1. Designing for basic need satisfaction, specifically competence 2. Designing around inherent skill-based challenges
3. Designing for systemic emergence
(Succesful) interaction
Satisfaction of motivational
needs Situational
motivational affordances
Artifactual motivational affordances Situation
Artifact
Figure 5. Situated motivational affordances (Deterding, 2011, p. 3).
4. Encouraging formative research
5. Synthesising the design of formative research into a form useful for ideation and prototyping
6. Mobilising game design epistemically
In sub-study I, the presented method encouraged the researchers to view different layers of motivation. Further, these six criteria were considered along practical implications for digital open badge-driven learning, offering to inform the methodology of formative research and design synthesis.
3 Research Questions
T
his study investigates how digital open badges structure the gamified compe-tence-based learning process in the continuing professional development of vocation-al pre- and in-service teachers.The different sub-studies reflect vocational teachers’ different experiences and their competence-development continuum. The studies draw attention to motivation, scaf-folding and gamification in the context of higher education. The four empirical stud-ies comprising this thesis represent a continuum describing the concept of digital open badge-driven learning: motivational effects on competence development, stages in the scaffolding process, triggers of gamified learning and the different experiences of the competence-based approach in professional development. The research also aims to offer a structure for the process of digital open badge-driven learning based on the results.
Each of the four sub-studies contributes to answering the study’s overarching research question (see Table 3). The study includes four sub-studies, all of which contribute to our understanding of the primary concepts related to the digital open badge-driven learning process.
Table 3.
Summary of the Research Themes and Proceedings
Aims Research
Questions Data Mixed Methods Publications
Sub-study I: Brauer, S., Siklander, P.
& Ruhalahti, S. (2017).
Motivation in digital open badge-driven learning in vocational teacher education. The Journal of Professional and Vocational
Brauer, S., Korhonen, A-M.
& Siklander, P. (2018).
Online scaffolding in digital open badge-driven learning. Brauer, S., Ruhalahti, S.,
& Hallikainen, V. (2018).
Digital professional learning triggers: in an online badge driven process. Education in the North, 25(1-2), 64-86.
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/ Brauer, S., Kettunen, J. &
Hallikainen, V. (2018).
“Learning Online” for vocational teachers - Visualisation of the competence-based approach in digital open badge-driven learning. The Journal of Professional and Vocational Education: Vocational Education and Training in the Nordic Countries, 20, 13-29.
All of the studies have been reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals in English. In the following chapter, I present a more detailed description of the research design and methodological approaches.