Webinar organised by the British Computer Society on Oct 5th, 2020 to report and discuss the effects of motivation-enhancement approaches, such as playful design and gamification, using social virtual reality in e-learning and open education. More details: https://www.bcs.org/events/2020/october/webinar-transform-your-e-learning-with-playful-design-and-gamification/

1. Transform your E-learning with
Playful Design and Gamification
Dr. Stylianos Mystakidis
University of Patras & Hellenic Open University
BCS Webinar. BCS. 15 Oct 2020

2. Webinar Objectives
• Appreciate Playful & Gameful
Design
• Value 3D E-learning (SVR)
• Identify personal meaningful
strategies & approaches
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 2

3. Challenge
• Emergency remote teaching
• Rapidly rising demand for
tertiary education and life-long
learning
• Unfulfilled potential of E-learning
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 3

4. BCS Webinar. BCS. 4
MOOCs, we have a problem...
5 Oct 2020

5. BCS Webinar. BCS. 5
Motivation Enhancement Methods
5 Oct 2020
Serious /
Epistemic
Games
Gameful
Design /
Gamifica
tion
Toys
Playful
Design
Whole Parts
Game
Play

6. BCS Webinar. BCS. 6
Playful Design
5 Oct 2020

7. We invite you to become one of the AI NPC Lab's Experts
in Virtual Worlds Education and Artificial Intelligence. We
are looking forward to affirming your skills in a series of
quests in the coming weeks. Are you ready for it?
Initial, stage-setting message of the story

8. BCS Webinar. BCS. 8
Gamification
5 Oct 2020

9. Playful & Gameful
Design in E-learning
• Playful Design
• Story
• Metaphors
• Aesthetics (e.g. Sound)
• Gameful Design
• Game MOOC
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 9
https://vimeo.com/15751238

10. Social Virtual Reality
(SVR)
• Superior self-expression
• Formal and informal
genuine peer
communication
• Active, authentic,
motivating experiences
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 10

11. Social Virtual Reality
Platforms & Technologies
• Client (3D Virtual Worlds, e.g. Second
Life, OpenSim, Minecraft Edu, VirBela)
• VR HMDs (AltspaceVR, ENGAGE)
• WebXR (Mozilla Hubs)
• Mobile (Rec Room)
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 11

12. BCS Webinar. BCS. 125 Oct 2020
Conferences in Social
Virtual Reality
• Virtual World Best Practice in Education
Conference (2010- )
• IEEE VR 2020 Conference (March 2020)
• iLRN 2020 Conference (June 2020)
• Hundreds of concurrent users in VR

13. I. Maya Island Virtual
Museum
A Virtual Learning Environment,
Museum, and Library Exhibit
BCS Webinar. BCS. 135 Oct 2020

14. UW Maya Virtual Museum
4 sections:
• Maya Medicine
• Maya Science
• Maya Mythology Triathlon
• Explorer’s Cove
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 14
Quick overview:
https://youtu.be/mIwFGqg2rPU

15. Maya “Ball Game” (world’s
first team sport)
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 15
• Playful, immersive
learning experience
• Maya history & mythology
• Rules
• Play
• Prize

16. BCS Webinar. BCS. 165 Oct 2020
Playful design: Surprise!
The “Bump” – the divine challenge!
Following the footsteps of the mythological
forefathers to Xibalba, the Mayan underworld!

17. BCS Webinar. BCS. 175 Oct 2020
Results
• 2 International Awards, 1 National Seal of Teaching Excellence
• Learning went viral; over 5,000 visitors in 12 months from all over
the world explored the open-access museum
• K-12, higher education classes - Inspiration to famous museums
• New cooperative research opportunities

18. II. OpenQuest:
Designing a
Motivational
Framework for
MOOCs Instruction
BCS Webinar. BCS. 185 Oct 2020

19. BCS Webinar. BCS. 19
Theoretical Foundations
5 Oct 2020

20. BCS Webinar. BCS. 20
OpenQuest Framework for Massive Open Online
Courses (MOOCs)
5 Oct 2020

21. III. Designing and
Implementing a Big Open
Online Course by using a
3D Virtual Immersive
Environment – lessons
learned
BCS Webinar. BCS. 215 Oct 2020

22. The OWIL MOOC in a
nutshell
• Free and Open For all!
• Workshop (problem-based
course)
• Distance Blended Learning
 Synchronous Meetings
 Asynchronous Activities
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 22

23. OWIL MOOC Stats
• 5 modules
• 18 weeks
• 2 instances
• 311 participants
• 23 departments
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 23

24. BCS Webinar. BCS. 24
Method
5 Oct 2020
• RQs: Can a motivation-enhanced environment in a MOOC
have a positive impact on completion rates and on the
quality of learning?
• Mixed method (sequential data collection)
• Quantitative data: Online Questionnaire
• Qualitative data: Semi-structured interviews
• N=73

25. BCS Webinar. BCS. 25
Evaluation: OWIL learning impact
5 Oct 2020
Median Mode IQR Variation
Ratio
I liked it 4 4 1 0,57
I acquired new knowledge 3 3, 4 2 0,77
I acquired new skills 4 5 2 0,68
I will apply what I’ve
learned
4 4 2 0,61
I found the course useful 5 5 1 0,70
I would recommend the
course to my friends
5 5 1 0,71

26. BCS Webinar. BCS. 26
Evaluation: How satisfied where you with the
following components of OWIL?
5 Oct 2020

27. OWIL participation and
completion rate
Participa
nts
Complete
d
Completi
on rate
OWIL I 92 30 32,61%
OWIL II 219 71 32,42%
Total 311 101 32,48%
5 Oct 2020BCS Webinar. BCS. 27

28. Results
• RQ1 confirmed:
Sustainable, high completion rates
(>32%), higher than average
MOOCs
• RQ2 confirmed:
• Achievement of learning goals
• Acquisition of new skills
• Virtual community of practice
BCS Webinar. BCS. 5 Oct 2020 28

29. IV. Distance Education
Gamification in Social
Virtual Reality:
A Case Study on
Student Engagement
BCS Webinar. BCS. 295 Oct 2020

30. Postgraduate Distance
Learning Course Gamification
UWE MA Education in Virtual Worlds
(2 years, 8 modules)
Module “Artificial Intelligence, Bots and
Non-Player Characters” (12 weeks, 7.5 ECTS)
BCS Webinar. BCS. 305 Oct 2020

31. BCS Webinar. BCS. 31
Indicative Quests
5 Oct 2020
Type Quest Title Class XP
Raid SWOT Analysis Monk 45-60
Solo Chatbot Skillbuilder Artisan 60
Guild Learning Archetype Identification Debate Game Bard 65-80
Solo Learning Archetype Design Challenge Monk 70
Raid Mapping Learning Archetypes across the cognitive
domain
Bard 55-70
Guild Collaborative analysis of AI uses in VWs Monk,
Bard
55-70
Solo Puppeteer Skillbuilder Artisan 70

32. Character classes
Monk - Student of
sources and defender
of the written word
Artisan - Possesses
building & bot
programming skills
Bard - Master of Lore,
versed in Web chat bots
and public performances
BCS Webinar. BCS. 5 Oct 2020 32

33. BCS Webinar. BCS. 33
Method
5 Oct 2020
• Research Question: what is the effect of a gamified
curriculum design in student engagement?
• Social constructivist epistemological underpinnings
• 14 students
• Qualitative data: student work, blog posts, observation,
recorded tutorials, chat transcripts
• Data analysis: content analysis according to the taxonomy
of student engagement

34. Results
• High levels of creative thinking
and innovative adaptation
• Proposal for additional,
voluntary activities beyond the
constraints of the compulsory
and optional curriculum tasks
• Achievement of high levels of
student engagement by
integrating AI solutions in VR
BCS Webinar. BCS. 5 Oct 2020 34

35. BCS Webinar. BCS. 355 Oct 2020
Conclusion
• Web-based e-learning platforms have limitations for semester-long courses
• Social Virtual Reality can support deep meaningful learning in distance edu
• Playful Design and Gamification can enhance the motivation of participants
by transforming learning

36. BCS Webinar. BCS. 365 Oct 2020
3D or not 3D?
That is the question...
The answer is up to you!

37. Thank you for your attention!
Dr Stylianos Mystakidis
Learning Innovator
smyst@upatras.gr
Questions?
BCS Webinar. BCS. 5 Oct 2020 37

38. Useful References & Links
• Pellas, N., & Mystakidis, S. (2020). A systematic review of research about game-based
learning in virtual worlds. Journal of Universal Computer Science. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343523671_A_systematic_review_of_research_ab
out_game-based_learning_in_virtual_worlds
• Mystakidis, S. (2020). Distance Education Gamification in Social Virtual Reality: A Case
Study on Student Engagement. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on
Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications (IISA 2020).
• Mystakidis, S., Berki, E., & Valtanen, J. (2017). Designing and Implementing a Big Open
Online Course by using a 3D Virtual Immersive Environment – lessons learned. 9th Annual
International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (EDULEARN17)
Proceedings, 8070–8079. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2017.0487
• Mystakidis, S., & Herodotou, C. (2016). OpenQuest: Designing a Motivational Framework for
MOOCs Instruction. MOOCs in Europe, 141–145. Retrieved from
http://eadtu.eu/images/publicaties/MOOCs_in_Europe_November_2015.pdf
• Hill, V., & Mystakidis, S. (2012). Maya Island virtual museum: A virtual learning environment,
museum, and library exhibit. 2012 18th International Conference on Virtual Systems and
Multimedia, 565–568. https://doi.org/10.1109/VSMM.2012.6365978

39. Social Virtual Reality Platforms
• Second Life https://secondlife.com/
• Minecraft Edu https://education.minecraft.net/
• OpenSim http://www.opensimulator.org/
• VirBela https://www.virbela.com/
• AltspaceVR https://altvr.com/
• ENGAGE https://engagevr.io/
• Mozilla Hubs https://hubs.mozilla.com/
• Rec Room https://rec.net/
• Rumii https://www.dogheadsimulations.com/rumii