Supervisors info:
Αικατερίνη Μακρή, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλίας
Κυπαρισσία Παπανικολάου, Καθηγήτρια Α.Σ.ΠΑΙ.Τ.Ε.
Μαρία Λάτση, Διδάκτωρ – Εκπαιδευτικός Α/θμιας Εκπαίδευσης.
Summary:
The modern-day social reality is characterized by the rapid development and use of technology in every manifestation of human activity. This reality has led to to a wide variety of problems being solved, but it has also created the need for further specialization in the vast majority of workplaces, as well as for the acquisition of new skills by employees in order to maintain their jobs or to find work, since knowledge and digital literacy, as it is called, are necessary prerequisites.
Learning and education are considered to be processes that occur throughout the course of our life and do not stop upon the completion of compulsory education. Based on this approach and the needs that have arisen in the socio-economic environment, the field of adult education was developed, differing from other fields of education that are aimed at children and adolescents, and, rather, being aimed exclusively at adults who want to continue and complete their education which, for various reasons, they did not complete in the past.
The development of Technology and the entry of computers into the field of education have also enriched the way people learn and teach, creating and developing learning environments that differ from the conventional ones of life and face-to-face teaching in the limited space of a classroom. Distance learning is the method that is used in adult education, especially during the pandemic where it replaced live teaching. The possibilities offered by the use of ICT in education are many, and the process of teaching is being enriched with methods and tools that make learning more meaningful and intriguing. One example of these methods is the use of gamification in learning. Perhaps the use of this term in the context of adult education is surprising, since most people associate games with children. In this context, the game is a process and an activity which, much like learning, accompanies a person and connects with them throughout the entirety of their life. Therefore, it is also used for adult education and in the context of distance learning.
This paper aims to approach the concept of gamification in the context of adult distance education and investigate whether it enhances learners' motivation to learn.
Keywords:
Keywords: adult education, distance learning, gamification, Learning Management System (LMS), motivational enhancement.
