The International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED) is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of international education and university cooperation in the field of Technology and Science. Through the organisation of different international events, it brings together institutions, bodies and organisations from different countries of the world for discussion and cooperation.

1. 7th International Conference on Education
and New Learning Technologies
Barcelona - 6th - 8th of July 2015
“Create It” – “Share It” – “Game It”
the case of
a web-based digital platform for
creating, sharing, and delivering
gamified educational scenarios
Hercules Panoutsopoulos…...............…………………………......Doukas School (GREECE)
George Pavlides….............Athena Research and Innovation Center - ILSP (GREECE)
Stella Markantonatou….…Athena Research and Innovation Center - ILSP (GREECE)
Vasilis Economou…………………..………………………………………..Doukas School (GREECE)
Sofia Mysirlaki…………………………………………………….…….…….Doukas School (GREECE)
Nikolaos Papastamatiou…………………………………………..Omega Technology (GREECE)
Georgios Patronas…………………………………………………………..Doukas School (GREECE)
Ioannis Kotsanis…………………………………………………………….. Doukas School (GREECE)
Contact author: Hercules Panoutsopoulos e-mail: i.panoutsopoulos@doukas.gr & herculespanoutsopoulos@gmail.com

2. Presentation outline
• Introduction
• The identity and consortium of the GameIt project - A few words about the project
coordinator
• Theoretical background and existing gamification practices
• Definition of research problem
• Philosophy of the GameIt digital platform
• GameIt platform design methodology
• Subsystems of the GameIt platform and involved roles
• Underlying pedagogical framework
• Evaluation methodology and findings
• Conclusions and further research

3. 3
• The aim of this presentation is to provide an overview of the GameIt platform,
which has been developed for the needs of the GameIt project.
(GameIt-Platform for Semantic Knowledge Management and Development of Interactive Educational
Scenarios Using Advanced Multi-User Gaming Technology)
• The GameIt platform is a web-based, digital platform for creating, editing,
sharing, and delivering gamified educational scenarios.
• Presentation of related issues is made in the following order:
– identity and consortium of the GameIt project, presentation of the project coordinator,
– theoretical background and existing gamification practices,
– philosophy of the GameIt platform,
– description of design methodology, platform’s architecture, and pedagogical framework,
– evaluation methodology and findings.
Introduction

4. 4
The identity and consortium of the GameIt project
• The GameIt project is financed by the Greek General Secretariat for Research and
Technology through the “Industrial Research and Technology Development Program
2013” (Project Number: 864-BET-2013).
• Duration of the GameIt project: April, 2014 to July, 2015 (16 months approx.)
• GameIt project consortium:
– Omega Technology, Greece (http://en.omegatechnology.biz/)
– Byte, Greece (http://www.byte.gr/defaultEn.asp?p=9)
– Athena Research and Innovation Center in Information,
Communication and Knowledge Technologies, Greece
(https://www.athena-innovation.gr/en.html)
– Viewmax, Greece (http://www.viewmax.gr/en)
– Project Coordinator: Doukas School, Greece (http://www.doukas.gr/)

5. 5
A few words about the project coordinator
• Doukas School participates in
several EU and National R&D
projects and coordinates extensive
European Networks under
programmes such us Erasmus+,
Lifelong Learning Programme,
Intelligent Energy Europe, EPEAEK,
PAVE, LINGUA.
• Key areas of research interest:
– 21st Century Competences
– School of the Future
– Personalized and mobile Learning
– Game Based Learning and
Gamification
– Learning Analytics
– STEM Education
– Cloud Computing in Education
– e-Pedagogy and e-Portfolios
– Literacy Skills enhancement
– Career Counseling
Competences for students and
parents
– Athletics and Nutrition
• Participation in research projects:
– School on the Cloud
(www.schoolonthecloud.net)
– Make World
(http://www.makeworld.eu)
– Boys Reading
(www.boysreading.org)
– FAMICO (www.famico.eu)
– GeoCapabilities
(www.geocapabilities.org)

6. 6
Theoretical background
Digital Game – Based Learning Gamification
Use of:
• general purpose, commercial digital
games, or
• specially – designed, educational digital
games (also termed as “serious games”)
in formal or informal learning contexts with
the aim to facilitate:
• mastery of subject-related content,
• development of skills and attitudes (or
competences)
Gamification focuses either on software design
considerations that target at providing a gameful
(learning) experience, or on the gameful
experience per se.
• Definition #1
Gamification is the “use of design elements
characteristic for games in non-game
contexts.” *1+
• Definition #2
Gamification refers to “a process of
enhancing a service with affordances for
gameful experiences in order to support
user's overall value creation.” [2]
Why?
time restrictions,
implementation costs,
demands of existing
curricula
from...
to…

7. 7
Existing gamification practices (1/3)
Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/)
• A web-based educational platform providing
access to subject-related content and assessment
activities.
• Gamification elements:
– use of an interactive map metaphor offering the sense
of navigating and advancing within a virtual world,
– on-demand feedback that takes the form of game-like
diagrams and charts,
– award of virtual prizes for quick and successful
completion of activities,
– help in the form of a step-by-step wizard or
instructional videos watching without any negative
effect to assessment results.
KnowRe (http://www.knowre.com/)
• A web-based platform targeting at Mathematics
learning.
• Availability of:
– presentations with step-by-step problem solving
instructions,
– instructional videos about a range of mathematical
concepts and processes,
– contextualization of knowledge with the help of real-
world scenarios, and
– assessment activities followed by detailed feedback.
• Gamification elements:
– use of animation in presentations,
– visualization of the sequence of accessed resources
with the help of an interactive map,
– assessment activities taking the form of assigned
missions/quests, and
– a reward system based on the use of appropriately
designed virtual prizes.

8. 8
Existing gamification practices (2/3)
PlayBrighter (http://playbrighter.com/)
• An assessment platform that allows the user-
educator to define the content to be assessed.
• Gamification elements:
– Assessment content is presented in the form of
missions assigned to the user-learner as part of the
plot of a game.
– Avatar representation.
– Each time a mission is successfully completed (i.e. a
question is correctly answered), points to be used for
the configuration of the avatar are awarded.
– The status of the user-learner is available any time with
the help of detailed graphs.
Lysias (http://www.lysias.gr/)
• A web-based platform that hosts an annual
educational competition.
• The contestant-user of the platform gets actively
involved in a scenario that includes searching for
and collecting virtual items each one of which is
associated with questions of various difficulty
levels.
• Gamification elements:
– Actions take place in a virtual world.
– Correct answers are awarded with points analogous to
the questions’ difficulty level.
– The user’s response time constitutes assessment
criterion.
– Availability of on-demand help and feedback.

9. 9
Existing gamification practices (3/3)
• Gamification elements adopted in the context of existing gamification practices:
– representation of the user with the help of a (customizable) avatar,
– on-demand feedback provided to the user with the help of detailed, game-like graphs and
charts,
– adoption of an interactive map metaphor for visualizing available digital content, as well as
proposed sequences for accessing and interacting with it,
– availability of help, in a variety of forms, as many times as it is requested and without any
consequences to the user’s assessment, and
– employment of appropriately designed reward-based systems.
• A point of criticism:
– Game-like learning activities offered through existing interactive learning environments
occur as part of pre-designed and fixed scenarios and target at the
achievement of pre-defined learning objectives.

10. 10
Definition of research problem
• The development of the GameIt platform targets at providing answers to the
problem for a ubiquitous virtual school, able to cater for the needs of both
learners and educators by providing, anytime and at any place, rich learning
experiences designed with the utilization of digital educational content that is
available through existing Learning Objects Repositories (LORs).

11. 11
Philosophy of the GameIt digital platform
• The development of the GameIt
platform aims to improve existing,
technology-supported, educational
practices:
– with the help of a Knowledge
Integration System,
– by taking account of the well-
documented benefits of learning
that is based on the use of digital
games or gamified, virtual learning
environments, and
– by taking advantage of the
interactions that occur in (either
cooperative or competitive) multi-
user, online digital games.
educational scenarios development
• Selection/editing of available educational
scenarios.
• Creation of educational scenarios from scratch.
• Customization of the environment in which
gamified educational scenarios are executed.
Utilization of existing digital content
• Searching of digital educational content.
• Editing of existing digital content.
• Creation of new digital educational content.
• Import of digital content into educational
scenarios that are under development.
Sharing of educational scenarios
• Storage of developed educational scenarios.
• Availability of developed educational scenarios
through the platform and access to them.
Delivery of educational scenarios
• Delivery of developed educational scenarios in
the form of an educational digital game.

12. 12
GameIt platform design methodology
Methodology employed for the design and development
of the GameIt platform: Waterfall model [3]
User needs analysis
Implementation &
maintenance
Evaluation
System design
System
development
• Development of the
platform’s evaluation
methodology.
• Evaluation of platform
and analysis of results.
• Ontology development based on
existing specifications and standards.
• Description of the adopted educational
methodology.
• Development of fifty (50), ready to be
used, educational scenarios.
• Development of the digital platform.
• Investigation and analysis of the
needs of users.
• Description of the pedagogical
framework and the platform’s use
cases.
• Technical description of the
Knowledge Integration System’s
specifications.
• Technical description of the
specifications of the gamified
educational scenarios delivery
system.
• Execution of planned dissemination
activities.
• Development of a detailed exploitation
plan.

13. 13
Subsystems of the GameIt platform (1/3)
Knowledge Integration subsystem
• It is at the core of the GameIt platform by providing
functionalities for integrating and managing
distributed, in existing LORs, digital learning
objects.
• Integration takes place at a semantic level with the
help of ontologies that have been specifically
designed for the purpose of unifying available
educational and cultural digital content.
• At the physical level the database of the platform
contains only the necessary metadata and links to
available digital content.
• Provides functionalities for creating and
characterizing new digital content, which can next
be stored into the system’s database.
existing LOR
(e.g. EUROPEANA, LRE,
Photodentro)
existing LOR
(e.g. EUROPEANA, LRE,
Photodentro)
existing LOR
(e.g. EUROPEANA, LRE,
Photodentro)
Knowledge
Management
Subsystem’s DB
• Digital learning objects
• Metadata
• Links to existing LORs
PC
tablet
smartphone
GUI
physical layer presentation layer

14. 14
Subsystems of the GameIt platform (2/3)
Game Editor subsystem
• It is an authoring tool with the help of which gamified
educational scenarios may be developed.
• It is made up by a user-friendly Virtual World Editor,
supported by a Game Wizard, that can be used for
editing existing educational scenarios or developing
educational scenarios from scratch.
• It allows for creating educational scenarios, which in turn
are executed in a three dimensional virtual world and as
part of the plot of a game.
• Digital learning objects and a range of graphic elements
may be used and imported into the educational scenario.
• Educational scenarios are stored in a separate database
as XML files.
Graphic User Interface (GUI) for accessing the authoring tool
(Game Editor Subsystem)

15. 15
Subsystems of the GameIt platform (3/3)
Game Delivery subsystem
• It is the runtime environment for the
execution of developed gamified
educational scenarios.
• From the end-user point of view, it
offers opportunities for participating in
a highly interactive, multi-user, online
digital game with the aim to achieve
the learning objectives of the
underlying educational scenario.
• As part of their interaction with the
gamified educational scenarios, users
assume roles and can communicate
with the support of appropriate tools.

16. 16
Involved roles
visitor
Visitor is any user that has
signed in to the platform. The
only rights assigned to this role
are:
• access to the platform’s
database, and
• search for learning objects.
player
Players are mainly the
learners who use the
platform for learning
purposes and are able to
interact with the gamified
educational scenarios
delivery environment.
game
creator
game
designer
Rights assigned to this role are:
• access to and utilization of
already developed educational
scenarios,
• editing of available educational
scenarios by importing/
removing learning objects, and
• sharing of edited educational
scenarios.
In addition to the rights of the
Game Creator, the Game
Designer is also able to create
his/her own new educational
scenarios with the help of the
Game Creator subsystem. New
educational scenarios can be
shared with other users.
knowledge
creator
The Knowledge Creator has
access rights to the
Knowledge Integration
subsystem and can add new
learning objects to the
platform’s database.

17. 17
Overview of the GameIt digital platform

18. 18
Underlying pedagogical framework (1/4)
Theoretical concepts related to the
domains of Digital Game-Based
Learning and Gamification
Educational design
benefits from constructive
alignment
Detailed definition of involved
roles
Theoretical concepts related to the
formation and operation of
communities of practice
Create It
Share It
Game It

19. 19
Underlying pedagogical framework (2/4)
• The educator can be considered as
the orchestrator of the actions that
occur in the virtual world.
• Based on the development of fit-for-
purpose educational scenarios, the
educator defines learning activities,
which can be associated with
learning objects and gamification
elements.
• Every educational scenario
constitutes an educational digital
game able to be delivered through
the platform.
• The development of the gamified
scenarios is based on a template that
serves as a guide to educators.
Create It
Share It
Game It
GUI allowing access to the authoring
tool (Game Editor Subsystem)
GUI allowing access
to the embedded
LOR (Knowledge
Management
Subsystem’s DB)

20. 20
Underlying pedagogical framework (3/4)
• Emphasis on nurturing an expertise
sharing culture among educators.
• This is accomplished by providing
educators with tools and
functionalities that allow for:
– developing educational scenarios from
scratch,
– accessing, editing and creating copies of
existing scenarios so as to meet
different educational needs, and
– sharing educational scenarios.
• There is potential to facilitate the
formation of communities of
educators, fully aligned with the
norms typical to communities of
practice [4].
Create It
Share It
Game It
GUI allowing access to the authoring
tool (Game Editor System)
• Availability of the option to track all
changes made to existing educational
scenarios helps toward framing
platform-enabled interactions into
the appropriate ethics context.

21. 21
Underlying pedagogical framework (4/4)
Create It
Share It
Game It
• Digital Game-Based Learning and
Gamification have provided guidelines
for the design of a highly interactive
environment in which executed
activities are authentic and meaningful
to the learner.
• Users are presented with a 3D virtual
world incorporating a number of
characteristics typical to digital games.
• Learning activities take place on a
virtual island where the learner is able
to navigate with the help of an avatar.
• Through the use of advanced 3D
graphics all visualizations become
realistic, whereas there is potential for
an interaction experience similar to that
offered by contemporary digital games.
• The user can explore the virtual world
and visit existing landscapes and
buildings (laboratory, museum, castle,
lake) that lie on the island, as well as
experiment by interacting with virtual
objects that have been attributed a
number of characteristics.
• All learning activities, and their
sequence of execution, are the result of
a careful and detailed educational
design, targeting at the achievement of
well-defined learning outcomes.

22. 22
Evaluation methodology
• The adopted evaluation methodology involves:
– evaluation of the use experience of the platform, and
– investigation of users’ attitudes toward the learning effectiveness of the platform.
• Evaluation instrument: a two-part questionnaire
– Part 1: an appropriately modified version of the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) [5]. It included a
total number of 26 Likert-type questions, divided into the following six categories: (i) challenge, (ii) flow, (iii)
negative affect, (iv) positive affect, (v) fantasy, and (vi) tension.
(targeted at assessing the experience of interaction with the gamified educational scenarios delivery environment)
– Part 2: it included 15 Likert-type questions, divided into the following five categories: (i) motivation, (ii)
cognitive development, (iii) expectations, (iv) effectiveness, and (v) overall learning satisfaction.
(targeted at investigating learners’ attitudes toward the learning effectiveness of the platform)
• A number of preliminary findings from a pilot use of the GameIt platform, conducted with the
participation of N=48 elementary school students, are presented.
• The pilot took place at an elementary school located in Naoussa, Greece, in March 2015.

23. 23
Evaluation results: user experience
was rated with a score of… 3.26
of participants reported
that it was not difficult to
get engaged in the
execution of the gamified
educational activities
81.25%
Nearly 9 out of 10 users
reported a low degree of
required in-game effort
A little bit more than 8out of
10 participants stated that it
was easy to achieve the
assigned learning objectives
of users reported that
engagement in the
gamified educational
activities facilitated their
learning
68.75%
out of 5

24. 24
Evaluation results: perceived learning effectiveness
Active involvement of learners in the gamified
educational activities offered an increased motivation
for learning. Motivation was rated with a score of… 4.75out of
5
All participants reported that a game-like
context for the execution of learning activities
is more preferable than traditional teaching
methods
vs
more than 9 out of 10
participants consider
interesting the potential
to becoming engaged in
gamified problem solving
activities
More than half of
participating students believe
that the offered game-like
learning environment enables
the application of existing
knowledge
&
68.75%
of participants reported a
deeper understanding of
subjects-related, domain-
specific concepts

25. 25
Conclusions and further research
• The GameIt platform provides both educators and learners with the opportunity to create and
participate in gamified educational activities respectively, by taking advantage of a range of well-
documented benefits of Digital Game-Based Learning and Gamification.
• With the evaluation process being in progress and by taking into consideration the preliminary
findings that have been derived from a first, pilot use we are in position to conclude that the
GameIt platform may effectively support the vision for a ubiquitous virtual school, able to cater
for stakeholders’ needs.
• Apart from investigating learners’ use experience and attitudes toward the use of the platform,
there is also interest in researching the platform’s usability and perceived learning effectiveness
from the educators’ point of view.
• Further evidence will help us draw more rigorous conclusions with respect to the platform’s
capacity to effectively support the design and delivery of gameful learning experiences.

26. 26
Visit the project’s website and Facebook page
http://www.gameit.gr/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/GameIt/15322481
27023262?fref=ts

27. 27
References
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Defining “Gamification”. Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning
Future Media Environments, Tampere, Finland, pp. 9-15.
2. Huotari, Κ. & Hamari, J. (2012). Defining Gamification - A Service Marketing Perspective. Proceedings of the
15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments, Tampere,
Finland, pp. 17-22.
3. Boehm, B.W. (1988). A Spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement. Available at
https://www.dimap.ufrn.br/~jair/ES/artigos/SpiralModel Boehm.pdf, accessed on 24 February 2015.
4. Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 47-58.
5. Brockmyer, J.H. et al. (2009). The development of the Game Engagement Questionnaire: A measure of
engagement in video game-playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), pp. 624-634.