Open University of the Netherlands

Get Gamification of MOOC Right: How to Embed the Individual and Social Aspects of MOOCs in Gamification Design

Massive Open Online Courses frequently suffer from low completion rates and diminished user engagement, largely because they are often structured as traditional academic environments rather than flexible, goal-oriented platforms.

• Gamification in MOOCs must move beyond superficial mechanics like points and badges to integrate psychological theories of social presence, flow, and implementation intention.
• Effective design requires treating individual learning objectives and collective social interaction as a unified system rather than isolated features.
• A structured, six-phase design methodology has been developed to address low completion rates and engagement by shifting MOOCs from traditional academic structures to goal-oriented platforms.