Exploring indicators of engagement: applications for gamification of online training systems

Abstract

In recent years, gamification is being used in business organization for an increased employee engagement in the 
work place. However, less has been said about engagement of employees in online training to learn new skills and 
knowledge that may help or improve status quo in the organization. This paper explores the engagement indicators 
and game elements that may foster employee engagement in online training. The study employs an iterative step-bystep methodology that is used in information technology for the development of artefacts. As a result, a framework to 
implement the gamification technique in online training is proposed. The framework consists of a gamification 
construct that contains a set of commonly used game elements such as points, levels, challenges, rewards, 
competition, progress bar, leaderboard, badges, and feedback. The framework also contains three engagement 
dimensions including behavioural, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. To achieve the main objective of the study, 
an iterative process used by information technology researchers to develop new artefacts and their constructs is 
employed. As for the formulation of the hypothesis, for the evaluation of gamification’s influence on employee 
engagement when attending an online training, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is employed.