AI and Gamification for Inclusive and Engaging Learning.

A Preliminary Scoping Review

Autors

Francesco Palma; Valeria De Padova; Gianluca Amatori.

Abstract

This preliminary scoping review explores the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and gamification in education, aiming to map emerging evidence, implementation models, and good practices for teaching and learning. It examines how AI-based systems, adaptive feedback, learning analytics, and gameful design can support engagement, personalization, inclusion, and students’ active participation. Following a non-exhaustive review design, the contribution identifies recurrent applicationareas, pedagogical opportunities, and critical issues, and the risk of reducing motivation to automated rewards. The review argues for moving beyond a merely technical view of innovation, framing AI and gamification as educational mediators that require intentional design, methodological coherence, and attention to relational and affective dimensions. The outcome is a first conceptual map to inform future empirical research and teacher education.

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence; Gamification; Education.

Bibliografia

Cavus, N., Ibrahim, I., Ogbonna Okonkwo, M. O., Bode Ayansina, N. B., & Modupeola, T. (2023). The Effects ofGamification in Education: A Systematic Literature Review. BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 14(2), 211-241.

Pelizzari, F. (2025). Strategie ludiche per l’apprendimento. Gioco, Videogioco e Gamification in contesti educativi e didattici. Lecce: PensaMultimedia.

F. Palma, E. De Mutiis, Playing for Inclusion: evaluating Board Games as a Tool for Enhancing Executive Functions, in QTimes. Journal of Education Technology and Social Studies, 17(4), 2025, pp. 433 – 446.

E. De Mutiis, P. Pavone Salafia, F. Palma, G. Amatori, Artificial intelligence and inclusive teaching: reflections from the use ofa chatbot to support instructional design and teacher professionalism, in Journal of Inclusive Methodology and Technology inLearning and Teaching, 5(3), 2025, pp. 1 – 10.

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