A Gamified Virtual Learning Environment to Enhance Online Teaching and Learning Experience

In-class teaching not only concentrates on lecture content delivery but also on maintaining strong mutuality between lecturer-students and student-student. Online lectures are gaining popularity due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the learning-teaching process has become ineffective because existing video conferencing solutions are not intended for academic purposes. This research was conducted to identify the pain points of online education and develop an enhanced software solution. A user survey confirmed that an isolated environment tends to diminish attentiveness during online lectures. Also, it is difficult for teachers to observe the attentiveness of all the students. As a solution, student attentiveness was measured using their facial expressions and collected data shown to lecturers through a virtual student behavioural environment. The physical separation causes students to feel isolated during lectures, which can negatively affect their academic development and social and psychological development. The developed application also provides a virtual group study environment as a feature. According to the results gathered in the user acceptance testing phase, it was found that the attention detection feature helps students keep their attention at a significant level. Further, 9 out of 10 teachers who participated in the testing acknowledged that the simulated student behavioural view could provide a more immersive experience. 71% of students preferred the new collaborative virtual environment, and students further elaborated that the virtual environment was more likely the physical group studies. 72% of students mentioned that the collaborative group study tool helped eliminate isolation during group studies.