Exploring the impact of gamification on skill development in special education - A systematic review

Oct 15, 2026

A systematic literature review examines how gamification affects skill development in special education settings. It addresses the effects of gamification on learners with special needs and identifies gamification domains, groups, and research trends. The review highlights reported technology techniques that enhance skills among individuals with disabilities, with particular emphasis on learning-related skills. Inclusion and exclusion were performed using PRISMA standard procedures, and results show gamification design supports development of multiple skills, while gaps remain for future research.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Digital technology and special education needs

Evidence for gamification benefits

Gamification elements and learner engagement

Review scope and method

Contemporary Educational Technology, 2023, 15(3), ep443 ISSN: 1309-517X (Online) OPEN ACCESS Review Article Exploring the impact of gamification on skill development in special education: A systematic review Elham Hussein 1 0000-0002-3421-2453 Ashraf Kan’an 2* 0000-0003-2258-9496 Abeer Rasheed 3 0000-0003-4839-0653 Yousef Alrashed 3 0000-0001-8546-4813 MalekJdaitawi 3 0000-0001-7536-1933 Ahmed Abas 3 0000-0003-4800-3510 Sherin Mabrouk 3 0000-0002-3680-9472 Mona Abdelmoneim 3 0000-0003-4417-4793 1 Al-Ain University, Al-Ain, UAE 2 Irbid National University, Irbid, JORDAN 3 Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, SAUDI ARABIA * Corresponding author: [kanan_ashraf@yahoo.com](kanan_ashraf@yahoo.com) Citation: Hussein, E., Kan’an, A., Rasheed, A., Alrashed, Y., Jdaitawi, M., Abas, A., Mabrouk, S., & Abdelmoneim, M. (2023) . Exploring the impact of gamification on skill development in special education: A systematic review. Contemporary Educational Technology, 15(3), ep443. [https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/13335](https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/13335) ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Received: 6 Mar 2023 Accepted: 17 May 2023 Special education settings have experienced technological innovation that have advanced the development of various skills. Gamification is increasingly used to enhance the skills of individuals with special needs. There have been some studies and limited systematic reviews of gamification in general and special needs settings in particular, however, gamification design applied to special needs lacks a comprehensive systematic review. This article conducts a Literature review of gamification in special needs settings to investigate the effect of gamification in special needs as well as to identify gamification domains, groups and trends for individuals with special needs. Valuable data has been highlighted concerning the technology techniques used in enhancing the skills of individuals with a disability. However, further studies are still needed to examine areas, where research is lacking in the gamification field. The preferred reporting items for literature reviews and meta-analysis PRISMA standard was adopted for inclusion and exclusion criteria’ in this study such as including, eligibility, screening, dentification, and inclusion and exclusion steps. The results revealed that gamification design facilitates the development of various skills among individuals with special needs. Additionally, gamification design was mostly used to enhance the learning skills of individuals with a disability. Keywords: special needs, gamification, literature review, outcomes INTRODUCTION In recent times, the development of digital technology has made it possible to increase the range of learning alternatives, which has brought about innovations learning and teaching (Jdaitawi, 2019, 2020a, 2020b; Jdaitawi & Kan’an, 2022; Manzano-Leon et al., 2021; Muhaidat et al., 2022; Rasheed et al., 2021; Solimanet al., 2022) . In special education, unique teaching and learning strategies are needed for the facilitation of learning and skills acquisition of individuals with special needs, including the acquisition of communication and behavioral skills (Baragash et al., 2019; Cifuentes et al., 2016; Jdaitawi & Kan’an, 2022; Jdaitawi et al., 2022a, 2022b; Manzano-Leon et al., 2021) . Various individuals all over the world have disorders, either cognitive or physical, which call for increased assistance during their learning process (Adam & Tatnall, 2017; Baragash et al., 2019; Eldenfria & Al-Samarraie, 2019) . Gamification has been found to be useful in promoting different types of skills, including educational, psychological and social skills (Zainuddin et al., 2020; Zimmerling et al., 2019) . Studies have been conducted to identify the benefits, opportunities and challenges experienced by students in the application of gamification in the education field (Zainudd

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this systematic review?

To investigate the impact of gamification on skill development in special education and to identify gamification domains, groups, and trends for learners with special needs.

Which framework was used for study inclusion and exclusion?

The review adopted the PRISMA standard for literature reviews and meta-analysis, using defined inclusion and exclusion steps.

What did the review conclude about gamification design?

Gamification design facilitates the development of various skills among individuals with special needs, especially learning skills for learners with disabilities.

Oct 15, 2026

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