Use of Gamification as an active methodology in Spanish Secondary Education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Employing active methodologies is a key element in educational innovation that has been assessed by the Observatory of Educational Innovation of the Universidad a Distancia de Madrid (Open University) since its establishment. Gamification stands out among these active methodologies, both in terms of its potential as well as because of its media interest. Research in education has brought about clarity regarding its characteristics and essential elements, highlighting its possibilities and advantages as a dynamizing element in teaching-learning processes. The goal of this article is to provide a quantitative analysis of the percentage of use of gamification in the first semester of the 2020-2021 course in Spanish secondary education, and to identify variables that influence its use and implementation. To this end, non-stratified sampling through questionnaires has been employed to enable the analysis of the use of gamification in 177 secondary and upper-secondary classrooms. In general, the data gathered and analyzed in this study suggests that gamification is a methodology on the rise after the exceptional situation of the lockdown, although it is used as a supporting methodology and its implementation in Spanish secondary education institutions is insufficiently established. Furthermore, type variables such as school, specialty, years of teaching experience and pedagogical training constitute significant values when implementing the methodology.