This paper analyses the use of a daily gamified microlearning approach in education and its learning outcomes. It compares the effectiveness of two different gamified approaches, based on two different versions of a microlearning app offering daily learning challenges. This research provided additional information on student preferences regarding the implemented gamified methods and their overall acceptance for this learning method.

The perseverance when using established but outdated learning systems and approaches in a constantly changing society leads to reduced effectiveness when attempting to reach younger generations. Applying future-oriented solutions, which differ from established learning methods, could support the success of new learning approaches. In this paper, we want to introduce a novel learning concept by combining in-game advertising and learning.

Virtual Reality (VR) offers significant potential for public speaking training. Virtual Reality Speech Training (VR-ST) helps trainees develop presentation skills and practice their application in the real world. Additionally, participants with public speaking anxiety can improve their presentation skills in a safe virtual environment without fear of judgment. Another benefit is direct feedback based on gamification principles, which provides users with information about their performance during training and allows for the adjustment of behavior in real-time. However, it is not yet clear if direct feedback based on visualization through icons is accepted by participants, such that it may support learning transfer in VR training applications. As a result, we set out to investigate how direct feedback in a VR -ST affects the participants' technology acceptance based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). We conducted a between-subjects experimental study in order to compare a VR-ST with direct feedback (n = 100) with a simulation-based VR-ST (n = 100). The resulting MANOVAs demonstrated a preference for the direct feedback version for all TAM determinations, showing that direct feedback offers benefits to trainees by improving technology acceptance, independent of location and without supervision by trainers. Further results show that VR-ST is generally more accepted by participants without public speaking anxiety. Our findings indicate that developers of VR public speaking applications should focus on the inclusion of meaningful direct feedback and consider individual differences between users in order to optimally implement training measures.

In order to keep up with technological developments and to be able to work efficiently, the training methodology must be kept up to date. A typical approach when innovating corporate training is to adopt new technologies. We attempt to deliver a common set of characterisations and concepts that allow us to classify and define extended reality training.

The demand for high-quality video games is ever increasing and the ambition to tell truly interactive and dynamic stories is a significant factor contributing to this trend. This paper examines how generated narrative text is perceived by players in terms of meaningfulness, immersion, and flow and furthermore that the presented novel approach can be a valid method to implement computer-generated dialogues. For this approach, generative grammars are used to create written dialogue within a conversation for a learning application. With the support of sentiment analysis, the generated text is analysed with a focus on its semantics. Suitable text lines based on the current game state are provided by a dialogue system. Principles of gamification are used to create a learning application that renders such a generated dialogue scenario playable. To test this hypothesis, a user study examines the capabilities of the process by having players assess factors, which are imperative for a narrative game. The learning application shows strong potential in terms of text variation and dialogue that is easy to follow.

Virtual Reality (VR) has been gaining importance due to its numerous advantages as an immersive technology for learning applications. Next to being used in fields like manufacturing, transportation, communication, retail and real estate, it has also increased in significance for human resources development. Virtual human training programs offer exposure to difficult situations without supervision in a safe and controlled environment, as they simulate nuanced interpersonal situations and therefore allow users to gain new skills and apply them to real-life situations. Furthermore, VR training engages employees in a training session by being presented with a realistic situation designed to challenge and engage them. Practising in a controlled virtual environment also allows for easy and objective measurements of user development and the identification of strengths and weaknesses. In this paper, we evaluate if there is acceptance for practising a presentation in a VR-Speech Training (VR-ST) session using six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) and if the 44 participants of this study improved, from a subjective point of view, valuable soft skills needed to give a convincing presentation in real life. We observed a positive tendency in the acceptance and effectiveness of the VR-ST.