The Role of Gamification in a Post-Pandemic World: The Experience of China

Introduction

In most countries, the COVID-19 outbreak was rapid and unexpected. The first known case occurred in late December 2019. Subsequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020), at which time many countries imposed strict movement restrictions through early 2022 (Ioannidis, 2022). By the second half of 2021, more than 70% of the global population was expected to have been vaccinated or infected (Ioannidis, 2022). Although the current COVID-19 case burden is decreasing, virus transmission continues to demonstrate high infectivity and seasonal characteristics (Ioannidis, 2022). Most of the population has reduced COVID-19 contraction risks; however, the perceived individual risk remains highly overestimated.

Following the 2019 identification of COVID-19 and its initial characterization in early January 2020, the containment goal of China was to interrupt local transmission of the novel coronavirus (Li et al., 2020). The Chinese government actively conducts nucleic acid testing on the public to produce an accurate illustration of COVID-19 spread. These efforts also aim to control its spread in an efficient timeframe. The routine nucleic acid testing is enhanced by testing all close contacts of an infected person (Li et al., 2021).

Since September 2020, all close contacts of infected people are required to undergo three tests throughout a 14-day intensive quarantine period (Li et al., 2021). Given the vast and dense distribution of the Chinese population, the government has developed a detailed and highly effective nucleic acid testing strategy (Han et al., 2022). Ensuring that the public completes nucleic acid testing promptly has become a challenge for the government (Han et al., 2022).

In response to the rapid COVID-19 spread in early 2020, the Chinese government implemented the highest-level (first level) emergency response in most provinces and cities. This was accompanied by the strictest restrictions on public life nationwide (Chen et al., 2020). The most important Chinese New Year celebrations were cancelled and people had to abide by home quarantine requirements. Schools, factories, government offices, and most public facilities were closed until the outbreak was effectively controlled (Chen et al., 2020).

The rapid COVID-19 outbreak highly influenced Chinese university operations, specifically the teaching and learning systems (Qiu et al., 2021). Under the Chinese Ministry of Education guiding principle of “interrupting courses without interrupting learning,” Chinese universities ensured that teaching continued through various means (Huang et al., 2020). The motivation to ensure social distancing led to remote teaching becoming the primary approach to reduce virus spread during the pandemic (Kwon et al., 2020).

During online teaching, educators were required to resolve the challenges of sustaining student engagement and motivation. Simultaneously, long teaching hours, social isolation, and technological interventions distracted students from the classroom, which led to online fatigue among both teachers and students (Nair, 2022). Students were mentally fatigued from attending too many online classes. In addition, teachers struggled to teach via digital platforms, asserting that the new teaching models increased their workloads (Lei & So, 2021). Specifically, tourism educators designed customized virtual practicums (virtual lectures, discussion boards, virtual group projects, augmented or virtual reality [VR]-based learning, simulations, and gamifications) and students welcomed the new teaching model (Seo & Kim, 2021).