Mostafa Hamadi

Gamification plays a pivotal role in enhancing user engagement in the Metaverse, particularly among Generation Z users who value autonomy, immersion, and identity expression. However, current research lacks a cohesive framework tailored to designing gamified social experiences in immersive virtual environments. This study presents a framework-oriented systematic literature review, guided by PRISMA 2020 and SPIDER, to investigate how gamification is applied in the Metaverse and how it aligns with the behavioral needs of Gen Z. From 792 screened studies, seventeen high-quality papers were synthesized to identify core gamification mechanics, including avatars, XR affordances, and identity-driven engagement strategies. Building on these insights, we propose the Affordance-Driven Gamification Framework (ADGF), a conceptual model for designing socially immersive experiences, along with a five-step design process to support its real-world application. Our contributions include a critical synthesis of existing strategies, Gen Z-specific design considerations, and a dual-framework approach to guide researchers and practitioners in developing emotionally engaging and socially dynamic Metaverse experiences.

The role of information systems (IS) in sustainability has increased, and so has the demand for sustainability skills and competencies as organisations and people pursue sustainable ways of operating and living for the planet, the plants, the people, and the profit. Educational institutions are critical in enabling sustainable development as they provide learning environments for sustainability education (SE). Universities worldwide are integrating SE into curricula to enable learners to develop essential sustainability competencies for various industries.

The IS curricula need a clear agenda for integrating SE to develop the essential skills and competencies for sustainable design and use of IS. Yet, the IS discipline lays the foundation for rethinking diverse information technologies (IT) in organisations and the everyday lives of individuals and groups.

We propose a critical investigation of how IS academics integrate SE into the current IS curricula. The study will reveal how the integrations are mapped to the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), the economic, social and governance (ESG) framework, and the external curricular bodies such as the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The investigation will reveal the targeted sustainability competencies essential for IS practice. The anticipated outcomes are intended to guide the integration of SE in IS curricula in universities and develop critical sustainability competencies for enduring IS practice.

In recent years, “sustainability education” in Higher Education has become an increasingly popular topic among researchers driven by the constant calls for the research community to contribute novel research that can aid in building a sustainable world. The objective of this paper was to explore how sustainability concepts have been integrated in Information Systems (IS) curricula, to determine the state of knowledge in this area and provide guidance for future research. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage scoping review process, the current landscape of sustainability in IS classrooms is mapped and key themes and factors which were found to influence sustainability education in IS are identified. Eight databases were searched for relevant papers published on this topic. Fifteen articles were selected and deemed high quality for a thematic analysis. As a result, nine themes emerged from the thematic analysis, and key research gaps and directions for future research are presented. The findings show that there is currently no unified approach to sustainability education in IS. This paper presents the themes in a novel conceptual research framework which can guide the incorporation of sustainability concepts in IS education. In addition, the framework can be used as the basis for future research in this area.

The traditional definitions of Industrial Symbiosis broadly describe it as a symbiotic relationship between enterprises usually operating in close geographic proximity within an industrial precinct where the reduction of waste and by-products through re-use of these materials is the goal, and is more recently described within the broader construct of Circular Economy. But there is more to a successful industrial precinct than simply the business-to-business relationships associated with these by-product material exchanges. The literature is slowly beginning to explore the presence of various forces that also have a role to play. The novelty of this research is that these forces have been explicitly identified as being a mix of four relationship-based synergies. These were identified and crystallized through a series of four sequential papers, and provisionally grouped under four headings, or dimensions; Materials Exchange, Skilled Workforce, Support Industry, and Governance. The purpose of the research was to develop a model which could be used to create a dimensional profile for any given industrial precinct. For each of these dimensions, a set of five influencing factors were identified, and collectively they were used to build a profile for a given industrial precinct. Analysis of the dimensional influencing factors was expected to deliver insights into the extent to which they may or may not be impacting the performance of the enterprise actors located within it. Respondents from four distinct groups associated with the precincts (policy makers, precinct managers, enterprise managers and representative groups) were selected for the research and were asked to characterise their precincts by rating each set of dimensional influencing factors. The major finding of the research was that the reason for the relative strength or weakness of an industrial precinct can be described under this four-dimensional framework which has been called the KIC4 Model of Industrial Symbiosis. The evidence after testing these influencing factors in various state, national and international greenfield and brownfield precincts confirmed that the data obtained showed the interrelationships and can be used to enhance the design or re-design of complex industrial precincts to equip the existing enterprises and those considering locating within them, to achieve higher levels of circularity and production efficiency.

The integration of digital technologies in Higher Education (HE) has dramatically changed the way students learn, however it has also raised critical concerns about the sustainability aspects of digital learning. Although a considerable amount of literature has been published on digital learning and Sustainable Development (SD) in HE, further research is needed to establish a comprehensive research framework which synthesises and organises the knowledge in this area. This paper draws on a critical review of the literature to develop a conceptual research framework on sustainable digital learning in HE from an Information Systems’ lens. The proposed framework is the outcome of a thorough integrative review, followed by a thematic analysis of relevant sources which outlines common research themes in the literature and identifies major areas for future research. The proposed framework provides researchers and educators with valuable insights on the use of digital technologies to promote SD in HE and highlights the importance of sustainability awareness. It further defines focus areas and future research directions which can guide their research, thereby assisting in building a coherent body of knowledge in this research area.

Recently, Social Media (SM)’s adoption as educational instruments in Higher Education (HE) has been gaining popularity among researchers and practitioners. Nonetheless it has been adopted to support various learning approaches such as Cooperative Learning (CL). Despite the growing research in this field, few studies have proposed a comprehensive SM integration framework as well as empirical studies to evaluate its effectiveness. This paper examines how SM is being used as a pedagogical tool in HE and identifies major factors that drives SM’s inclusion in HE classrooms. In addition, the paper investigates the effectiveness of a previously proposed integration framework which was developed to promote CL using a popular SM platform, LinkedIn. A survey was administered to collect data from students in different subjects at a university in Australia. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was adopted for data analysis using IBM’s SPSS26 and AMOS26. One of the notable results of this study is the significant positive relation found between the use of the adopted integration framework and CL, SM challenges’ mitigation, students’ intention to use SM and their learning process. The findings of this study have important implications for practice and pave the way for future empirical studies.

Despite the considerable body of literature on social media (SM)’s use as formal educational tools within universities, little has been done to provide a comprehensive adoption framework for SM as cooperative learning (CL) instruments. Nonetheless, the pedagogical arguments for SM’s use in HE have theory support. This paper proposes an original SM integration framework based on CL methods within higher education (HE). An integrative review of relevant literature followed by a thematic review of six peer-reviewed empirical research and a thorough examination of relevant SM adoption models are conducted to identify commonalties and themes. In total, six themes were identified and incorporated as major components in the proposed framework. To the best of our knowledge, no previous research has proposed a framework that incorporates CL principles to support an effective SM integration process in HE. This paper proposes a novel integration framework which is a theoretically driven pedagogical guide for incorporating SM in HE’s classrooms. It provides valuable insights on SM’s use in education and forms the basis for future quantitative and qualitative (framework-testing) research in this area of study.

Social Media platforms have for a while been embraced by educational institutions as powerful instruments in reaching larger audiences. In fact, universities’ involvement in Social Media in the form of creating and administrating Social Media “Profiles” dates back to the very start of the Social Media evolution. Seen as innovative highly influential instruments, Social Media with its different platforms has been implemented largely in universities’ marketing strategies, support services, and recruitment tactics. Nonetheless, few available scholarly have in the past addressed the practicality of conducting a Return on Investment (ROI) process for organisations, let alone for educational institutions. Given that having a clear forecast of the benefits and rewards for implementing Social Media in universities is a key factor leading to its adoption, developing a ROI for higher educational institutions remains a necessity. In this research, a ROI model that depicts the use of Social Media in the higher educational context is developed. Furthermore, an extensive research on SM’s use by universities was conducted to identify key factors that drives the need for universities’ Social Media adoption. The study also provides valuable insights on the elements of effective SM branding through identifying major factors of successful branding strategies. In addition, after a detailed investigation, the research suggests a SM branding approach that adds value to existing research and can be adopted by universities as a valued approach to reaching effective SM branding.

Social Media (SM)’s use as pedagogical tools in Higher Education (HE) institutions is gaining robust momentum among researchers from different disciplines. While most universities implemented Learning Management Systems (Blackboard Learn, Moodle, etc.) as essential instruments in their teaching and learning(T&L) methods, the adoption of SM platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, etc., as in-class educational and communication tools is still in its infancy. Despite the numerous available studies on SM’s adoption as T&L instruments in HE, little has been made to develop a standard framework for SM’s integration as effective educational tool in classroom environments. This paper followed a thematic review of 19 relevant studies to analyse and identify common practices and findings on SM’s inclusion as T&L tools in HE. Subsequently, the findings formed the basis in developing a conceptual framework for SM’s integration as pedagogical tools in HE classrooms. This framework introduces SM’s adoption process as a formal educational tool, the development of SM implementation processes, and assists in understanding the influence of SM on education environments. The research outlines major findings in current literature, thereby, providing valuable insights on SM’s use in education, besides forming the basis for future quantitative and qualitative researches in this area of study.