DIGITAL BADGES
I have designed over 600 unique badges for different projects, these are awarded to users when they complete tasks in the games, online courses and virtual worlds. Badges have been awarded over 2.1 million* times on the Computer Science STEM Network.
The research was funded through The McArthur Foundation and National Science Foundation
*As of March 2023
I have designed over 600 unique badges for different projects, these are awarded to users when they complete tasks in the games, online courses and virtual worlds. Badges have been awarded over 2.1 million* times on the Computer Science STEM Network.
The research was funded through The McArthur Foundation and National Science Foundation
*As of March 2023
Modern digital badges are descendants of both the merit badge systems from the Scouting tradition (e.g. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts), and the Achievement systems of online video gaming. Both connect accomplishments with a compact, portable form of recognition designed to motivate earners to pursue further achievement.
The initial research focused on this aspect of Badges, and found that their ability to motivate learners is real, yet nuanced. Certain types of learners respond differently to certain types of Badges, both positively and negatively. The implication for Badge Design is that the details matter: a clumsily-designed system could end up hurting some learners’ motivation rather than helping!
Badges have been redesigned to include only the types of recognition that were found to have net positive gains in student motivation.
Every Games & Virtual Worlds page has a slide showing badges/achievements, please view individals badges there.
The initial research focused on this aspect of Badges, and found that their ability to motivate learners is real, yet nuanced. Certain types of learners respond differently to certain types of Badges, both positively and negatively. The implication for Badge Design is that the details matter: a clumsily-designed system could end up hurting some learners’ motivation rather than helping!
Badges have been redesigned to include only the types of recognition that were found to have net positive gains in student motivation.
Every Games & Virtual Worlds page has a slide showing badges/achievements, please view individals badges there.