#BadgeChatK12 Archive
#BadgeChatK12 was founded in December, 2014 by a group of educators who are passionate about credentialing learning and achieving. While there are thousands of us around the globe issuing badges to learners, there was not yet a regular twitter chat for those of us in the K-12 space to gather for learning and sharing about badging. After reaching out to leaders in the field (like the good folks at Mozilla and The Badge Alliance) for their thoughts, #BadgeChatK12 was born.
Monday August 29, 2016
Welcome to ! Your moderators tonight are and me:) Excited to learn with you BadgeChatters (and Lurkers!)
Let’s get to know each other. What do you teach? Where are you? Do you use badges or just curious?
hi .. Out in Western Massachusetts ... I teach sixth grade .. Just popping in out of curiosity
Hi! I'm Shelly. I teach college students in Tx & we do badging through Canva. I use Credly for my conferences, etc
Welcome! Great to have you with us this week! We love our NWP peeps!
Santa Barbara based PD company here, issuing badges to educators!
awesome! Welcome! Love your digital storytelling resources & other edtech things you do!
Our Writing Project site is exploring micro-credentials for our teachers as an alt route for leadership
Anh in CA, lurking on . My badge project is https://t.co/slKqmYzC8M , a platform that aggregate badges for discovery…
Super grateful to have some amazing leaders in the PD Badging space here this week!
welcome! Looks like you're filling up something nice!
Ahn is too humble to point out that he's a Badge OG from the eariest days. Tap his expertise! https://t.co/CuSpdX5BrB
Anh in CA, lurking on . My badge project is https://t.co/slKqmYzC8M , a platform that aggregate badges for discovery…
Alright, question 1 on the way...
Q1: How are Badges and Gamification different?
welcome! Thank you for joining the convo!
A1: I feel as if badging is 1 element of Gamifying a classroom but doing 1 doesn't mean you have to do the other
So you see them as related. Are they capable of being mutually exclusive?
A1 I see gamification as pedagogical incentive strategy while badges are symbols of discovery and experience.
A1: I view Badges as symbols that can represent credentials, Gamification as way to engage users, motivate behaviors
I love this way of describing it. Can you say more about the "discovery" word and your thinking about that?
I def think you can have gaming action without badges
A1 Badges as microcred w/evidence attached is more than a gamified mechanic. Its intent is different. IMHO I prefer microcred
Agreed. Think badges hold more weight, or might be viewed as more professional. https://t.co/9qZ6lfPfRf
A1: I view Badges as symbols that can represent credentials, Gamification as way to engage users, motivate behaviors
I gamified my social studies class last year and did not use badges with much success.
in the house!!! This is a star-studded chat already!
I will admit to being "not yet convinced" on either (gamifying educ space and badges), but open to possibilities.
you wrote the book on it so it's great to have your thoughts here! 👍🏽
My game this year involves badges as credentials and the Ss seem to love it!
Great point! Does incorporating gaming elements take away from or impede micro-credential effort?
Any lessons learned you can share from the experience?
I've had badges with adults and not gamification. Lol! I fear my adults might find gamification more for YLs
learning is the act of discovery ... A badge might represent a facet of learning in a person's longer path.
Any links/resources to share from this year's approach? Would love to learn from you!
I can tell you that gamifying my classroom changed the game completely. The Ss have never been more engaged.
Great discussion cooking...keep in going. In the meantime, Question 2 coming in hot!
Q2: When do Badges and Gamification play nice together?
Meaningful gamification works as a structure. Microcred just works better, IMO. My Ss were apathetic to class badges
any place you have written about your experience? I would like to learn more from you.
my suggestions are baby steps because both can be huge tasks and to stick with it means baby steps
I am working on gamification and PD for my dissertation. I’ve great success with our staff so far.
as opposed to simply an artifact. I like it.
how do we differentiate between microcredentials and badges? Do we? Am I stuck on naming things?
My greatest resource is from . Created a board game last year and a simulation game this year.
A2: piggybacking on point, a gamified structure can help w engaging ss who don't buy micro-creds at start
Microcreds are portable, outside one classroom. does this in Aurora
Not necessarily mutually exclusive...squares vs rectangles.
Myblog: https://t.co/0NPiVhMSO1 I have info about last year. Just beginning the process this year but will write soon
great question. We always have evidence attached to badges - so microceds?
Badges *can be* micro-credentials, but not all are
I'll be interested in your dissertation. I teach college
A2: Gamification can be the means to earning a badge whether for Ts or Ss.
A2. I suspect it is when gamification has defined global goals and badge represents accomplishment of those goals
Fast and furious chat here. Question 3 up next...
Q3: What are important design considerations when planning around Badges and Gamification?
A2: I started using missions & badging as 1st steps in Gamification. I still haven't done a fully gamified class yet elements
A2:Badges represent accomplishments in the game and material mastered throughout the year.
I think this is evidence that you walk the talk in terms of baby steps. Start small before going big!
A3 I would hope the gamification system and badges would be co-built with students, not top-down from teachers.
I started with mini-games and then went into full gamified class. Its a big commitment but worth it.
A3: For me, knowing which is the tail and which the dog. It will help focus energy and effort => meaningful outcomes 4 lrners
what do students do with the badges when the year ends? Do they port them to next class/year?
Always good advice ... https://t.co/3fAmNUufq9
I think this is evidence that you walk the talk in terms of baby steps. Start small before going big!
A3: important for Ss to be able to achieve but to also feel the growth of challenge and want to strive to each level
Enjoying watching the chat progress. Victoria, Spanish teacher 6-12 from Iowa. Thanks for your discussion!
In , Badges follow ss throughout academic career and even to employers in community
A3: Need to be able to communicate a lot (about how the badge was earned) in just a little bit of space when creating badges.
A3. empathy for your users. Not everyone is nec as jazzed about badges and gamification as we nerds are ;-)
There are only a few teachers gamifying their class and its usually themed so the badges end with the class.
Involving stakeholders is so huge for building ownership, culture...yet so often overlooked!
A few Ss came back today to show me their badges on the front of their folders from last year.
Is that sort of like targeting their level of readiness +1?
That porting of badges into community from school is great. I suspect, rather unique?
One last question on your way out the door...
Q4: Let’s reflect! What are your takeaways from this week’s chat?
It is, their current level of mastery related to our content
cool. I love that kind of story of sustainability
love this idea! Tie this idea to a k-12 strategy and make it an actual k-12 strategy
Hopefully we are merely front end of growing wave in recognizing ss' assets + opening doors
A4 I wonder about students who don't want to buy into gamification and badges. Is there an 'out' for them?
Luckily, after two years and almost 150 students there has not been one who has not bought into it!
Great question! In Aurora, the opt out is less in earning the credential and more about whether to use as currency
I can see true potential for vocational schools and experiential learning in the trades
do you have them competing against themselves or against each other makes a difference
can you explain further? Is everyone required to participate?
nice! I almost wouldn't want to create this problem unless it raised its head - then fake it ;-)
A4: Part of design process may need to be learning from users whether gamification or Badges is most important to them
So far, for Ts, implementing in class is opt-in. For ss, depends on the teacher
Thx to for moderating, to new chatters for joining, the regs for being you and to the lurkers, we value you!
Thank you for the informative tonight. I was just gonna lurk but you know how that goes ...
Great to have you! Really appreciate your amazing mind pushing the dialogue!
Thanks for the great chat! and !
what type of workplace buy in is needed for this? Trad acceptance or continuation?
I suspect there is 'trust' factor ... Is badge backed by documented learning?
yup. Why I love badges. You can kick the tires on evidence yourself
only if the system is transparent enough ... Fancy badges look nice but ....
