With all of the challenges and work towards earning badges, I thought I’d take some time to read a little about them. In other courses, I’ve read about gamification, so I was already familiar with the concept, but I’ve not had a chance to participate in anything like this. Until now.
According to Merriam-Webster (2023), gamification is “the process of adding games or gamelike elements to something (such as a task) so as to encourage participation.” I’ve seen this often through my academic career. Encouraging students to participate through the use of games seems to be an easy way (from a student’s perspective) to engage students in the material. I’ve seen instructors create obstacle courses, play bingo, even set up their own version of Jeopardy in the classroom.
As a college student/grad student, when tasked with creating a game as an assignment, you really see how much work goes into the process. From start to finish, gamification is a big endeavor – so you should make sure it is going to work for your classroom. I know I respond very well to the challenge of games, but others won’t always be the same way. Some students are going to be more introverted, others aren’t going to be motivated by prizes, so it’s important to make sure that the right environment is present for the games to be effective.
Speaking of prizes…. In middle school, our prizes were candy. In high school/undergrad, our prizes were bonus points on an exam. Now, we have the opportunity to earn digital badges. I think these are pretty cool. It’s a way of showing your achievements.
As a part-time gamer (it’s my off-season because of school), I love unlocking achievements in games. That’s one of the things you strive for, right? I don’t know any gamers whose goal is to go straight to the finish line. In doing that, you miss all of the side quests, the bonus levels, the extra gear, the hidden things, and easter eggs. You’ve gotta get those achievements, those badges, to level up your character to make the game even better.
And who doesn’t love to show off those badges just a little??
Bornfeld and Rafaeli (2017) did a study on gamifying and badges. They wanted to see if badges would have a positive impact on user behavior. They completed a big data natural experiement and collected the data from a website. They exported this data to a spreadsheet and then analyzed it. This study did support the hypothesis of positive results to using badges as motivation but did cite issues and threats to the validity of the study. The authors also agreed that as with previous studies, the effect of implementing badges depends on the quality of the users.
I feel like there will be a place as the world continues to dwell in the digital realm where the badges are going to become important for resumes. I took a Microcomputer Applications course, where upon completion of each section, I received a digital badge for my proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Those are now such common applications to have knowledge of that I don’t feel the need to display the badges on my resume or LinkedIn, but that’s just an example of where things might be going. If I took a course in Adobe Photoshop, instead of a printable certificate to submit with a resume, I wouldn’t be surprised if I received a digital badge nowadays.
Bornfeld, B., & Rafaeli, S. (2017). Gamifying with badges: A big data natural experiment on Stack ExchangeLinks to an external site.. First Monday, 22(6). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v22i6.7299
Merriam-Webster. (2023, June 3). Gamification definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamification
No comments:
Post a Comment