Gamification is a relatively new concept in education. It is something that we can use to motivate students and teachers to be their very best and to pursue extrinsic rewards with our badges. I have decided to try out gamification with the teachers at Mar Vista Academy because I think they will benefit from this type of professional development.
Badge List is a web based platform that allows users to create badges and to submit evidence to earn these badges. I have created a Badge List learning group for Mar Vista Academy teachers to learn about different technology tools that can better themselves and better their classroom practices. At the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year I will have approximately 30 badges available for teachers to earn. These badges range from technology tools to iPad apps to classroom message. There’s even a badge for guest bloggers on this block. Teachers who are interested in earning a badge simply sign up for badge list, join the learning group, and click on the badge they are interested in earning. Users then submit evidence for each component of the batch. This evidence could be a link to a student product a written explanation, or a picture.
In the future I hope to expand badges to Google tools and for more advanced creation such as teachers creating their own tutorials.
I also will create badges for parents to learn about the different technology tools that we had at Mar Vista Academy. From feedback from parents they would prefer online trainings to in person sessions because online meets their busy scheduling needs. Badges for parents will include the different tools we use at school such as canvas and Jupiter, ways to manage technology at home, and sample student products.
Reflecting back on this badge creating process I have learned a lot for myself. One of the coolest things that I have gotten experience with is Google draw. Google draw is a simple way to create graphics and illustrations that is user-friendly and does not rely on a large skill set of programs such as Photoshop. For a graphic designing newbie such as myself Google draw was easy to learn and easy to use. I enjoyed creating each and every badge that you see in our Badge List learning group.
Check out our BadgeLIst learning group:
1. Go to http://www.badgelist.com/mva-viking-teachers
2. Sign up for BadgeList and join our learning group "MVA Viking Teachers"
3. Click on the badge “Badge Beginner”
4. Click on “Post Text” in the required evidence section and follow the instructions there
I will then review your evidence and award you the badge.
Here are some sample badges you can earn:
