"Badging" is an educational buzz word at the moment, but badging is nothing new. The practice of badging has been around forever and is every where from I-voted stickers, to certificates of recognition, to actual badges on police officers. And badging when done well encourages a certain type of behavior or motivates an accomplishment of some kind.

I'd like to shout out to a particular effective example of badging in the faculty hallways. This is the CFT sign hanging outside my door. It both recognizes me for my professional development efforts, and exerts a subtle pressure for others to participate in others. Furthermore, when I walk by my colleagues offices there is again that social pressure. Sort of a professional keeping up with the joneses going on.

The question that gets asked a lot lately. Is can we motivate learning with badges?

And the answer is yes, automated learning sites are already doing this. Precisely because they lack the traditional incentive systems of grades, they have to look elsewhere to motivate learners to complete learning objectives.

Talk about IXL

Khan Academy example

Open Study