Applying Badges in the Classroom

Society today is heavily focused on new innovations, and everyone desires to develop the best ideas. When it comes to the classroom a different notion has been considered, which is gamifying or using game elements in school to encourage students' learning. One aspect of this is using badges to reward students' behavior. In this post by Chris Aviles he describes how he has used badges or achievements as he calls them in the classroom, despite that many believe awarding students this way will, "intrinsic motivation to learn." He gives several examples and do's and don't's of using badges. A point that he makes that is valid is that educators should make badges as concrete as possible. Having badges along the lines of the friendliest student of the day or the most helpful makes it difficult to determine which student deserves the badge, and it can cause trouble between the students. Therefore, he suggests to make badges something more measurable, such as, giving rewards to those who hand in their homework early. The idea he presents does show that students will be inclined to want to participate in class. Chris also mentions that pupils should receive timely recognition for their achievements, because the child is more likely to repeat the good deed if they rewarded immediately or soon after they completed the achievement. With these aspects in mind it is possible to effectively use badges in the classroom.