Why Badges Work Better Than Grades
“What are badges? Think back to when you were a girl scout or a boy scout. You can get merit badges (I just checked!) in just about anything from Citizenship of the World to Graphic Arts to Scuba Diving (http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/Merit… or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit_badge_%28Boy_Scouts_of_America%29). There’s a lot of them and they are cute too. And they all have certain stuctural features in common. ”
“Badge is a recognized visual (physical or virtual) device or ornament or (heaven forbid!) piece of jewelry that typically designates in its design the symbol, insignia, colors, or name of the organization conferring it.”
“There is some equally visual symbolic representation of the knowledge, skill, goal, or feat for which the badge denotes mastery, accomplishment, service, or authority (such as when taking an oath to become a fire fighter). “
“The badge has to be accepted by a larger community as a legitimization of that which it represents. It stands in as the end result of a longer, hidden institutional process. A badge is a means of identification with the issuing organization, a conferal of some kind of status (as having met the requirements of that organization or of being employed by them). “
“The badge has to not just credentialize or certify learning but should also motivate it. By organizing a set of skills and interestsinto an actual, definable, measurable skill capable of assessment and judgment, badges inspire students to greater mastery. A hobby becomes definable as an intellectual, creative asset, something to be tended, improved, honed, perfected, advanced, and innovated. As with a game challenge, attainment becomes the floor not the end point, it becomes a step on a way towards even greater mastery. The badge inspires a certain form of learning by naming it and honoring it.
By Cathy Davidson on Mar 21, 2011, 09:49 AM
via http://www.hastac.org/blogs/cathy-davidson/why-badges-work-better-grades
Why Badges Are So Important For An Organization Or A Company
“A badge is a very important part of an organization, it not only helps in streamlining day to day operations but also in better projection of corporate image of the company or an organization. Now a question may arise how a badge can help in streamlining day to day operations. This is especially more relevant in case of organizations or companies that that serves the clients physically on the daily basis, like hotels and hospitals. Imagine a scenario in the hospital…Badges are immensely popular among people of all groups. If used creatively they can boost the popularity of your brand as effectively as any other form of advertising. Use of badges as a promotional item is also very cost effective. The average budget for this kind of promotional campaign is much lower than most other promotional campaigns”
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution No Derivatives
f8 Conference Badges “Now who are you again?” Facebook designers stumbled upon a novel approach to the usual name tag problems.
“The conference badge is a challenging design conundrum. John D. Berry duly likens them to highway signs in this Font magazine article. How do we create a template for names which vary widely in length, while making each one legible enough to reduce the chances of an awkward chest gaze?
The in-house design team at Facebook, including Ben Barry and Everett Katigbak, engineered one of the more innovative solutions in their tags for last year’s f8, the Facebook developer conference.”
Posted by Stephen Coles, Mar 23, 2011
via http://fontsinuse.com/f8-conference-badges/
Nerd Merit Badges Bring Foursquare Achievements to Real Life
“If you’re a fan of the mobile check-in service Foursquare, why not wear your proverbial badge on your sleeve? A company called Nerd Merit Badges plans on bringing your Foursquare exploits to real life with a series Foursquare Nerd Merit Badges.”
[via BuzzFeed]
[img credit: John Young]
http://mashable.com/2010/02/16/foursquare-nerd-merit-badges/
http://www.nerdmeritbadges.com/collections/foursquare
Foursquare Badge: Douchebadge
“Double pop that collar, son!”
Earned for checking in multiple times to venues tagged “Douchebag” by users, the Foursquare Douchebadge is the one that caused a tempest in a teapot on TechCrunch.
Foursquare Badge: Gym Rat
“10x trips in 30 days? Go reward yourself to the nastiest double cheeseburger you can find (bonus points for cheesy fries and milkshakes). And ps: you look nice today!”
Foursquare Badge: JetSetter
“Hopping around the world one airport at a time… congrats on your 5th airport checkin and safe travels!”
When we asked which Foursquare badges to make, this one was at the top of the list!
…
Collect Park Badges
America’s National Parks offer badges to people. They can collect all the badges of the parks they have visited and post it on their websites, Facebook…. to show people.
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/park-badges/
Android pin badges: 86 to collect!
“We always knew that Mobile World Congress 2011 was going to be a big year for Android, but we had no idea it was going to be this big. Google tells us that there are in fact 86 Androids appearing at the show this year.”
14 February 2011 18:03 GMT / By Chris Hall
via http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/38558/google-android-badges-limited-edition
Badges
A new TV series about 15 century crime family has just started screening. For their launch promotion they partnered “with foursquare to release a new Borgias badge”
“Follow Showtime. Hit up the old haunt, feast in a dining hall or carouse at a tavern. To earn the Borgias badge you must act the part.”
via Chris Thompson and http://aboutfoursquare.com/
Here is a blog that tells you all about it and badges
http://aboutfoursquare.com/category/badges/
“On Foursquare Day, April 16, if you check into Foursquare you could soon be the owner of this badge, but foursquare hasn’t revealed exactly what it will take to earn it”
New York Public Library becomes the first library in the world to offer a foursquare badge.
At this years SXSW festival foursquare has launched:
badges for everything at SXSW: Disco Nap, SXSW Bender, 10 Gallon Swarm, SXSW Hangover, Name Dropper, SXSW Bar Crawl, SXSW Far Far Away, Golden Ticket…
and 3 partners also offered batches: Blackberry, SPIN and Bravo
In order to unlock Blakberry SXSW 20011, on had to follow Blackberry on fourthsqaure and watch for clues on Twitter
SPINsider 2011: Follow SPIN on foursquare, check in at on of the shows and listen to their 35 Must-Hear Acts of SXSW
Bravo Platinum Hit: User had to follow Bravo and check in at the panel March 16 to earn their batches.
and many more….
Interview mit Sebastian Deterding
In meiner Recherche zu Gamification bin ich relativ früh auf Sebastian Deterding gestoßen. Er forscht seit einiger Zeit im Bereich Gamification und ist mittlerweile international bekannt. Hier mal ein paar Auszüge aus einem Interview mit ihm.
Spielemechanismen werden benutzt um Menschen zu motivieren etwas bestimmtes zu tun bzw. ihr Verhalten zu ändern.
Gamification funktioniert nur bei:
Freiwillige Partizipation: wenn ich nicht auf einer Highscoreliste erscheinen will, aber automatisch an einem “Spiel” teilnehme, kann es demotivierend sein.
Motivation sollte vorher nicht vorhanden sein: wenn ich ein Ticket lösen will, bin ich schon motiviert dies zu tun. Wenn ich erst durch ein Spiel zu meinem Ticket komme, wirkt es ebenfalls demotivierend oder sogar frustrierend.
Hauptsächlich besteht ein Game aus folgenden drei Elemente: Ziele, Regeln, Feedback.
Was laut Sebastian Deterding noch in der Gamification Welt fehlt ist:
Bedeutung: Gamification-Anwendungen verlieren sehr schnell ihren Reiz, wenn sie nicht an etwas andocken das in meinem Alltagsleben wirklich wichtig ist. Beispielsweise haben viele Foursquare schonmal ausprobiert, verwenden es aber nicht mehr.
Meisterschaft: Spiele machen uns nicht deswegen Spass weil sie uns belohnen, sondern weil sie uns Erfolgserlebnisse geben. Nicht der Erhalt der Punkte, sondern das meistern der Aufgabe macht Spiele reizvoll.
Autonomie: Spielen MÜSSEN ist ein Widerspruch in sich. Spiele im Arbeitskontext sind oft nicht freiwillig, sondern aufgezwungen.
Gamification Research Network
“The Gamification Research Network (GRN) is a communication hub for academic and industry researchers and students interested in studying the use of game elements in non-game contexts. It was launched in November 2010 alongside the call for participation for a one-day workshop on the topic at CHI 2011.
The purpose of the GRN is to further research in the area by providing a repository of relevant people, projects, and publications, and by offering a shared space of discussion and publication.”
http://gamification-research.org/
recently published papers:
http://gamification-research.org/chi2011/papers/
“The internet allows people to get organized in entirely different ways”
The founders of soundcloud Alex and Ljung share and talk about their passion, and how the internet:
“The internet allows people to get organized in entirely different ways. A lot of the inspiration to how information is organized – how decisions are being made, and how people participate…”
Experience The Energy 