[Edu-sig] Use of "badges" to encourage learning

Clint Johns clint.m.johns at gmail.com
Thu Jun 27 19:59:43 CEST 2013


Hacker Scouts in Oakland, CA uses badges too, and is a blending of Scouting
and the Make Movement, and uses badges.

http://hacker-scouts.org/

Boy Scouts also recently launched a STEM program with new badges:
http://www.scouting.org/stem.aspx


On Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 10:56 AM, kirby urner <kirby.urner at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 7:17 AM, Andre Roberge <andre.roberge at gmail.com>wrote:
> There seems to be a trend on various websites to award users "badges" to
> keep track of progress.  Other than the rationale that "everyone is doing
> it this days so it must serve a purpose", do any of the edu-sig readers
> have experience with using "badges" or similar tricks to encourage learning
> when it comes to programming beginners?
> ______________________________
>>
>>
>
> We discussed it at work recently, the sociology of badges.
>
> Mozilla is into badges.
>
> http://openbadges.org/
>
> Having recently attended an Eagle Scout induction ceremony, I was reminded
> of the importance of badges within scouting.
>
> As a reminder that badges are earned in technical areas, I link to this
> picture from the ceremony program:
>
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirbyurner/9003955894/in/set-72157634062648346/lightbox/
>
> Once you factor in GPS / GIS as a kind of computing, the overlap with
> existing scouting badges is way more than just Robotics or Electronics.
>
> Given we now have in Portland a "Code Scouts" (codescouts.org) and given
> "Bar Camp" and "Foo Camp" have always used this "camp" metaphor, I think
> there's a undercurrent whereby badges would be carried forward within the
> geek community, within open source especially because that's where you find
> a lot of interest in ethics, codes of conduct etc. -- similar, again, to
> scouting.
>
> That's in the mode of a sociological analysis.
>
> As a distance education company (oreillyschool.com), our collective
> thought seemed to be that any advantages to our students have to do with
> the weight badges would or would not have with prospective employers, and
> that, culturally speaking, badges haven't mattered at that interface.
>
> "Rank" on the other hand, has some bearing.  Like when you become an Eagle
> Scout, you may get letters from quite a number of organizations who somehow
> arrange to get that mailing list (I found this out talking to one of the
> dads, who joked about his son's getting letters from the Illuminati).
>
> "Rank" is more what you get with larger chunks of work.
>
> I'd say badges are a more like internal local variables that might well be
> further adapted within a code learning setting.  They're somewhat esoteric
> and help with bonding.  Stamps in one's passport have a similar status.  In
> a less formal sense, T-shirts and other swag play this role of signifying
> "I was there" or "I am aware of this technology".
>
> However it doesn't logically follow that academic institutions should
> embrace the badge system, since they already have their own systems of
> "credits"  and a credentialing system based on diplomas and certificates,
> schools supported (as student, as faculty, as alum) and so on.
>
> "Job title" has a more "rank" smell (I guess there's a pun there) and in
> writing a resume or c.v., the listing of details under each job may have a
> "badge like" quality.  That's where you show off your particular blend of
> Kung Fu (see below).  Then there's the military itself -- of course -- with
> a kind of badging historically embroidered directly into the uniform, along
> with rank.
>
> http://www.vanguardmil.com/  (ribbons, patches, decorations...)
>
> Geeks go with name tag paraphernalia, other swag, stickers on the laptop
> also important.  Tattoos?
>
> geekytattoos.com
>
>
> paulmullins.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/geek-ink-geek-tattoos-and-consumer-culture
>
> I predict a further blending of aesthetics along this interface, but with
> a more Chinese / martial arts flavor (more "Asiafied").
>
> The idea of white, yellow, brown and black belt has some currency, along
> with the thought that each person cultivates a blend of practices, stays in
> shape in different ways (a different blend of Chi's and Fu's ("cheese and
> foos")).  Entered into evidence:  chifoo.org
>
> CHI:
>
> http://www.odditycentral.com/videos/old-chinese-man-moves-objects-with-qi-chi-energy.html
> (chi relates to energy or vital force)
>
> FU:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_guardian_lions
> (aka Fu Dog or Foo Dog -- as in "what blend of foo dog are you?" or "what
> temple do you guard?" (i.e. what worthy lineage do you serve / protect?))
>
> The martial arts approach provides a good blend of "school" and "rank" and
> is consistent with a Pacific Rim economy (including Silicon Valley and
> Forest) that sees itself as pioneering in high technology.
>
> Kirby
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Edu-sig mailing list
> Edu-sig at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/attachments/20130627/bbed2da2/attachment-0001.html>


More information about the Edu-sig mailing list