Experimenting with badges

It's now possible to issue digital badges in Moodle, so I decided to experiment with an "English Grammar" badge in one of my writing courses in Winter. Students who demonstrated proficiency received a badge at the end of the term, and the badge became a part of their Moodle profile.

I had a good number of questions about digital badges... Did the badges motivate students? Were they more willing to complete course work? Did they care about badges? How many students would earn one?

At the end of the term, 20% of students in the course earned a badge, and I surveyed all students about their experience to learn more about their thoughts on badges. While the results were somewhat mixed, more students expressed a positive opinion about badges. Many were neutral; however, a few expressed strong opinions. Comments ranged from, "Yes -- it motivated me!" to "Honestly, I could care less about the badge system."

I will repeat the experiment this term, so stay tuned for more results.

Some results from Moodle digital badge survey