#competition ethics

I have only one experience with digital badges in an academic setting. In a Education course we used the system Rezzly in which students complete activities online and when they have met all requirements they are given a badge. This badge indicates that the user has sufficiently learned the knowledge required to move on from a topic. It was an interesting concept, one that I had never seen before. I liked aspects of it.

I enjoyed the newness of it. Something to break the monotony of classes. It also allowed me to explore topics at my own rate and delve deeper into those topics that caught my eye. Unfortunately, it was not all a good thing. Though it doesn’t paint the best picture of me, I will admit that there were instances that I did the absolute bare minimum to receive a badge, either because I was short on time, or the topic didn’t interest me. If I were to use this with students, I would seriously consider how to minimize the potential for students to ‘scrape by’ while still receive full points.

I like the concept of digital badges having the ability to contain actual data that conveys what the badge encompasses and a potential expiry date. The reason our first aid certificates and such have expiration dates are because knowledge fades over time and information and understandings change! You don’t want a badge (or a certificate) to indicate that a person has a deep understanding of the pertinent information when in reality their knowledge is outdated and not fresh in their mind to begin with. Now this is something that would be less of a concern in primary and secondary education, but it needs to be considered none the less.

I do really like the idea of using these as Professional Development opportunities. It offers an interesting perspective of allowing teachers to explore new avenues on their own time and it has the potential to enable more authentic development, rather than development that is condensed and often results in widely varied experiences (i.e. one teacher is more invested and gets more out of a PD session, the other is less interested and got less out of it but both carry the ‘credential’ of having done that particular PD.

 Motivation

Abramovich et al discuss student motivation and badges having the ability to motivate learners by turning their education into a quest/game/journey. They look at the Achievement Goal Theory and its implication with digital badges in young students. Though in particular I liked that they considered the potential negative impacts of badges when students who are less skilled in the specific areas are asked to complete these activities. They also consider some possible solutions though, unfortunately, nothing concrete. With the idea of motivation, my immediate thought was the competition aspect of badges. Is there an innate level of competition when students are ‘awarded’ for their success?

It raised the question, do badges (digital or otherwise) remove the element of self-actualization and replace it with, in a classroom, learning for the sake of ‘winning’? Do we run the risk of prioritizing recognition over self-fulfillment? If that is the case, it is a dangerous path to lead our students down. How quickly will their self-esteem become attached to their accomplishments? I don’t know. I also know that I am being hypocritical here. I believe in competition. I believe in being proud of your accomplishments. I really do. I hold my awards, certificates, and medals close to my chest because I worked hard for them and they are proof that my hard work has payed off. So I don’t disagree with recognizing success and yet I am torn. In our Education classes we were told to be wary of insinuating a hierarchy with the grading system. Rightfully so. Yet how do we then recognize our students who succeed academically? I believe we have to, so then how do we do so without discouraging the students who (through no fault of their own) are not capable of reaching that level.

This blog post highlights some of the questions that came to mind when I was exploring the topic of Digital Badges, though he speaks mostly of concrete awards in his entry.  

 I’ve gotten off topic a bit. Please excuse the above ramblings. I’ve always struggled with how to healthily introduce competition in classrooms.

But back to badges specifically.

I would use them in Web-Based Teaching I believe. Though I am still weary. The lack of physical interaction between students would limit the competition aspect of them. There is little opportunity to compete against classmates when you never actually see them face to face. I imagine that students would show more deference to their classmates over an educational platform in which their teacher is always able to see their interactions.

 Another article that explores the history of digital badges and their “affordances for online education activities and experience” is ‘Digital Badges in Education’  by Gibson et al. This was an interesting read and served to offer up some things to take into consideration. Highly recommend if you are interested in looking into using Digital Badges in an online class.

SB

References

Abramovich, S., Schunn, C., & Mitsuo Higashi, R. (2013). Are badges useful in education?: It depends upon the type of badge and expertise of learner. Educational Technology Research Development,61(2), 217-232. doi:10.1007/s11423-013-9289-2

George. (2017, January 16). The Impact of Awards. Retrieved March 4, 2019, from https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/1079