Badgifying the School Experience

Badgifying the School ExperienceKevin Collier & Dr. Denise FordNorth Kirkwood Middle SchoolSt. Louis, Missouri USA

About us and our SchoolKevin Technology Specialist Denise Gifted Teacher (SOAR) 6th, 7th, 8th

NKMS 680 Students, aged 11-14. Every student has an iPad Mini, enabling a 1:1 learning environment. Kirkwood is a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.

How Did We Get Here?!?- A Recipe for Success..Gamer Mentality Life is a series of quests, in which you must Level Up your skills in order to defeat the challenges (Bosses) that pop up on your journey- Thanks NerdFitness.com!Gamification in Schools Been reading articles about making learning fun by bringing in elements of game design in the educational space.Vocabulary.com 7th grade began using site in order to boost their vocabularyGamification Class Former Librarian, then Denise took a class that featured badges as rewards for skills acquired or achieved.

Untappd- the beer app.Badges are awarded based on beers you drank.It made me realize that badges have always been around us.But the real reason was.

The AwakeningBadges are Everywhere!!

If Badges are the new way to demonstrate skills, but they are also rewards and accomplishments, why couldnt we do this for kids to reach, engage, and improve?

NKMS & Open Badge FactoryCreated a Closed Open Badge PassportBadges are awarded for participation in School Experience, Behavior, Contests, but also inside the classroom based on contentMastery of skills.Students apply for badges via our homepage (Hopefully, theyll be able to apply through the passport soon)

Examples of our Badges

Our Passport

Content-Related Badges- 2 Examples

Content-Related Badges- 2 Examples

In SummaryWe both feel this has enormous potential.Teacher/Staff buy-in is critical they have to help create the buzz.We are starting with students first but could see where this could also transfer to a professional development model for teachers.This could spread to the other schools based on our success.

Feel Free to Contact Us!Kevin Collier- Technology Specialistkevin.collier@g.kirkwoodschools.org

Denise Ford- Gifted Teacherdenise.ford@g.kirkwoodschools.org