Bb Achievements to Support Competency Based Learning

Tue, 04 Nov 2014 13:01:13 -0500
achievements, badges, bb-migration, blackboard, competency-based-learning, gamification

As announced earlier this semester, Winter and Spring 2015 courses will be hosted by Blackboard directly instead of by DoIT. As part of this change, we will also upgrade to the Spring 2014 version of the software, which provides several new features.

In this migration update, we'll highlight the new Achievements tool.

What are Achievements?

If you have watched anyone playing a video game, you know how the digital universe motivates people. Faculty can also motivate students in the upcoming Blackboard with a form of "gamification" by incorporating badges into their courses. With the Blackboard achievements tool, faculty can provide this kind of incentive by designing a badge system to encourage students to explore and participate more.

A student's badge collection can represent the key learning milestones that he or she met. Earned badges can show a complete view of a person’s skills and achievements.

Being rewarded is also a powerful extrinsic motivator. One of the best rewards is recognition for a job well done. Finally, providing these opportunities for rewarding students throughout a course can create a map of what they can learn.

Learn 7 things about badges and 7 things about gamification from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative

Get ready to use the Achievements tool in Blackboard, coming in January 2015

Read more about best practices with using Achievements

Stay tuned for a new update on a new Blackboard feature! Sign up for an information session to learn more about the migration to Bb managed hosting and other Bb resources. Drop in for a support clinic or sign up for DoIT training.