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In the past, the educational badge was an extrinsic means of rewarding the motivation to learn. Based on continued research, however, the badge began to be recognized as a scale to measure the learner’s knowledge and skill and an important means of helping learners to gradually build intrinsic motivation by using certain extrinsic motivators. As the badge’s value has grown, the importance of its design has garnered attention.
The objective of this research was to establish a badge design framework that can be used in a gamified learning environment.
Data were collected from previous studies on badge design, 943 badge cases were extracted from 11 online and offline gamification in education contents, and their patterns and features were analyzed.
Based on the analysis of results from previous studies and 943 collected badge cases, our study suggests three conditions for badge design. Through the literature review and collected badge cases, our study designed a badge design framework. First, it is necessary to distinguish whether the type of learning activity required for earning badges is physical or conceptual. Second, it is necessary to distinguish whether the scale of an activity required for earning badges requires individual learning or interaction-induced learning. Third, it is important to review whether the time and effort invested in earning badges is simple, repetitive, and short-term or continuous and long-term. Based on these three conditions, collected badge cases were analyzed. To verify self-developed badge types, we conducted a chi-square test on the collected cases and confirmed that there was a significant difference for each of the eight badge types (Pearson chi-square 1117.7,
Through its literature review on previous studies, this study demonstrated the badge’s educational effectiveness. The badge design framework suggested in our study is expected to resolve some of the difficulties experienced during the badge design process in a gamified learning environment, encourage efficient badge design, and maximize learning effect.
Gamification in education applies game elements to an educational context [
Gamification in education: better learning experience, better learning environment, instant feedback, better prompting of behavioral change, and better applicability in terms of most learning needs compared with game-based learning and educational games
Game-based learning: increases learner’s memory capacity and computer and simulation fluency, helps to quicken strategic thinking and problem solving, develops hand-eye coordination, and facilitates skill-building
Educational gaming: improves motor skills, social development, focus and memory ability, self-esteem, and creativity
As interest in online learning environments has grown greatly, so has interest in digital badges. We conducted a keyword search for digital badges in Google Trends. The results showed that its search trend has been on the rise since 2010 (
The badge is a product of the learner’s invested time and efforts; furthermore, it functions as a scale that indirectly indicates one’s ability level to others [
Keyword search results in Google Trend (blue: gamification, red: game-based learning, yellow: serious game, green: educational game). The x-axis is time from 2004 to April 11, 2019. The y-axis is the search volume provided by Google Trends and range is 0 to 100.
Regional interest by country in Google Trends from 2004 to April 11, 2019 (deeper color indicates more interest).
Interest in digital badges as shown in Google Trends. The x-axis is time from 2004 to April 11, 2019. The y-axis is the search volume provided by Google Trends and range is 0 to 100.
Google Trends keyword search result related to digital badges.
Al-Azawi et al [
It was suggested that gamification in education can deliver a gameful experience in the education environment through game design elements, facilitate the learner’s use of game-like thinking and strategies, and provide an immersive learning experience. De Sousa Borges et al [
Mastering skills: enhance or improve the learner’s ability through complex and repeated activities that use gamification in education
Challenge: aid the learner in actively participating in learning activities to improve their learning
Guidelines: provide the theoretical background that helps with gamification settings in the education context
Engagement: maintain or promote the learner’s interests in learning activities
Learning improvement: reinforce the learner’s learning activities through a gamified solution and maximize the outcomes of the learning process
Behavioral change: encourage and facilitate changes in the learner’s behaviors through the gamified system
Socialization: provide an efficient learning behavioral change through the gamification for social activities such as communication and decision-making
Gamification in education contexts can also induce affordance in terms of learning. Majuri et al [
Gamification in education helped to introduce innovation into the education environment by providing many benefits to the learner. As gamification began to be applied into the education environment, many different game mechanics began to be used. Dicheva et al [
To collect badge cases, Google search was used and previous studies and related books were reviewed. The cases were collected from Dec 1, 2018, to January 31, 2019. The search keywords were badge in gamification, badge example in gamified learning (classroom), educational badges, and (gamification in education contents names) badges examples. The collected cases were summarized and arranged in Excel 2013 (Microsoft Corp). The study referred to six types of digital badge metadata that were suggested by McIlvenny [
To make a badge design framework, we considered the mutually exclusive collectively exhaustive (MECE) approach. Compared with previous studies, we have minimized the weaknesses of self-developed badge design framework considering MECE. To verify a self-developed badge design framework, we conducted a Pearson chi-square test using SPSS Statistics version 23 (IBM Corp).
To present an efficient badge design framework, we collected 943 badge cases from 11 online and offline gamification in education contents that used badges and were available to the public.
Codecademy [
In these cases, the time periods required to earn badges were calculated in terms of the number of days. The time periods used in the cases, on a minute or hour basis, were converted into decimals based on a period of 24 hours (one day). In the collected cases, the unit used to measure physical activities, such as walking, running, and walking upstairs, was converted into kilometer. We referred to the Kyle’s Converter website [
Introduction of gamification in education for badge collecting.
Gamified learning contents | Category | Type | Badges, n | Reference |
Codecademy (forum) | Community | Software (online) | 60 | [ |
Codecombat | Education | Software (online) | 51 | [ |
Duolingo | Education | Software (online) | 44 | [ |
Edge | Royalty management | Software (online) | 24 | [ |
Fitbit | Health care | Software (app + hardware) | 62 | [ |
Khan Academy | Education | Software (online) | 97 | [ |
Memrise (forum) | Community | Software (online) | 50 | [ |
Nike Plus | Health care | Software (app + hardware) | 78 | [ |
Passport to Success | Education | Print out work + software (online) | 300 | [ |
Pokemon Go | Health care | Software (app) | 123 | [ |
Sololearn | Education | Software (online) | 54 | [ |
The numerical values for the other activities, except the physical ones (eg, solving quizzes, earning likes, and so on), in the collected badge cases were input without conversion:
Badge name: name of the badge used in learning content
Application domain: domain of the learning content that applies to a badge
Reward criteria: activity criteria required for earning a badge
Activity interval: period of time spent in earning the badge. Recorded on the basis of a day (24 hours) (eg, 5 hours = 0.21 days, 3 weeks = 21 days, 1 year = 365 days)
Activity amount-1: physical activities (walking, running, and walking upstairs), among others, conducted to earn the badge. Converted into km (eg, 1 mile = 1.61 km, 1 step and 1 stair step = 0.0008 km)
Activity amount-2: quantitative amount of activities required for earning the badge assigned for the relevant contents, except for badge cases dealing with health care (eg, earned 20 likes = 20, 50 links shared = 50, 30 solved problems = 30)
The x-axis indicates the interaction of the player participating in an activity. It is divided in terms of individual activity without interaction between players and activity requiring interaction between players. The y-axis indicates the type of learning activity required for earning a badge. This is categorized into the following types: physical and conceptual. The z-axis indicates the time and effort required for investing in a learning activity in order to earn a badge. It is divided as follows: short-term simple repeated activity and long-term complex difficult activity.
To be precise, carrying out a learning activity alone provides a sense of familiarity. In the gamified learning environment, however, interacting with other learners is effective for improving social skills such as communication [
Among the cases collected by this research team, Passport to Success [
Suggested badge design framework.
According to the experiential learning theory developed by Kolb [
The teacher considers the physical learning environment while providing efficient learning experiences because the physical learning environment is a major variable that affects academic achievement [
Conceptual learning activity plays an important role in the development of reasoning, categorization, memorization, problem solving, and generalization, which cannot be learned through physical activities [
Among the cases collected by this research team, physical learning activity cases included learning n or more computer programming skills, uploading n or more posts, and posting n or more mentions. Health care apps included walking n steps or running n km. Conceptual activities included solving quizzes related to the learning content, implementing a more effective algorithm (compared with the existing one), uploading n posts, and posting n mentions. As a special case, Khan Academy [
Using an experiment, Ebbinghaus [
The problem of forgetting easier and simpler knowledge and skills can be solved through short-term repeated learning. In a gamified training environment, the learner can acquire knowledge and skills through simple repetitions [
Of the 943 cases collected by this research team, 306 badge cases offered concrete examples. Taking 1 day as 1440 hours, the average period required to earn a badge was 165.46 days, the minimum was 0.01 days (15 minutes) [
This study suggests eight badge types for three badge design conditions (
Three patterns were extracted from badge cases collected by this research team. First, online platforms were considered. Badges in Codecademy (forum) [
Second, health care apps were also considered. They included Fitbit [
Last, Passport to Success [
Suggested badge types.
Description of badge types.
Type | Framework | Description and goal of badge | ||
X-axis | Y-axis | Z-axis | ||
Practice | Physical | Alone | Short-term | Badge type for a simpler and easier learning activity that should be repeated alone for a short-term period Badge type that is provided when it is necessary to acquire a lower-level skill in order to learn a higher one |
Mastery | Physical | Alone | Long-term | Badge type for a complex and difficult physical learning activity that should be performed alone for a certain period of time Badge type provided when a higher-level skill should be refined by using a lower-level one |
Tikitaka | Physical | Interaction | Short-term | Badge type for a simple learning activity that should be repeated with other learners for a short-term period Badge type provided when a basic skill required for performing the final project in a team activity needs to be learned |
Guild | Physical | Interaction | Long-term | Badge type for a physical learning activity that requires collaboration and cooperation with other learners for a certain period of time Badge type provided when immersion is needed to produce a final project outcome in a team activity |
Study | Conceptual | Alone | Short-term | Badge type provided for an easier and more repetitive conceptual learning activity (eg, memorizing a simple math equation or studying grammar) Badge type used when it is necessary to encourage a basic knowledge learning activity to learn a higher-level concept |
Research | Conceptual | Alone | Long-term | Badge type provided for a complex, difficult, and continuous conceptual learning activity (eg, memorizing a calculus equation or learning a difficult algorithm) Badge type provided when immersion and encouragement are required for a learning activity involving a difficult algorithm or a concept based on a lower-level concept |
School | Conceptual | Interaction | Short-term | Badge type for a learning activity that encourages collaboration and cooperation in order to overcome limitations at an individual level; it can be acquired over a short-term period Badge type provided for immersion and encouragement in an activity that requires learners to share opinions with one another in order to suggest the final project idea in a team activity |
Laboratory | Conceptual | Interaction | Long-term | Badge type provided for a learning activity that encourages continued collaboration and cooperation in order to perform a long-term project or resolve a particular issue Badge type provided when it is necessary to encourage each team member to perform his or her role in order to complete the final team activity project |
The distribution of suggested badge types in collected learning platform cases.
Gamified learning contents | Practice, |
Master, |
Tikitaka, |
Guild, |
Study, |
Research, |
School, |
Laboratory, |
Codecademy (forum) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (8) | 6 (10) | 31 (52) | 18 (30) |
Codecombat | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 32 (63) | 11 (22) | 8 (16) | 0 (0) |
Duolingo | 4 (9) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 24 (55) | 8 (18) | 6 (14) | 2 (5) |
Edge | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 4 (17) | 2 (8) | 1 (4) | 17 (71) |
Fitbit | 29 (47) | 33 (53) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
Khan Academy | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 38 (39) | 31 (32) | 19 (20) | 9 (9) |
Memrise (forum) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 11 (22) | 7 (14) | 24 (48) | 8 (16) |
Nike Plus | 43 (55) | 30 (38) | 3 (4) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Passport to Success | 6 (2) | 13 (4) | 17 (6) | 12 (4) | 120 (40) | 57 (19) | 44 (15) | 31 (10) |
Pokemon Go | 40 (33) | 65 (53) | 4 (3) | 8 (7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (5) | 0 (0) |
Sololearn | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (9) | 8 (15) | 25 (46) | 16 (30) |
Our study describes a badge design framework for improving the learner’s learning motivation in a gamified learning environment and for introducing innovation into the learning environment. In past educational settings, the badge was simply an extrinsic reward; however, it has now become one of the devices that induces affordance toward self-directed learning by improving learning sustainability, providing learning motivation, and setting goals. Furthermore, badges have begun to be recognized as microcredentials. Mozilla’s Open Badge is one good example that indicates this trend. Open Badges are applied to online learning platforms, and the credentials that the learner has acquired are provided in the form of badges. The provided badge can be indicated on the learner’s social network services such as Facebook and LinkedIn. It is acknowledged as the learner’s acquired badge, even though the learner does not include it in his or her résumé or submit a copy of this credential. As such, the applicability of such badges is expanding gradually.
Therefore, a badge design should be more systematic. In addition to Open Badges, the badge application system provides a badge design tool that can create a badge by inputting an icon, a badge name, a description, and a completion date. However, creating a badge-specific design in order to encourage the learner’s affordance is ultimately up to the teacher or designer.
Devedžić [
From the learner’s perspective:
Supporting goal setting, planning, and self-reflection
Feedback provision through abstraction and integration of learning traces from various learning environments
Recognition of otherwise underrecognized or nonrecognized skills and prior learning
Development of a sense of community membership
From the teacher’s perspective:
Facilitating learners’ motivation and engagement
Scaffolding the learning process: using badges to chart learning routes for students
Supporting alternative assessments and feedback provision
From the educational institution’s perspective:
Improvement of assessment, grading, and feedback collection
Increased visibility and interschool collaboration and cooperation
Improvements in instructional and motivational practices
In order to incorporate the above values suggested by Devedžić [
The following are the limitations and future directions of this study. It is necessary to ensure feasibility by categorizing badges that are actually used in educational settings based on this study’s badge design framework. Since this study developed the framework based on 943 collected cases, it is estimated that it might be difficult to test feasibility based on these collected cases. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a follow-up study to test this research team’s developed badge design framework. Furthermore, it is necessary to test the effectiveness of badges developed through use of this research team’s badge framework. The basic badge structure can be developed based on previous studies. An additional study should be conducted in order to develop the features that will be included in the badges based on the findings of this study and test whether they are effective in practical terms. To test efficiency in the education environment, it is necessary to conduct a follow-up study by using the existing questionnaire tool. Glynn et al [
Based on our research, we recommend that users design a badge in a way that the eight types of badges are distributed evenly. In the online learning environment, physical learning activities are limited in practical terms. The dual process theory describes a system in which people receive and process information [
grade point average
mutually exclusive collectively exhaustive
This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant and funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Science and ICT; #2017R1A2B2002798).
None declared.