Badges tap into the same psychological aspects that make gaming addictive; the desire to “level-up” adds much needed motivation to the educational setting and is a concept familiar to children even as young as pre-school age. Badges are easier to understand than percentages for young children, and more meaningful than letter grades. A relatively new idea, this innovation holds exciting possibilities for schools who are committed to preparing students for a future we can scarcely even imagine. Badges offer an opportunity to reevaluate grades and credentials, expanding their role by making otherwise hidden accomplishments visible.

 

projects and activities that define a student’s learning, including 

both the hard and soft skills that were acquired.

º How can badging provide a viable option for elementary school teachers when considering a replacement for traditional grading systems?


º How can professional development in the area of assessment and progress        reporting improve student achievement at the elementary level?

 

Grades- Traditionally, the grades are A, B, C, D, E and F — A being the highest and F indicating failure, the lowest. Numeric to letter grade conversions vary by school district, academic discipline, and year of school. Grade point average ranges standardized test scores and other native systems of measuring academic excellence can be used. A corresponds to "mastery" or "excellence", B to "good", a C is "acceptable" or "average", a D is "poor", and an F is "unacceptable" or "failing".

issuers and endorsers will emerge, including public and private schools. Ongoing work must be done to validate badges

to ensure consistency and implementation fidelity.

Badges represent an opportunity for educational systems to 

rethink what is of value and recognize progress in important areas that could be reported but most often are not. They  support  lifelong  learning,  not  just  through  traditional  academic  or  formalized  learning  pathways but also the kind of knowledge that comes from personal initiative  and  investigation.  If  badges  are  able  to  widely  establish  

themselves as trusted credentials, they could help people plot 

their  own  path  to  learning,  pursuing  projects  and experiences  they feel are worthwhile.