The purpose of this presentation is to briefly familiarize you with the concept of gamification, and to provide a walkthrough of how to add gamification achievements to your Blackboard course shell.

Achievements can be a fun way to add engagement to a course.

This is similar to how video games sometimes keep player engagement.

We can easily gamify our Blackboard shells for both online and face to face classes.

I'm currently trying it out in my Friday 1302 class.

In Blackboard, expand the "Course Tools" tab near the bottom of your course shell.

Select "Achievements" from the drop down list.

Select "Create Achievement." There are three options:
1) Course Completion
2) Milestone
3) Custom

We will use "Milestone" for this presentation.

Try to come up with something that accurately describes the action the students are being rewarded for.

I like to pick names that are mildly clever but not too cheesy.

Example: Turn in Quest

For "Turn in Quest," the achievement is located with the assignment upload link.

I collect essays through Blackboard assignment links, so this is a logical location for the achievement.

Students will see the achievement and click to acknowledge that they are turning in their assignment, which Blackboard records as unlocking an achievement.

You can choose whether the achievement is visible to students before receiving.

I choose to keep them visible, but as with video games, sometimes a surprise achievement can add to engagement.

You should add a succinct description of the criteria students have met/should meet in order to earn the achievement.

Example (from Turn in Quest): "Students unlock this achievement for turning in their first essay assignment."

This tells Blackboard how to know whether a student has earned the achievement.

There are five questions to answer:
1) Rule Name
2) Date
3) Membership
4) Grade
5) Review Status

Blackboard allows you to create complex achievements with several rules.

Currently, I am using the simpler "one-rule" achievements.

You can customize the name(s), or use the default Rule 1, Rule 2... etc.

You now will select a "Display After" date.

This is the date that the achievement will become available.

When I created my achievements, I just used the creation date.

You can give the achievement to specific usernames or groups.

I think this seems problematic, so I leave the achievements open to all.

You may select the "Grade" option if your achievement is based on a specific range of scores.

For instance, if you would like to award students who received an A on a particular assignment.

There are conditions:
1) At least one attempt
2) Score
3) Percent (

This option, rather than being based on a grade, requires that students review something.

I use "Review Status" for the "Learning the Rules" achievement (reading the syllabus).

This can double as an acknowledgment of receipt.

Now for the fun part. You get to choose the expiration date and the badge image.

I don't set an expiration date for my achievements, currently, but it is an option.

You may select images from Blackboard's Badge Catalog (this is what I did) or you may attach your own file for greater customization opportunities.

I recommend using a different image for each achievement, so the students can easily distinguish them.

Now, your achievement will be published to Blackboard.

It is available in the location you selected, as well as by selecting "Achievements" from the Course Tools.

You can check the status of various achievement recipients at any time.