Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
We are delighted to announce the launch of our brand new badges, each featuring a legendary mythical Creature or an epic educational Power. Learners earn Creatures by completing unique nuggets, and Powers by completing unique nuggets with 100 percent accuracy.
We have had basic coloured badges on the platform for some time, but we know you - our users, both teachers and learners alike - wanted more. We have listened to you this summer to upgrade and expand this part of the platform. Our team has delivered a herculean effort to create these bespoke artistic designs, and to develop the lore of our Mythic Quest for you.
Learners will not lose what they have already earned
These brand new designs will replace the previous gold and blue badges, but if you have already been using CENTURY don’t worry because you will not have to start over. Once you have completed your next study session, your old badges will be converted into brand new ones. The new badges require fewer nuggets to attain than before too, so you will have more new ones.
Brand new CENTURY users will start acquiring badges straight away, with the first Creature available after completing one nugget. The first Power is earned after completing one nugget with 100 percent of the questions correct. Further Creatures and Powers can be acquired by completing more nuggets, so there is no time to lose!
To acquire all 15 Creatures, you must complete 140 nuggets in total. Once you have done so, you won’t run out of rewards. When you surpass 140 nuggets, upgraded sets of badges - Gold and Technicolour - will become available for you to unlock by completing more nuggets.
Gamification in learning
Gamification in learning has become more widely known and popular over the past decade or so, especially given the growing availability of educational technology. It is an area where there is still much to learn though, and many studies have delivered inconclusive results. However, predating modern gamification research, studies have shown that extrinsic motivation is less effective than intrinsic motivation, and an overreliance on extrinsic motivation can even erode original intrinsic motivation.
Unsurprisingly gamification, particularly if designed with a focus on the game aspects, rather than the educational aspects, can be prone to this, and many gamified systems overly depend on extrinsic motivating factors, such as “decontextualized” medals or achievements. As such we have taken particular care to make sure our new badges are effective in this educational context.
Creatures are earned by achieving challenging, manageable goals. For example, completing 140 nuggets in a school year can be accomplished with just 5 nuggets a week - something that is achievable whether you are in Key Stage 2, or working towards your GCSEs! As the increments of completed nuggets increase, so does the challenge.
Powers complement Creatures in two key ways. Firstly, achieving 100 percent correct answers on every nugget helps students - even those who whizz through topics at a fast pace - by supporting mastery of concepts, and ensuring learners go back over topics even if they have only made a minor error. Secondly, Powers directly relate to learning by focusing on skills that learners will develop on their educational journey. As these skills are not finite, students can reflect on them at any point during their education.
Lead the whole class on the Mythic Path!
Finally, we have also developed the Mythic Path, an epic CENTURY learning journey, for the whole class to take part in. This quest game has been specifically designed to require the class to work together. This activity facilitates social interaction between learners, and encourages them to work together to a common goal of unlocking Lands, Creatures and Powers.
Download posters, stickers and instructions for CENTURY’s Mythic Path quest here.
