Show HN: We just launched badges for Khan Academy

by kamens on 12/23/2010, 5:38 PM with 4 comments

Yesterday we added a brand new badging incentive system to the Khan Academy. It's really simple for now, round 1, blah blah all that jazz.

We're dealing with all types of internal debates about proper behavior to encourage and how users will respond. We've seen students in schools get extremely excited about very, very simple game mechanics attached to their practice problems/homework/etc, and building the roots of a deeper badging system seemed like an important next step to help us guide users through desired paths in the system.

You can check out all of our badges here http://www.khanacademy.org/badges/view (and I blogged just a bit more information at http://bjk5.com/post/2426884194/khan-academy-now-has-badges). Would love to get some feedback.

  • by david_shaw on 12/23/2010, 6:20 PM

    This is a great idea. Khan Academy is one of the coolest learning resources out there, and I've been happy to see it get some more coverage recently (via Reddit).

    I think you're totally right in that small game mechanics can really be the difference between drudging through repetitve learning and having fun.

    Looking forward to earning some of these badges :)

  • by kamens on 12/23/2010, 5:40 PM
  • by rick_2047 on 12/23/2010, 6:16 PM

    It would have been exciting (well, at least till 7th grade) if one had such a system in schools instead of marks or grades. They are just not cool enough to give incentive to most of the children.