Rigging the game part 1: How and why I did 16 days worth of Microsoft educator content in 6 hours

(This blog is the first in a two part series of posts about gamification in education).

As professionals - of all kinds - we can struggle or not bother to leverage our hard-won content knowledge to new applications and this can be a mistake. As I have previously suggested about personal branding:

“We live in a world of 7 billion people and showcasing how each and one of us is unique is a challenge. Yet we each carry unique characteristics and abilities, being able to demonstrate them to the world is vital for our growth and careers.”

I don’t just say this, I try and live it. Working in the field of education means a broad set of possible avenues for development and some more obvious than others, such as the Microsoft educator community. This community is one of Microsoft’s many different forays into the education and edtech fields (as I have previously discussed).

The site is geared towards short bursts of teacher PD mainly centred around Microsoft products and as Microsoft describes their site, it is a place to connect and collaborate, find training and lessons, and earn badges and certificates on this personalized hub created for educators like you.

Perfect! I thought, let’s try out a unit

…… and suddenly: 

Bing!

I was awarded a badge and certificate for completing a little reading and a rapid-fire multiple-choice quiz at the end of the unit.

I had a quick look around and decided to do another.

Bing!

Now I had two badges to my name and I had neither studied or read much of the material.

I did not need to.

Each unit is based around a short summative quiz at the end of module and if you know the content (before you do the quiz), you do not need anything else to get your badges and certificates.

Since I work in an organisation that runs on Microsoft products and prides itself on thought leadership and pedagogical rigour, it was simply a matter of blasting through quizzes rather than reading the assigned material. This meant that I could effectively game the system because I had already done the work previously in my professional journey (as I am sure many other educators have also).

At the moment, I have just over 50,000 Microsoft Educator Community points, 73 badges and 53 certificates and it is suggested that the content I have covered should be about just over 130 hours of study time. Now clearly, I didn’t take this long, I did this in about 6 hours.

I think this is a prime example of using previous professional knowledge to showcase development and skills that might not otherwise be seen.

Another possible method of exhibition is to share resources such lesson plans or videos and the Microsoft educator community caters for this, allowing members to upload their own work. Similarly, on my own personal site I put up resources that I have developed on my own that teachers may choose to use.

This can help to:

• Expand what you already know – perhaps to other areas or content
• Found your position as a leader in your field
• Increase your value to employers

Many of us have skills and familiarity with various technologies, applications and content knowledge that we can use to take the next step or small supplements to our PD. In doing so, even for a little time per day, we can make a great difference in the overall quality of work and professional lives keeping us engaged and driven.

I would highly recommend that colleagues compress, leverage and positively gear your knowledge acquisition and abilities where you authentically can. You can be the king or queen of your own development and branding.

Thanks for reading.

Ollie Shearman – Interdisciplinary Curriculum Developer and Educator