Teaching Exchange Workshop | D2L Brightspace Badges: Charting a Joyful Path to Student Success

D2L Brightspace Badges: Charting a Joyful Path to Student Success with Ellen Gauthier and Michelle Woodward

Using badges in D2L Brightspace course sites has become a joyful and effective way to strengthen course structure, enhance feedback practices, and build student momentum. Badges provide a clear and intuitive framework that intentionally organizes the course and guides students through expectations, transforming what once felt overwhelming into a transparent and supportive pathway for success. As students progress, badges deliver timely, formative feedback that makes assignment completion, learning milestones, and academic habits visible in real time. This visibility empowers our instructional team to engage in early intervention, foster meaningful conversations, and support students with greater intention and precision. Momentum builds naturally as students begin to see their progress accumulate.

Badges celebrate incremental achievements, encourage persistence, and motivate learners not only to complete coursework but also to engage in tutoring and academic workshops that reinforce effective learning habits. For first-year students and those navigating challenging subjects such as mathematics or online learning environments, this momentum is especially powerful: it reframes effort as achievement and shifts engagement from passive participation to active, self-directed learning.

Ultimately, integrating badges into our Math 100 course design fosters a joyful teaching practice—one that emphasizes intentional structure, responsive feedback, and forward momentum while cultivating an inclusive, engaging learning experience for all students.

Register for Workshop

This workshop is part of the Teaching Exchange Workshop Series. Building on the energy and ideas of the Teaching Exchange Symposium, this online workshop series brings TES sessions to a broader audience through accessible, virtual formats. Each session extends the conversation, offering deeper exploration, practical strategies, and continued connection around teaching and learning.