This ongoing project was started during a class as part of the Instructional Design and Learning Technologies Master's program at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.
This early build of a leaderboard can be adapted to any class content. It is designed to be a straightforward implementation for both tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy instructors. The demo is built with the assumption that the class is built on a 1000-point scale. Every 100 points earned moves the student to the next level, with the highest level being level 10. Future builds can allow for different total point values, level increments, and maximum levels.
The idea with this project was to build a customizable white-label leaderboard that could be slotted into any class that wants to use it. Building on the white label idea, the leaderboard was designed to be a “no-code” solution so teachers, instructors, or designers could easily modify it to fit into the class they are developing without any special coding skills. All you need to know is spreadsheet formulas to customize the leaderboard. The leaderboard is a Google sheet with any number of graphs set up to display the leaderboard and the progress of each individual student. For the purpose of this beta build, the only graph is a progress bar for each student, showing progress toward the next level. In addition, this build has a few bugs listed in the sheet's "Release Notes/Changelog" tab.
As of this build, the leaderboard is fairly rigid. For example, importing an actual grade book file will most likely break the leaderboard unless the columns line up exactly. Future builds will incorporate a functioning “configuration” page that will allow the instructor to dynamically set a number of fields to fit their specific class. This page exists, but as of this build, it does not actually affect anything.
The leaderboard was designed to be used for an entire class, but with the dynamic configuration, it could be used for something on a smaller scale, like a single project. The LMS grade book part could also be substituted for monthly sales, used in a corporate environment, and embedded on a company intranet. However, the leaderboard is implemented, skinned, or customized, the goal is to give a visual representation of an individual's progress towards a goal and provide a comparison to others working towards the same goal while giving the freedom to customize the board to fit the needs of a specific class or setting.
