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What badges are for

Badges give LearnTerms a lightweight social layer. They are not the main event, but they are useful because they make effort visible. In a shared cohort product, that matters. Students like seeing that work is happening around them, and admins like having a public signal that the platform is alive.

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How badge awards show up

When you earn a new badge, LearnTerms can surface it in an award modal. That moment is intentionally more visible than an ordinary toast. The app shows:
  • the badge name
  • the badge description
  • the issuer
  • the badge artwork
Once you acknowledge it, LearnTerms marks the award as seen.

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Where to browse badges

The main badge catalog lives at /badges. That page shows:
  • all published badges
  • how common each badge is
  • who issued it
  • optional internal details when the internal detail view is enabled
For most students, the important question is simple: what kinds of progress and participation does the product choose to recognize?

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Where to see cohort activity

The cohort board lives at /cohort. This page is more social than the badge catalog. Instead of listing every possible badge, it shows the people in your cohort and highlights recent badge activity.

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What the cohort board emphasizes

The current cohort page focuses on:
  • your cohort identity
  • member count
  • leaderboard-style sorting
  • alphabetical sorting
  • search by classmate name
  • recent badge slots for each member
The board is not a full analytics page. It is meant to be lightweight, readable, and social.

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How to use the board well

Use the cohort board when you want to:
  • confirm your cohort is active
  • recognize classmates who are engaging consistently
  • find people quickly with search
  • get a pulse on participation without opening admin analytics
It is a better tool for atmosphere than for diagnosis.

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What badges should and should not do

Badges should:
  • reinforce momentum
  • make effort visible
  • make the cohort feel shared instead of isolated
Badges should not:
  • replace real studying
  • become your main metric of progress
  • pressure you into performative activity
If a badge helps you re-engage with a module, it is doing its job. If it becomes the goal by itself, you are probably using it wrong.

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Reading the cohort board correctly

The board is interesting, but it is not the same as mastery. A student can:
  • earn badges without being exam-ready
  • study deeply without caring about badge visibility
  • show up late in the cycle and still finish strong
Treat the board as a layer of context, not a final judgment.

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Best habits

  • Check the cohort board occasionally, not constantly.
  • Let badges motivate you back into study flow, not away from it.
  • Use the catalog when you want to understand what the product celebrates.
  • Focus on your modules first and the social layer second.