digital badge

an online representation of a skill or achievement

open badges

an open technical standard anyone can use to create, issue, and verify digital badges

Badge Alliance: Why Badges: http://www.badgealliance.org/why-badges/

Mozilla Open Badges: http://www.openbadges.org/

Imagine that...

• your skills and competencies could be captured more granularly across different contexts (formal and informal)

• evidence of your skills could be collected and associated with your online identity (blogs, eportfolios, websites)

•  you could discover relevant opportunities and craft your own learning pathways based on your own interests, at your own pace

• you could present a more complete picture of yourself to key stakeholders: employers, mentors, peers, collaborators

Mozilla Foundation and Peer 2 Peer University, in collaboration with The MacArthur Foundation (2012). Open badges for lifelong learning [White paper]. Retrieved from https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/5/59/OpenBadges-Working-Paper_012312.pdf

Enter....Badges!

Bull, B. (2014, Sept. 4). 15 Reasons Why People are Using Digital Badges. Retrieved from: http://etale.org/main/2014/09/04/15-reasons-why-people-are-using-digital-badges/

Emerging research on primary functions

Intended practices for badge systems include:

• Recognizing learning (that may not be otherwise visible)
• Assessing learning (awarding credentials for achievement, often leveled or cumulative, often used with eportfolios)
• Motivating learning (increase engagement, encourage participation, can be linked to privileges or reputation)
• Studying learning (emerging research and evidence on the impact of digital badges on learning)

Design Principles Documentation Project: http://dpdproject.info/

How do you make them?

• Roll your own: BadgeLab , Purdue
• Plug-ins for LMSs (Moodle, Blackboard), CMSs (WP, Drupal)
• 3rd-party badge issuing platforms: Credly,  Open Badge Factory (there is now a Canadian branch of this service called CanCred Factory )

What are they made of?

* badge name

* description URL

* badge criteria

* badge image

* issuer

* date

* recipient

* alignment (standards)

* evidence URL

- a digital image

- with metadata "baked" in

Criticisms, challenges...

• Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation
• Gamification skepticism
• Trust, rigor, validity
• Trivial, juvenile

Casilli, C. (2012). Mozilla Open Badges: building trust networks, creating value. Retrieved from: http://carlacasilli.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/mozilla-open-badges-building-trust-networks-creating-value/

Hickey, D. (2014, Aug. 5). Of Course Alfie Kohn Dislikes Open Digital Badges: Transcending a 40-Year Old Debate. Retrieved from: http://remediatingassessment.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/of-course-alfie-kohn-dislikes-open.html

Who's using them?

• Industry: (eg: National Manufacturing Institute)
• Education: (formal & informal)
• Professional Associations & Service Organizations
• and many others

Showcasing Co-curricular:

• Notre Dame University - E2B2 (ePortfolios with Evidence-Based Learning)
• University of Michigan - Mblem badges
• University of Central Oklahoma - Transformative Learning Record

Considerations:

• Value proposition (why earn the badge?)
• Who is it for?
• What skills/behaviours does it represent or encourage?
• Criteria (what do you need to do to earn it?)
• Evidence (what artefacts or information?)
• Who awards it?
• Who endorses or recognizes it?
• Will it be cumulative or part of a larger badge system?
• Institutional policy implications?

Mozilla Badge System Design Worksheet: bit.ly/:badge_design_worksheet

Digital Me. Badge Canvas. http://www.digitalme.co.uk/assets/pdf/DigitalMe-Badge-Design-Canvas.pdf

KPU's Badge Pilot

"I Cite My Sources"

KPU Library Online Plagiarism Tutorials: http://libguides.kpu.ca/plagiarism

Moodle badge link:

* Badge is displayed in students' Moodle profile ( & Mozilla backpack if they choose).

Thanks!

Meg Goodine (meg.goodine@kpu.ca)

Manager, Learning Technology

Teaching & Learning Commons

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

For more information about badges, visit the Reconnect Learning website