OPEN BADGES Gavin Henrick

Learning Technology Services

Content

•Why Badges?

•What are Badges?

•How do they work?

•Who is using them?

WHY BADGES?

Learning

Learning today happens everywhere.

But it’s often difficult to get recognition

for skills and achievements that happen

online or out of school.

Mozilla Open Badges

Mozilla Open Badges helps solve that

problem, making it easy for any

organization to issue, manage and

display digital badges across the web.

WHAT ARE BADGES?

CV

I claim that

• I can …

• I learned

• I am able to

• I am competent in

• I took part in …

Badges

Badge is a digital proof that

• I can …

• I learned …

• I am able to …

• I am competent in …

• I took part in …

Badges

Visual representations of

•Achievements

•Skills

•Learning

• Interests

•Competencies

CC BY-SA Kyle Bowen

HOW THEY WORK

“Badges do the same thing as credentials

with one critical difference: they are

transparent, meaning that the criteria,

learning artifacts, and assessments are

directly linked to the badge earner and

issuing organization.”

Grant, Sheryl L. 2014. What Counts As Learning: Open Digital Badges

for New Opportunities. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research

Hub.

WHO IS USING THEM?

Who is using Badges

• Over 700 organisations

• Formal and informal educational institutions

• Multinational corporations

• Industry associations

• Non-profits

• Groups interested in Professional development

• 85,000 issued since launch in 2012.

LEARN.MOODLE.NET

Badges.hsalearning.ie

http://edcetera.rafter.com/using-badges-to-quantify-learning-outcomes-at-uc-davis/

Border College

• http://www.rsc-scotland.org/?p=2454

CITY UNIVERSITY LONDON A project on Open Badges in Higher Education Perception and Potential Dr. Ian Glover – Sheffield Hallam University

Farzana Latif – University of Sheffield

City University London Project

•Aim to identify perception and possible

value

•Semi-structured interviews with staff

•Focus groups with students

City University London Findings

•Students want to use badges to stand

out from peers

•Desire to link badges to requirements

of professional accreditation

• Important not to issue too many

• each badge must represent genuine

achievement

What were the common criticisms? How can you respond to them?

"Childish"

• plan and design them to be meaningful

"Hard to design without skills"

• simple, free tools available

"Lack of consistency in use"

• set a policy about the requirements for

a badge

Reference

http://altc2013.alt.ac.uk/sessions/open-badges-in-higher-education-perception-and-potential-323/documents/

http://shura.shu.ac.uk/7173/1/Glover_-_Investigating_perceptions_and_potential_of_open_badges_in_formal_higher_education_-_proceeding_112141.pdf

GLOVER, Ian and LATIF, Farzana (2013) Investigating perceptions and potential of open badges in formal higher education. In: Proceedings of World Conference on

Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2013. AACE,

Chesapeake, VA, 1398-1402. ISBN 9781939797032

SO WHAT NOW?

Some Issues To Consider

•What to Badge?

•Who will issue Badges?

•Design the Badges

• Issuing platform

What to Badge

• What skills, achievements to

promote

• What criteria to use for each badge

• Break it down to a granular level

• Are there relationships between the

badges?

Platform options

Technical options

•Automated from completion of a

course / task

•Manual from offline completion

•Manual from wider assessment

Who issues Badges

•Central Department

•Teachers

•Students

Platform options

Technical options

•Automated from completion of a course

/ task

•Manual from offline completion

•Manual from wider assessment

•Verification in 1 month, 1 year, 2 years?

Some Platforms that can issue

• Blackboard

• Moodle

• Canvas

• Wordpress

• Drupal

• Others..

Designing Badges

•Shapes

•Colours

•Themes

• Icons

•Pathways / Groups

•Branding

STUDENT SKILLS Consider skills that students really need when they

graduate

theguardian.com

The ten skills students really need when they graduate

• Business sense

• global mindset

• A language

• A squeaky clean digital footprint

• Office etiquette

• How to make a good cuppa

• Good with computers

• Teamwork

• Talking to people

• Positive attitude From: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/04/skills-graduates-need-students-employability

TCD

• Drive/Energy

• Motivation

• Communication skills

• Determination

• Confidence

• Reliability

• Analytical ability

• Honesty/Integrity

• Pride in a job well done

• Dedication

• Listening skills

• Business awareness See http://www.tcd.ie/Careers/students/jobsearch/what_employers_want.php#qualities

Targetjobs.co.uk

• Commercial awareness

• Communication

• Teamwork

• Negotiation and persuasion

• Problem solving

• Leadership

• Organisation

• Perseverance and motivation

• Ability to work under pressure

• Confidence From http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/career-planning/273051-the-top-10-skills-thatll-get-you-a-job-when-you-graduate

Flux Report by Right Management

most important skills to develop in employees to drive company growth

• Leadership skills 62%

• Management skills 62%

• Interpersonal skills 53%

• Innovation and creativity 45%

• Resilience 43%

• Technical/specialist skills 40%

• IT skills 40%

• Sales/marketing skills 32%

• Client management skills 24%

• Other/none of the above 4% http://www.rightmanagement.co.uk/thought-leadership/research/the-flux-report-building-a-resilient-workforce-in-the-face-of-flux.pdf

Some questions

• How do you decide what skills to track?

• How do you assess those skills?

• How do you accredit those skills?

• How do you get the employers on board?

• How do you get the students motivated?

JISC OPEN BADGE TOOLKIT www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/media/421718/jiscopenbadgesdesigntoolkit-print_1.pdf

http://www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/support-for/assessment/resources.aspx

Toolkit Details

• Who?

• Why?

• What?

• Systems

• Tags

• Resources /

Sustainability

What covers:

• Skills

• Behaviours

• Criteria

• Evidence

• Types of Assessment

• Channels

http://www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/media/421718/jiscopenbadgesdesigntoolkit-print_1.pdf

OPEN BADGE BACKPACK

REFERENCES

References

[1] http://www.openbadges.org/

[2] http://www.somerandomthoughts.com/blog/2013/10/10/gamification-what-is-

it-and-what-it-is-in-moodle/

[3] http://www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/media/421718/jiscopenbadgesdesigntoolkit-

print_1.pdf

[4] http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/04/skills-graduates-need-

students-employability

[5] http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/career-planning/273051-the-top-10-

skills-thatll-get-you-a-job-when-you-graduate

[6]

http://www.ucd.ie/careers/students/resources/guidesbycdcstaff/skillsemployerss

eek/

[7] Grant, Sheryl L. 2014. What Counts As Learning: Open Digital Badges for

New Opportunities. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.

[8] http://www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/support-for/assessment/resources.aspx

Contact

Gavin Henrick

E: gavin@lts.ie

T: @ghenrick

B: http://www.somerandomthoughts.com

S: http://www.slideshare.net/ghenrick/

L: http://ie.linkedin.com/in/gavinhenrick