What are Open Badges?

What are Open Badges?
An introduction for digital learning designers
@DigialiTay |www.dgty.uk

Hello!
 Rob Stewart, Digital Learning
Consultant.
 Using Open Digital Badges since 2014.
 Training Journal’s Learning &
Development Professional of the Year
2019.
 Connect with me on LinkedIn at
LinkedIn.com/DigialiTay.
 Find more at dgty.uk/about.

Contents
 What exactly are Open Badges?
 Where did they come from?
 Why are they necessary?
 How are they being used?
 What can they do for me?

Open Badges are different
 Free and open (anyone can issue).
 Transferable.
 Stackable.
 Evidence based.
 Give recognition.
 Verifiable .
 Easy to display.
Source: Mozilla, http://mzl.la/1BsOP5Y.

Open Badges are easyto use
 Created and issued through third-
party online service or own software.
 Awarded to recipients who meet the
criteria for a badge.
 Recipients can store their badges in
an online ‘backpack’.
 Recipients share their badges and
these can be inspected.
 43 million badges issued in 2020.
 More at www.openbadges.org.

Created bythe Mozilla Foundation
 Non-profit organisation known for Firefox
web browser and Thunderbird email
client.
 Launched Open Badges in 2012 with
support from the MacArthur Foundation.
 Common standard for the issuance,
collection and display of digital badges
on multiple websites.
 Strong focus on recognising informal,
lifelong learning and fuelling motivation.
 Visit them at www.mozilla.org.

Maintained by IMS Global
 Membership organisation.
 Publish learning technology
interoperability standards under a
royalty-free license.
 Strong institutional and supplier focus.
 Took over stewardship of Open Badges
from Mozilla in late 2016.
 Open Badges 3.0 will integrate with
Verifiable Credentials.
 Visit them at www.imsglobal.org.

Learning deservesrecognition
 Informal continuous learning is nearly
aways unrecognised and hidden.
 Badges provide fast recognition.
 Evidence demonstrates the amount
of effort invested by the learner.
 Endorsements/testimonials add
additional recognition.
 Learners eventually build an
evidence rich portfolio with badges.

Learnersneed to take charge
 Get learners out of the consume >
quiz > certificate mindset.
 Open Badge criteria can require
evidence of learning transfer.
 Effort is visible and rewarded.
 Self-directed and self-regulating
learning habits can be attained.
 Open Badges can signal the start, not
just the end, of a process.

Bad use ofOpen Badges
 Attendance certificates. *
 Completion certificates. *
 Low-stakes incentives or rewards. *
 Quiz passes.
 Secondary awards.
* Where there is little effort on the part of
the learner and no unique evidence

Good use of Open Badges
 Conscious recording of learning.
 Bite-size portfolio building.
 Support reflective learning.
 Support learning transfer.
 Nurture a culture of learning.
 Improve situational awareness.
 Talent identification.
 Evaluate learning effectiveness.

Transfer learning from screen to practice
Engaging content by itself doesn’t
guarantee results.
 Real world activities and challenges.
 Peer interaction.
 Reflection and recording.
 Assessment and feedback.
 Endorsements/testimonials.

Expand your offering
 Identify badge potential during the
learning design process.
 Design badge criteria and pathways.
 Evaluate existing badges.
 Assessment as a service.
 Setup or build badge technology.
 Offer advice/consultancy services
around effective use of badges.

Summary
 Open Badges have grown in popularity since launched in 2012.
 Data rich, portable and sharable credentials are needed to recognise and
encourage informal and continuous learning.
 Effort invested by learner is visible and rewarded. Encouraging more effort
and performance improvement.
 Open Badges require investment but the results can be powerful.
 Open badges are an opportunity for learning designers.

Thank you!
Slides and resources available at dgty.uk/DLDB1
@DigialiTay |www.dgty.uk

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