Digital Badges Dana Hughes, OCTE Consultant David MacQuarrie, OCTE Research Coordinator

Introduction What are digital badges? Unique graphical representations linked to a digital badge code Can be proprietary or open sourced Open sourced are free and available through the Mozilla Foundation Once a badge is acquired it can be used in other web applications e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

Acquiring a Digital Badge How are digital badges acquired? They are electronically transferrable and can be awarded either formatively or summatively Moodle and Khan academy provide open badges for teachers to motivate students Test organizations can provide badges for use similar to certifications

Issuers of Digital Badges Who issues digital badges? The answer to this is increasingly becoming larger each day Unfortunately, there isn’t a single source to identify who is awarding badges at this point Some of the issuers are: teachers, schools, state offices, and some test organizations

Significance of a Digital Badge The significance of a digital badge will ultimately depend on the purpose and the credibility of the badge. For instance: –Jerri and John were motivated by badges to complete their Moodle course work –John and Jerri each post 200 of their acquired Moodle course badges to Facebook

Significance of a Digital Badge More Examples Pam and Max display their badges on LinkedIn that they acquired by passing a NOCTI test for automotive Sam and Sue display their badges on LinkedIn that they acquired by passing the ASE test (not applicable yet!) The first badge may not be recognized by industry while the latter would be. 5

Downside of Digital Badges There are no set standards for awarding a digital badge. Awarding can be based on criteria ranging from clicking on a link to passing a certification exam Digital badges that are not highly associated with the issuance by a credible organization will likely be as discounted as grades are currently

Summary Digital badges can motivate some students to complete course work Digital badges will be as credible as their association with the organization who issued them Digital badge issuers are growing each day

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Dana Hughes, OCTE Consultant David MacQuarrie, OCTE Research Coordinator Contact Information