Dr. Ian Glover, Technology Enhanced Learning team, Student and Learning Services

Visual representation of achievement, experience, affiliation and/or interest - ideally distinctive and understood within a community.  Some examples:

“Badges mean nothing in themselves, but they mark a certain achievement and they are a link between the rich and the poor. For when one girl sees a badge on a sister Scout’s arm, if that girl has won the same badge, it at once awakens an interest and sympathy between them.” - Juliette G. Low, Founder of Girl Scouts of the USA

 Link to criteria and evidence for award  Add security and verification  can check whether a person was actually awarded a specific badge  Have the credibility of the awarding body  Allow sharing of 'badge clusters' from different sources with others on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.  Essentially, an image + embedded information

Open Badges Anatomy (Updated)Open Badges Anatomy (Updated) by Kyle Bowen. CC-BY-SA.

 Growing recognition that significant amounts of learning happens outside the classroom  Grade transcripts hide the truth about learning  Strong links with current trends such as MOOCs, Gamification, Mobile Learning  but can be used independently of these

 Surface the learning 'hidden' in a transcript  Encourage students to undertake co- and extra- curricular activities  Helps recognise informal learning  Enables students to differentiate themselves from classmates  The rise of the Informal University?  (MOOCs + Badges) * Awareness = Degree-equivalent?

Swiss Army BadgeSwiss Army Badge by Kyle Bowen. CC-BY-SA

 Showing competency in a skill,  e.g. nursing students taking blood samples  Recognising extra-curricular activity  e.g. a music student participating in an orchestra  Representing co-curricular development  e.g. participation in Students' Union activities, such as chairing society meetings

 Identifying common themes in a programme  e.g. showing all modules that develop debating skills  Getting businesses and professional bodies involved  e.g. co-creating badges that meet workplace skills, or professional attributes  Build toward specialism badges  e.g. students get badges that relate to their learning journey, by reflecting their optional modules

 Are there skills that students use and develop?  Do you have extra-curricular activities to encourage?  Do you want to draw links between learning and skills demanded by employers/professional bodies?

Indiana Jones and the lost badgeIndiana Jones and the lost badge by Kyle Bowen. CC-BY-SA

 For greatest effect:  Make them as professional-looking as possible  Issue cross-module badges  Badges should push students to go beyond the minimum  Tell businesses/professional bodies about them  Link badges to 'real-world', desirable skills  Each badge must represent a substantial and meaningful skill or experience

Carpet BadgingCarpet Badging by Kyle Bowen. CC-BY-SA

 Image creation  OpenBadges.me (  Online Badge Maker (  Badge creation and issuing  badg.us (  All-in-one system  Credly (

Contact: Dr. Ian Glover

 "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

 "Not credible with, for example, employers"  involve them in the design of badges  tell them about the badges  "I get it, but my students/lecturers won't"  didn't appear true through the interviews  "This could become another assessment route"  ideally it should reflect what is already happening