rewarding achievements with digital badges

Surfacing Skills and Rewarding Achievements with Digital BadgesDr. Ian GloverSenior Lecturer in Technology Enhanced LearningSheffield Hallam University (SHU)

i.glover@shu.ac.uk

What is a badge?

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

Some examples:

- Juliette G. Low, Founder of Girl Scouts of the USA

“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.”

Badges in Learning?

Evidence of achievement, experience, interest, learning and development

Potential to increase motivation in some learners

Significant interest as a method of representing micro-credentials

‘Motivation’ by Kyle Bowen (CC: By-SA)

Micro-credentials?

Lighter-weight than formal credentials, such as degrees, certifications, etc.

Encourage development (and sharing) of a fuller picture of an individual’s learning and experience

Represent life-long and life-wide learning

Increasingly standardising around Mozilla’s digital Open Badges specification

Open Badges?

Open technology anyone can create, issue, receive and share badgescan collate badges from many sources

‘Cheap’ to create and issuePotential to automate aspects of processBespoke badges for individuals feasible

Embedded details of what each represents

Verifiable and securebuilt-in ways to check authenticity

‘Open Badge Anatomy (updated)’by Kyle Bowen (CC: By-SA)

Example badge from EPCC MOOC

How are they used?Surface ‘hidden’ learning and development

encouraging more comprehensive reflection

Demonstrating proficiency and interests Learner controlled vs. institutionally controlled (e.g. HEAR)

Defining ‘Learning Pathways’ and enabling students to check progress

Sharing with:prospective employers on LinkedIn or digital CVfriends and family via Facebook, Twitter, etc.colleagues through appraisal, professional portfolios, etc.

Who’s using Open Badges?

Disney, NASA, New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Smithsonian, Purdue University, ...

Nottingham Trent University, Southampton Solent University, University of Sheffield, University of Sussex, University of Warwick, York St. John University, ...

and Sheffield Hallam University

‘Morton Takes a MOOC’ by Kyle Bowen (CC: By-SA)

With MOOCs?

Association for Learning Technology (ALT), Cardiff University,JISC Scotland, Mozilla Foundation, Open Learning Design Studio (OLDS MOOC), Open University, Oxford Brookes, University of AlicanteUniversity of Central Florida...and Sheffield Hallam University

How are they used at SHU?

Used as evidence of completing additional (assessed) activities on our MOOCs

‘Enhancing Prostate Cancer Care’ and ‘Conversations in End of Life Care’

One badge per topic (one topic per week)

Collecting full set and submitting an integrative reflection for assessment = APAL for related module on Masters programme

‘Carpet Badging’by Kyle Bowen (CC: By-SA)

Where do I start?

Sign-up for an existing platforme.g. Credly.com, Mozilla Backpack

Use features built into learning platformse.g. Blackboard, PebblePad

Badges at TELFest

Some Further InformationWhat are Open Badges? [blog post]

Open Badges: Using 'Lightweight' Rewards and Credentials to Increase Motivation and Participation [slides]

Open Badges: a visual learner-centric approach to recognising achievement [Blog Post]

Towards the Devolution of Lifewide Learning Awards through Verifiable Digital Badges [Book Chapter]

or, email i.glover@shu.ac.uk to discuss