open badges and the recognition of prior learning
TRANSCRIPT
Open Badges and the Recognition of Prior
LearningSupporting Quality,
Improving Employability
November 4, 2014
Don Presant
Extending ePortfolio to... Multi-institution ePortfolio community
University
College
Adult Learning Centre
Professional Body Workplace Trainer
Employability Agency
Employer Industry Sector Body
www.badgealliance.org/why-badges/
...a modular skills ecosystemOpen Badges and “Micro-portfolios”
Emerging in CanadaEarly Adopters
What are Open Badges?
Origins of Badges
• Since pre-Roman times
• Heraldry, Military, Blue Light, Boy Scouts
• Public recognition:achievement, affiliation, authority
• Online engagement: gamification
www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7253
metronews.ca/Badge Tracking Android App earnyourwings.aircanada.com
A digital representation of an accomplishment, interest or affiliation that is visual, available online, and contains metadata including trusted links that help explain the context, meaning, process and result of an activity. As an open artefact, the earner can present the badge in different contexts from which it was earned.
• Clear progress markers– Motivating learners, supporting
advisors
• Flexible learning pathways– Granular, incremental, multi-source,
laddered, remixable
• Visual branding– Issuers and learners
• Online trust system– Demonstrate skills & capabilities– Proof of performance– Backed by issuer
What is an Open Badge?Micro credentials - modular record of learning
Displaying Open Badges ePortfolios, Social Media
Curated in ePortfolio…Interactive criteria…
LinkedIn Profile…
Facebook timeline…
Pulled from Backpack…
What is an Open Badge?Different perspectives…
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION• A portable graphic with an embedded description and links
to supporting information
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT• A micro-credential• A discrete record in a modular transcript
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT• A reward for positive (prescribed) behaviour• A marker on a development path
…a simple digital standard for recognizing and sharing achievements, skills and performance
How are Open Badges being used?
MATUREADULT
YOUTH
Open Badges: Lifelong, Lifewide Learning
LOWSTAKES
HIGHSTAKES
VolunteerExperience
WorkPlacements
AfterSchool
Programs
ClassroomEngagement
WorkplaceEngagement
PersonalLearning
Co-CurricularRecord
Workshops
Admission toHigher Ed
Admission toPost GradSchools
Job Hire
Conferences
Recognitionof Prior
Learning
EmployabilityPortfolio
CareerTransition
Promotion
Communitiesof
Practice
Memberships,Affiliations
Awards,Achievements
TeamBuilding
“Hard”Credentials
Red Cross, Cadets, Scouts,
etc.
E-learningCourses
FormativeFeedback
Awards,Achievements
ContinuingEducation
Open Badges & workforce entryMissouri Customer Service Badges
Career & Technical Education (CTE)National Occupational Competency Testing Inst. (NOCTI)
www.nocti.org/pdf/badges/Digital%20Badges-Are%20You%20Ready.pdf
E-learning and MOOCsMassive Open Online Courses
engineering.edx.org/author/bporter/
www.slideshare.net/sproutfund/serial-announcement
Badging Health Professionals Continuing Professional Development
http://www.paincommunitycentre.org/cpd/badges
Immigrant exampleMigrant academic workers in Berlin (WIP)
Pearson VUE: AcclaimIf Pearson is getting into badges.…
bit.ly/1nJFBaY
Acclaim’s unique approach…is to work with academic institutions and high-stakes credentialing organizations to offer diplomas, certificates and other professional credentials as Open Badges.blog.youracclaim.com/
CanOpen Badgessupport RPL
Quality ?
“The primary
motivator behind
this project is to
promote labour
market development
throughout the
nation.”
CAPLA’s QA in RPL ProjectGuiding Principles in RPL
capla.ca/quality-assurance/
CAPLA’s QA in RPL ProjectGuiding Principles in RPL
capla.ca/quality-assurance/
Quality Frameworks in RPLCAPLA’s Mapping Exercise (Don’s version)
Principles Elements
Context, Purpose, Value, BenefitsTo Learners, Organizations, Society
Recognize all forms of learningMobility, access to opportunities, self-esteem, lifelong learning, prosperous society
Internal governancePolicies, management, administration
Independent , representative, well-governed
AssessmentProcesses and technical requirements
Validity, currency, sufficiency and authenticityLearner-centred: usable, with good supports, feedback, consensus-based, confidential
Quality AssuranceProcedures, standards
Clear & measurable, supported by guidelinesAppropriately resourcedSystem feedback & procedures for improvementAccessible system evaluations
Validation (valorization)Equivalency; qualification frameworks & stds
Relevant, harmonized, compliantBetween stakeholder perspectives, practices, jurisdictions
External roles and responsibilitiesCoordination of stakeholders, jurisdictions
National system, clear stakeholder protocolsSystemic research, PD, innovation, support & advice, monitoring & evaluation & advocacy & marketing
“Post Traditional Online Education”Ex-UNESCO, hired by Contact North
...value of the badge comes from the information ... attached to it, which provides justification and validation...
....provides concrete evidence & proof of skills, achievements, and interests...
...this supporting data reduces the risk of ‘gaming’ the system and builds in an implicit validation system...
...various different types & granularities of badges...higher-level (aggregate) badges can target specific sets of skills and signal general mastery...
BUT....t.co/J8t2P9TcwU
“Post Traditional Online Education”Ex-UNESCO, hired by Contact North“It is not possible to verify the quality of a badge. Mozilla admits that, ‘in order for any badge system to accumulate value and for badges to carry or contend with the weight of formal grades or degrees, quality and vetted assessments will be critical’. However, they offer little indication of how these critical issues of quality and ‘weight’ will be reflected. Whilst badges may present possibilities for providing credentials, they do not yet answer the question of how the academic significance or market value of these credentials will be measured and understood. Thus Open Badges may provide a portfolio of evidence of learning, but they do not yet provide an indication of quality. “ t.co/J8t2P9TcwU
UNFAIR
Blaming the toolIs this an “indication of quality”?
www.phonydiploma.com/Fake-Diploma-From-Canada-University.aspx
“Paper Silos”Issues with certification today
• Transparency issues– “Dumb” paper often needs
other documents, e.g. syllabus– Proxy only – not the “whole
story”– Easy to forge
• Recognition issues– Lack of granularity– Lack of context
• links to supporting evidence
– Experiential learning not valued– Lack of alignment, transfer,
articulation (“stackability”)
• Physical issues– Difficult to share, easy to lose
freedesignfile.com/92259
A digital representation of an accomplishment, interest or affiliation that is visual, available online, and contains metadata including trusted links that help explain the context, meaning, process and result of an activity. As an open artefact, the earner can present the badge in different contexts from which it was earned.
• Clear progress markers– Motivating learners, supporting
advisors
• Flexible learning pathways– Granular, incremental, multi-source,
laddered, remixable
• Visual branding– Issuers and learners
• Online trust system– Demonstrate skills & capabilities– Proof of performance– Backed by issuer
Not a magic bullet, but...Transparent window of program quality
Badges and “weight” Open Badge Factory: Milestone Badges
• Sharing, searching• Validating, “valorizing”
– Aligning, combining, separating
What does going digital mean?Advantages of Open Badges
Badge PathwaysMozilla “Discover” (Gates funding)
http://discover.openbadges.org/
Badge Quality Report CardHow Open Badges can support RPL
Principles Open Badges
Context, Purpose, Value, BenefitsTo Learners, Organizations, Society
“Get recognition for skills you learn anywhere.”Learner centred, employer friendly, lifewide
Internal governancePolicies, management, administration
External to the technology
AssessmentProcesses and technical requirements
Requires good badge system design“Easy to do badges badly”
Quality AssuranceProcedures, standards
Transparent criteria, evidence, alignmentRequires good program design & admin
Validation (valorization)Equivalency; qualification frameworks & standards
Modular, stackable, remixable, exchangeablePathway mapping, progress indicators3rd party endorsement (coming)
External roles and responsibilitiesCoordination of stakeholders, jurisdictions
Global community, open standardRequires regional engagement, protocols
Third Party EndorsementQuality Work in Progress
badgealliance.org/endorsement/
“Badging the Badger”Digital Credentialing of Trainers
The California School-Age Consortium:
Europe - Adult Education Made Accessible:PROJECT UNDERWAY• Accessibility Quality Badges for Adult Education
Providers• Accessibility Competency Badges for Experts
Improving quality Emerging strategies
• PD workshops, conferences• Community, policy dialogue
– White papers, Policy Documents, Summits– Higher Ed, Workforce, Communities Working Groups
• Technical improvements– Standards, Endorsement Working Groups
• Practitioner Supports– Guidelines, templates, checklists...
• “Badging the badger”– Endorsement of trainers, assessors
• Research, program audits, reports
Can Open BadgesSupport
Employability?“…to promote labour market development throughout the
nation.”
Is there a “Skills Gap”?Old ways aren’t working
www.ere.net/2012/07/16/what%E2%80%99s-wrong-with-using-resumes-for-hiring-pretty-much-everything/
www.huffingtonpost.com/julian-l-alssid/a-new-gallup-survey-says-_b_4862669.html
higheredstrategy.com
Reaching toward the visionCompetency-Based Credentialing
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW): Making a Market for Competency-Based Credentials
Co-Curricular RecordsA transcript for graduate employability
Employers don’t want
another piece of paper!
Emerging employer policy: USThe Manufacturing Institute
"User-friendly digital badges allow students and workers to translate their skills and experience into a manufacturing career.
Manufacturing badges have ensured the success of three levels of skills: fundamental skills, including team work and problem solving; knowledge acquisition, including basic manufacturing skill sets; and industry-based certifications and credentials."Jennifer McNellyPresident, The Manufacturing InstituteSep 2013
bit.ly/McNelly_MI
What manufacturers wantThe Manufacturing Institute
youtu.be/VEgwJwrK3qQ
US Manufacturing PipelineSkills “currency exchange” for veterans
usmanufacturingpipeline.com/
Emerging public policy: USSecretary of Education
Badges can help speed the shift from credentials that simply measure seat time, to ones that more accurately measure competency. We must accelerate that transition. And badges can help account for formal and informal learning in a variety of settings.
Today's technology-enabled, information-rich, deeply interconnected world means learning not only can – but should – happen anywhere, anytime. We need to recognize these experiences, whether the environments are physical or online, and whether learning takes place in schools, colleges or adult education centers, or in afterschool, workplace, military or community settings.
Arne DuncanSep 2011
www.ed.gov/news/speeches/digital-badges-learning
Emerging public policy: UK Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise
“In broad terms, the conferring of an Open Badge on a learner is similar to the award of a qualification certificate, and the same quality standards must be ensured.
The emerging opportunities offered by Open Badges in the areas of peer assessment, employer partnership, learning analytics and the engagement of learners means that it should be considered in learning technology at various levels.
We will encourage Awarding Organisations, Ofqual and Ofsted to be aware of the potential of this technology.”
Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG) recommendations: government response
Matthew Hancock, June 2014
Lipscomb University/PolarisFortune 500 Competency Performance Model
www.lipscomb.edu/professionalstudies/core-for-employers
“CORE measures 15 competencies on a badge system, which is based on a nationally respected and Fortune 500-proven competency performance model—the Polaris Assessment System. Companies already utilizing this system include Nike, PetSmart, Disney, Mars, Wendy’s among many others.”
How could Open Badges
support RPL in the future?
CAEL’s VisionLearningCounts and Open Badges
• Bringing the power of faculty assessment and college credit to Open Badges– Smaller badges for motivation and
performance review– Badges could be part of a LearningCounts
portfolio and feed into certifications and degrees
...all based on evidence of learning
Pamela Tate CAEL Badges for Workforce Developmen (YouTube)
CAEL’s Vision Open ways of sharing evidence of learning
Pamela Tate CAEL Badges for Workforce Developmen (YouTube)
Managing workplace skillsOpen Badges and the Canada Job Grant
Canada Job Grant Need
Open Badges Solution
Qualified 3rd party trainers
•Validated badges for trainers & training organizations
Support for employers
•Modular, stackable training catalogues
•Responsive training plans
Performance measurement
•Extensive reporting capabilities•Delivery statistics, 12 month impact
•Client badges & badge passports•Group badge passports for employers:
•Skills gaps and road maps•Corporate capability summaries
•Open Badges: common currency•Import/export badges between systems
The Canada Job Grant has opened the door to an exciting digital training and recognition tool – Open Badges.
Badge the Organization? Recognizing Positive / Productive Behaviours
Source
Source
www.manitobalotteries.com/career/
mbplar.ca
IssuerSource
A new skills currencyOpen Badges, ePortfolios &“Badge Passports”
• Visually efficient and appealing– Engages, builds confidence, motivates
• Individual pathways, diverse sources of learning– Formal <---> non-formal <---> informal learning
• Common standard to broker skills between systems • Add evidence, reflection and other context as appropriate
– Portable, modular, remixable• Drill down to specifics, or roll up into larger outcomes• Programs not completed can be partially recognized and recombined• Assemble in individual badge passports & ePortfolios
• Trustable, easy to understand– Transparent criteria, evidence, issue/expiry date– Flexible alignment to frameworks, requirements, training
plans– Issuing organization is validated and branded by the badges
it issues
• Learner centred, employer friendly
Badge Solution: Open Badge Factory Cloud-based badge management & exchange
openbadgefactory.com
Badging the workforce pipelineCity & Guilds (UK vocational qualifications body)
bit.ly/pipeline-CandG
Next steps
• Next VTÉ Open Badges Lab– Nov 20 1:30pm EST– t.co/cic9ON9y1t
• Immigrants RPL Working Group Session:Open Badges– Date and time TBA
• Open Badge Factory Canada– Learning Agents, Discendum Oy, Q1 2015– Canadian servers
• Badge Europe...Badge Canada?– Guy Fortier
[email protected]: learningagents.ca
Twitter: donpresantePortfolio: donpresant.ca
This presentation: bit.ly/capla2014_badges
Additional info: bit.ly/openbadges4tpd
Additional Slides
Co-Curricular RecordsGood for Student Recognition?
• Only “approved” (campus) activities– No academic service/experiential learning, research– No off-campus employment, community service
• Portal-generated, mostly time-based• Little/no reflection, evidence,
integration– Few tools or opportunities, especially after upload
• Summative, “one time” paper report– “Laundry list”: linear, siloed, inflexible, archaic
(NB: some variation in functionality between platforms & product suites)
Employers don’t want another piece of paper!
Technology-based Badge SystemChemical Plant Technologists
pipingdesignu.com/
Endorsed by Security
CommunityInformation Systems Audit & Control Assoc.
www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/37591/isaca-launches-digital-badges-for-credential-verification/
Continuing Competence - UKFinancial Services – Online Self Directed
www.slideshare.net/tomwoodrwa/open-badges-presentation
“Competency based learning and assessment is working as a means to engage the professional learner. Open Badges contribute to that engagement as they reward learners and aid motivation. Moving away from formal CPD towards personal development.”
A Kirkpatrick View of Open Badgesfor workplace learning
Kirkpatrick Level Affordances & Indicators5: ROI (Phillips) • Badge reports comparing different programs, different
departments against bottom line measures• Badges, advancement and retention – comparing different badges
to different outcomes
4: Results • Badges for talent management and team building in departments, functions, regions
• Individual badges aggregated in teams/organizations: Lean, Green, ISO, Top Employer, Safe Workplace, etc.
• Badges to demonstrate regulatory compliance (Health & Safety)
3: Transfer • Badge collections: sequencing, stacking/laddering, clustering• Badges from multiple sources curated in badge passports &
channeled to recognition goals• Badges in eportfolios enhanced with commentary, reflection
2: Learning • Badges with transparent embedded skills outcomes
1: Reaction • Visual appeal, engagement, activity feedback/completion
Future VisionPerformance Management/Professional Development
http://rwagroup.co.uk/open-badges-are-here/
Features and Benefitsopenbadgefactory.com
• Currently:– Centralized cloud service with Open API: manage badges
in one place, issue in many (LMS, HR, etc.)– Controlled access for organizations– Controlled roles within organizations
• Creator, Issuer, Administrator
– Detailed reports– Badge applications (requests)– Milestone badges (meta-badges)
• Coming soon:– Multi-lingual badges– Badge Passport (c. November)
Open Badge Factory DETAIL: Badge Applications (request forms)
Dec 2014: Badge PassportCompanion to Open Badge Factory
• Flexible alternative to Mozilla Backpack– Connected to Open Badge Factory & Mozilla Backpack– Micro-portfolios: profile, badges, supporting information
• Badge communities hosted by issuers/aggregators– Companies, educators/trainers, associations, sectors,
professional bodies, funders, regions– Join, share, discover, match and aggregate badges
• Badge earners, badges to earn, badges sought• Search and report based on badge data
• Tiered subscription model– Free for badge earners– Subscriptions for organizations– Custom installations for private/complex solutions
A cloud-powered Skills Exchange “Small pieces, loosely joined”
Mozilla BackpackStore, Share badges
Open Badge FactoryCreate, Issue, Manage
badges
Badge PassportStore, Share, Connect
badges
Open API
OpenAPI
Moodle Plug-in
Issue badges
Mahara ePPlug-in
Issue badges
Global Badge CommunityIssuers, earners
OpenAPI
IssuerGroups
EarnerPassports
Open APIs
Modular.Flexible.
Interoperable.
eLearningPlatforms
ePortfolioPlatforms
SAP, Oracle(ERP/HRIS)
CommunityPlatforms
WordPress,Drupal (CMS)
Other possible plug-ins