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Digital badges are bound to become increasingly important in the years to come. If you have a vague understanding of digital badges and are wondering how learners can benefit from them, you’ll want to listen to this episode.
I interview Jon Aleckson, PhD, and Andy Hicken, PhD, from Web Courseworks. They have a good sense of what’s going on in the digital badge space right now. You’ll learn how digital badges will be used to validate learning, what needs to be done to further adoption and the current state of the technology.
WE DISCUSS:
- What micro credentials are
- Where digital badges fit in
- Why micro credentials are needed
- The psychology underlying digital badges
- What gives a digital bad or micro credential meaning
- Standards that are emerging
- Use cases when digital badges have value
- What will drive adoption of digital badges
- Mozilla Open Badges
- Interoperability of xAPI and Open Badges
TIME: 29 minutes
RATE: Rate this podcast in iTunes
TRANSCRIPT: Download the ELC 022 Podcast Transcript .
RESOURCES AND LINKS:
- Managing eLearning (the blog at Web Courseworks)
- Web Courseworks (where Jon and Andy work)
- ASTM International Standard: New Practice for Achievement-based Digital Badges
- Mozilla Open Badges
- Mozilla Backpack
- xAPI
- The Limitless Possibilities of xAPI (podcast)
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Hi Kristen,
Thanks for the kind words about the podcast. Would love another review in iTunes if you have a moment! Perhaps in some cases what a badge represents would overlap with a transcript, though transcripts of courses done within a company are not that common, as far as I know. Possibly the best use of badges would be to represent achievement through a course or project facilitated by a respected association. Then there would be consistency across the board. Also, internally, they seem good for motivating people and for gamification. People love collecting badges! You won’t get that with a list of courses (transcript). So I see some good uses for them. It will be fun to watch what happens. Thanks for your thoughts.
Connie
Hi Connie, I’m catching up on the old(er) episodes and just heard this one this morning. It’s got me thinking about how an LMS transcript and a badge might intersect? I could see some people asking what the difference might be, especially if the badges were only of value inside a company. I understand that a badge might represent the completion of a series of courses, or of something that occurs outside the LMS, but it seems that the newer LMS software can solve for those too. Doesn’t a transcript serve as the “proof” already? Would love to hear your thoughts – oh, and I love your podcasts! I listen to them on the way to work, and then have a chance to reflect on them on the way to my desk. It’s a wonderful way to start the day!
Thank you so much, Ray. That means a lot coming from you!
Connie
Thank you, Shawn!
Great podcast. Very informative, and exciting to hear that badges are close to reaching the tipping point. Looking forward to see how this progresses. Enjoyed WebCourseworks perspectives.
Connie,
Thanks for sharing your Podcasts. I find them exhilarating.
Best, Ray
Hi Mara,
It seems like quite a few organizations are using badges. Can you tell us more? How your program works and the effect it has had on learners?
Thanks!
Connie
Dear all,
I really enjoyed the podcast.
I am working at UNITAR and we are using the badge system for some of our courses (Peacekeeping Training Programme).
Best,
Mara
Very interesting, Chris. I didn’t know that Moodle handles badges well. Thanks for letting us know.
Connie
This was an interesting topic. My company manages over 300 Moodle based installations for both public sector and private businesses in the UK and we are now starting to see open badges being added to courses across our customer base (Moodle handles badges really well). It’s a slow uptake but the buzz has started.
The important thing is to invest the accreditation with value.
Hi John,
That is cool that Coursera allowed you to get validated. I guess this will be the eventual path to digital badges. Thanks for letting us know about this.
Connie
I listened to this chat and also found it to be informative. I’m currently taking a course through Coursera and signed up for the signature track. The course I’m taking doesn’t really require much work to get the signature, but I’ll still learn from it. I had to type in a phrase, take a picture of myself, and take a picture of my driver’s license to get validated. Pretty cool. My main concern is that there are varying qualities of education on Coursera and effort to put into it. I’m not sure how much of it I will remember, but it will look good on a resume and LinedIn.
Glad you liked the podcast, Erin. I learned a lot from Jon and Andy too as I had some misconceptions about digital badges. Let us know if you plan to use them in some way!
Best,
Connie
I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast and captured so many key take-aways. Thanks Connie, Jon and Andy for sharing your information and ideas – I see interesting possibilities for the future of micro-credentialing.
Regards and warm greetings from chilly Montreal (temperatures surpassing North Pole temps this week!).