by James Willis
In mid-April, Stanford University hosted the "Learning Summit 2016: Inventing the Future of Higher Education." For those of us who study how the newer processes and protocols of using student data have ethical and legal consequences, one session in particular should be of interest: Marco Molinaro (UC Davis) moderated a panel on the "Responsible Use of Student Data for Individual and Organizational Improvement" which included speakers Martin Kurzweil (ITHAKA S+R), Mitchell Stevens (Stanford), and Kent Wada (UCLA). Kurzweil provided a recent blog posting summarizing the panel discussion, raising some important points.
Showing posts with label open digital badges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label open digital badges. Show all posts
Friday, April 22, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
AERA and Open Digital Badges
by James Willis
The 2016 conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) will happen next week (April 8 - April 12) in Washington, D.C. There are some events related to open digital badges, so I'll discuss them briefly along with links to additional information. There is also an interesting disparity between the growing embrace of badges and the relatively little coverage at AERA.
The 2016 conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) will happen next week (April 8 - April 12) in Washington, D.C. There are some events related to open digital badges, so I'll discuss them briefly along with links to additional information. There is also an interesting disparity between the growing embrace of badges and the relatively little coverage at AERA.
Monday, February 8, 2016
2016 Developments at the Badge Alliance
by James Willis and Dan Hickey in conjunction with Nate Otto
At the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016, there have been a number of changes at the Badge Alliance. In a recent blog posting, Nate Otto, Director of the Badge Alliance, sets out an ambitious agenda for 2016. Beyond the on-going work of supporting productive and evidence-rich badging projects, the Badge Alliance is also concentrating efforts on communicating across the various communities and providing technical support to the ecosystem. We summarize some of those initiatives here.
At the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016, there have been a number of changes at the Badge Alliance. In a recent blog posting, Nate Otto, Director of the Badge Alliance, sets out an ambitious agenda for 2016. Beyond the on-going work of supporting productive and evidence-rich badging projects, the Badge Alliance is also concentrating efforts on communicating across the various communities and providing technical support to the ecosystem. We summarize some of those initiatives here.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
So maybe open badges can get you into Harvard (or Yale or Dartmouth) after all
By Daniel Hickey and James Willis
As summarized in Education Dive and reported in the Boston Globe, Harvard and 80 representatives from other Ivy League schools released a report arguing that admissions officers should give more attention to service-learning and volunteer activities. They recommended:
- "Promoting more meaningful contributions to others, community service and engagement with the public good.
- Assessing students' ethical engagement and contributions to others in ways that reflect varying types of family and community contributions across race, culture and class.
- Redefining achievement in ways that both level the playing field for economically diverse students and reduce excessive achievement pressure."
Those of you who follow RMA can likely appreciate how much this means to us and where this post is going. Yup. Badges and assessment. That second recommendation is going to be a really tough one to implement. As we will elaborate in some length, open digital badges are intended to provide valid evidence of accomplishment outside of accredited contexts. Some new developments may allow them to serve precisely this function.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Digital Badges on Resumes and College Applications
by James Willis
Our recent article, "Where Badges Work Better," published as an ELI Brief in July 2015 by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative as a different version, notes the difficulty in getting organizations to value badges. Translating badges to real-world outcomes like obtaining employment or entry into college is one of the next major goals of open digital badge development. This is no small task: even as badges have gained traction in educational technology, they remain a bit more remote to businesses and some college admissions departments. The Sprout Fund, a Pittsburgh, PA-based organization that "supports innovative ideas that are catalyzing change...making our community a better place to live, work, play, and raise a family" is helping move badges into the workplace and college admissions practices.
Our recent article, "Where Badges Work Better," published as an ELI Brief in July 2015 by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative as a different version, notes the difficulty in getting organizations to value badges. Translating badges to real-world outcomes like obtaining employment or entry into college is one of the next major goals of open digital badge development. This is no small task: even as badges have gained traction in educational technology, they remain a bit more remote to businesses and some college admissions departments. The Sprout Fund, a Pittsburgh, PA-based organization that "supports innovative ideas that are catalyzing change...making our community a better place to live, work, play, and raise a family" is helping move badges into the workplace and college admissions practices.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Digital Badges and the Workplace: Some Recent Resources
by James Willis
The use and interest in open digital badges continues to grow. This is especially true for the workplace. Seen as dynamic evidence of learning and skills, badges are becoming better known and accepted by employers. This trend is expected to continue as badges become better understood in the wider conversation of credentialing and in alternative models like competency-based education. I've gathered some recent articles (with links) that discuss badges in the workplace.
The use and interest in open digital badges continues to grow. This is especially true for the workplace. Seen as dynamic evidence of learning and skills, badges are becoming better known and accepted by employers. This trend is expected to continue as badges become better understood in the wider conversation of credentialing and in alternative models like competency-based education. I've gathered some recent articles (with links) that discuss badges in the workplace.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Amanda Opperman on Competency-Based Badging
by Gina Howard and James Willis
In a recent meeting with Amanda Opperman, a blogger for Wonderlic,
James Willis and Dan Hickey discussed the implications of awarding
competency-based, open digital badges in the evolving workplace. Wonderlic is a
private company that has been offering businesses and schools with a
comprehensive library of assessments and surveys for each phase of the hiring
and student selection process for the last 75 years. Wonderlic is beginning to
explore the potential of competency-based, open digital badges associated with
their assessments of vocational competencies, starting with criminal justice
and health care.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
MOUSE Badges: Learning from Successful Projects
by James Willis and Gina Howard
As we finalize the soon-to-be published Design Principles Documentation (DPD) findings, we would like to highlight one particularly successful project: MOUSE. Marc Lesser, Education Director at MOUSE, recently posted an insightful blog entry, Why We Badge: Five reasons we set out to design a digital badging system for learners at MOUSE five years ago. Highlighting some of Lesser's points, we also can discuss what the DPD team found to be true about the MOUSE badging system.
As we finalize the soon-to-be published Design Principles Documentation (DPD) findings, we would like to highlight one particularly successful project: MOUSE. Marc Lesser, Education Director at MOUSE, recently posted an insightful blog entry, Why We Badge: Five reasons we set out to design a digital badging system for learners at MOUSE five years ago. Highlighting some of Lesser's points, we also can discuss what the DPD team found to be true about the MOUSE badging system.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
New Collaboration with Badge List
by James Willis and Daniel Hickey
In our continuing efforts to help facilitate open digital badges in higher education, we are looking forward to expanding our set of collaborators to include Badge List. We met with Benjamin Roome, one of the co-founders, to establish how we might coordinate our efforts. Our initial goal is working towards an API to integrate with the learning management system, Canvas, in time for courses this summer
In our continuing efforts to help facilitate open digital badges in higher education, we are looking forward to expanding our set of collaborators to include Badge List. We met with Benjamin Roome, one of the co-founders, to establish how we might coordinate our efforts. Our initial goal is working towards an API to integrate with the learning management system, Canvas, in time for courses this summer
Monday, November 3, 2014
The "Design Knowledge Evaporation Problem" and the Design of Complex Digital Badge Systems
By Dan Hickey
I am crunching out the final report of the Open Badges Design Principles Document Program and it pushed me to dig more deeply into the research on "knowledge evaporation" in the design of complex software architectures. It makes me wonder if current efforts to build badges into the larger, more complex learning management systems are about to run into the wall that complex software systems always run into.
I am crunching out the final report of the Open Badges Design Principles Document Program and it pushed me to dig more deeply into the research on "knowledge evaporation" in the design of complex software architectures. It makes me wonder if current efforts to build badges into the larger, more complex learning management systems are about to run into the wall that complex software systems always run into.
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