Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Open Ed 13: Badge-Empowered Learning

Digital Leader
An example digital badge.
Tami Echard and Jay Heap discuss on open source badge platform.

"Georgia Virtual Learning is developing a series of online professional development programs using BadgeOS, a powerful open source platform for rewarding learner achievement and community engagement and issuing digital micro-credentials [digital badges]. The session will explore options available through BadgeOS for designing, issuing and displaying micro-credentials at any organization. Some of the features available with BadgeOS include customizable implementations, extensive knowledge and community triggers for recognizing achievements and social contributions, and the idea of building an iTunes like open source badge and content library. Digital micro-credentials issued through BadgeOS are compliant with Mozilla Open Badge (OBI) standards and are opening up new job opportunities, exposing new learning pathways, and helping connect people with communities where they can have an impact and where their skills and experience are valued and needed. Digital micro-credentials can be issued to anyone ? in the elementary school setting to the corporate setting to people engaged and committed to lifelong learning"

We will look at software, technical requirements, planning, implementation and then take questions. Planning is the most important thing.

Software made by Learning Times. It used to be a program called "BadgeStack" and now it is a Wordpress plug-in. 

Tech requirements: Wordpress and BadgeOS

Planning
Skills for teachers: Participate, navigate, create, communicate, evaluate
 Competencies: Planning, web tools, OER and CC, Learning objects
Quests: Locating OER: find and image, text, learning object

Great illustration for their badge system - will link to presentation later.

Implementation
Using Discussion Post/Forums
The facutly posted to a blog or to a discussion post.
The discussion forum was in Wordpress.
There is a "quest" page telling them step-by-step what they needed to do to complete an assignment.
 In BadgeOS, users can create quests (e.g. a locating OER quest)
It then lets you decide how they achieve the badge (earned by completing steps,points, submissions, activities, etc.)
There is the option to "Show Earners" and create a "Congratulations Text."

They chose badge awarded on "required steps." It can also be based on "Publish a page."

The system allow users to send to other systems like Credly.

Competency
Describes what the student learned. One could align assignment outcomes to this system.

All the competencies must be linked to a skill - this is why planning is essential.

The course uses "verifiers." A verifier gets paid $49 for verifying a students progress through the course. 

They are at https://www.openteachertraining.org

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