Panelists:
Michael Cordero, Lead Educator at Urban Arts Partnership
Johnathan Finkelstein, Credly Founder and CEO
Larry Johnson, CEO of The New Media Consortium
Tracy Petrillo, Chief Learning Officer at EDUCAUSE
Tracy Petrillo: The value of Digital Credentials were hard for me to accept because I have always worked with more formalized credentials. If you are struggling with understanding the value of digital credentials talk to me after the session.
Michael Cordero: Retention and true visual of the skills that the students learn through the program. 50% graduation rate what we are trying to assess or battle – preparing students for college or career. Allows students to see where they are going.
Larry Johnson: NMC best known for the Horizon Report – related to educational technology. We came to badging through the doorway of microcredit, providing incremental rewards along learning pathways primarily as a motivator.
Jonathan Finkelstein: Cred.ly founder – allowing for the interoperability and portability of digital credentials.
One of the things that gives a credential value (digital or otherwise) is the institution’s brand.
Tracy: Educause started credentialing based upon seat time. “Don’t badge everything”
ELI took a step back and looked at the valued learning experience and added the micro credential to that new knowledge.
The badges are widely used/shared on LinkedIn. The badges are optional and are only at 42% acceptance. The digital currency of the badge is still in the beholder. Of the 2654 issued only 1116 were accepted. In partnership with UCF on the Blended Learning MOOC – at the end of the course you can have your Blended Learning portfolio peer reviewed for a fee and badge.
Michael: Digital Filmmaking Badge Framework is in the beta steps and hope to expand it out to the rest of the schools in New York City – in after school programs hopefully leading them to the academy. The digital badges: Storytelling, camera, editing, sound, production, leadership. “The true hurdle is the value” Talking with the Mayor and other leaders to be able to use the badges to get internships and other pathways to careers and college.
Larry: Initially HP project – the NMC academy, STEM based teacher training program. Practicing teachers taking the course in 130 courses around the world. 50 unique courses but adding more all the time. In the beginning it was really about seat time or clock time so that it would align with teacher training CEU requirements. Not just badges but also certificates. That project is finished but we have really looked at badges from a membership perspectives. We have looked at how do we badge the participation in the organization, like Tracy and Educause. We have tried all sorts of things. We are come down to a few things: we are interested in bite-sized things – as frictionless as possible. Once people earn the badge they are quick to share them. We are moving pretty definitely away from certificates and toward digital credentials.
Jonathan: Brandman University is using Credly to badge the competencies within the courses Example Program Bachelor in Business Administration (general ed = 13 competencies, business core = 34 and emphasis area = 9-12 to total = 56-59 competencies)
https://www.brandman.edu/blog/competency-based-education-from-a-subject-matter-expert
www.cael.org/…/competency-based-education-lessons-learned-and-key
Larry: Earning badges in our environment allows educators to become more familiar with badging in a non-threatening way and wrap their heads around it. Many project in process including with Museums (54 museums wanted to be a part of creating educational opportunities). NMC is the home for the content not the content provider.
Tracy: Many people thing of badges as the scouts but we are here to provide you with the understanding that badging is seeing value in demonstrating knowledge in the adult professional development. Example: Big box store is doing internal organizational badging – this is so that they can determine the skills of individuals who can be promoted due to their skill sets.
The challenge is does it apply to the workplace. It is about motivating people to continue to learning throughout their lives. If HR can begin to adopt the badges and understand the value to the badges then that will change things.
It is true that some competencies are difficult to assess or soft skills that are hard to quantify.
Question:
How do we keep from flooding the market with badges so that they have value?
It is not about quantity, the value comes from the groups that have the right data points to validate. Putting that data in the hands of the learners is the real value.
Should some badges expire?
Always call the first badge you issue “limited edition”. Learn as you go.
Digital badges allow employers to see the skills that a learner has in real time.
Larry: Continuing education we just needed to make sure they were moving through the materials. We are now tracking their movement through the course – if you come and stick with it if you spend the time to do that. Now we don’t ask them for much. We have given out 12,000 badges so far.
Will digital badges remain low or no cost even once it gains value/traction?
Tracy: the platforms that are out there are meant to be open and free, the learning achievements that we display are valued. Companies that are trying to monetize this are not a threat to the credentialing industry but rather a compliment to the existing systems. Could everything be monetized into business? Absolutely but it is up to us to make sure that people are demonstrating their competency. I don’t like the word disruption, but badging can be disruptive because it makes you think about learning in smaller segments.
Is there a way to track if digital natives or digital immigrants are more inclined to adopt digital credentials?
There is no real age or boundaries around badges even a panel sessions where the word badges was banned used the word in the session. Even the military uses badges and we respect what that badge means.
Larry: Many of our members have Masters & PhDs and badges provide a sense of being a part of the community and recognition by their peers that they are a part of that educational community.
Michael: I’ve been earning badges since I played Mario Kart. <laughter> Our youth are conditioned to this and want to be a part of it. In the classroom we use stickers and as a kid, I was mad at the kid who had all those stickers <laughter> It is about how many stickers we can get on our wall.
Tracy: Now those kids are growing up to be a badge addict rather than a sticker addict – as badging becomes more pervasive, what happens when you have too many badges. I can’t wait until we have that conversation. When we get to that point, we will have to start having different conversations.
In thinking about badges to create pathways for middle school and high-school, in focus groups I’ve done around the country, do you know of schools systems that have a well-developed system that goes deeper earlier?
Examples:
Design Prep at Smithsonian National Design Museum
http://www.cooperhewitt.org/education/teen-programs/
UK: Digital.me http://www.digitalme.co.uk
Developing framework to allow kids to earn badges
Closing comments:
Confidence to Competence- Tracy
Badging lends itself nicely to how we learn after we get out of formal learning institutions. –Larry
Our mission is to close the achievement gap: digital identity and citizenship is truly about equal opportunity. These kids need to be able to develop their digital identity too. Digital badging allows our youth to be prepared for the 21st century. –Michael
There are two points in your life when people say really nice things about you, letters of recommendation that might be sealed and your eulogy. Digital credentials allow for positive things to be shared about you more regularly. – Jonathan
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