This presentation was given at the 2014 Library Instruction West conference in Portland, Oregon. As technology in higher education rapidly changes, new pedagogical tools are being tested, developed, and implemented. Digital badges systems are one such tool that can be used to certify student skills and competencies, including information literacy skills. Despite new teaching technologies and pedagogical approaches, it remains difficult for instruction librarians to lead experimentation. As a result, librarians depend on collaborative relationships with disciplinary faculty to experiment with pedagogies and tools like badging. At Portland State University, however, librarians are leading a collaborative digital badges project with Community Health Faculty to develop, deliver, assess, and track student achievements in information literacy. In this session Library and Community Health faculty presenters will discuss the ins-and-outs of integrating digital badges into course curriculum to certify information literacy and other achievements.

1. Badge it!
Using Digital Badges to Certify Information
Literacy Skills within Disciplinary Curriculum
Emily Ford
Jost Lottes
Betty Izumi
Dawn Richardson
Portland State University

2. ● What are badges?
● Theory
● Overview of the PSU
Project
● Our Approach
● Project Planning
● Faculty Perspectives
● Future Directions
● Claim Your Badge!
● Questions/Discussion
Agenda

3. A badge is a visual
representation of a
skill, achievement, or
knowledge gained.

4. Theory -
Active
Learning
theartdontstop.org/images/gallery/11694303
83.jpg

5. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/
5e/Checklist_Noun_project_5166.png
Theory -
Competency-
Based
Curriculum

6. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGemei
ne_M%C3%B6hre_(Wiener_Dioskurides).pn
g
Theory -
Motivation

7. Badge
Anatomy
Badge Name
Description
Criteria
Issuer
Evidence
Date Issued
Standards
Tags
CC BY Kyle Bowen

9. Our
Approach
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shipdham
_Airfield_final_approach.JPG

10. Planning -
Outcomes
&
Curriculum
Mapping
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portland,_
OR,_street_map.png

11. Planning -
Instructional
Design
Website
Evaluation
Prof/ Pop/ In-
between
Contributor to
Info
Landscape
Source
Documentation
Analysis of
Info
Search
Techniques

12. Planning - Instructional Design
Contributor to Information Landscape Badge
Assignments and Criteria
Course
Assignment Criteria
Our Community,
Our Health
Write a blog post on the class blog. Peer
evaluation of one another's blog posts.
Complete blog post and
evaluation.
Community
Nutrition
Critically evaluate a newspaper article on a
community nutrition topic. Write and submit
a commentary to The Oregonian and The
New York Times. Provide peer review
feedback on commentary drafts prior to their
submission.
Print/submit the email
submissions; participate as a
peer reviewer.

13. Planning - Instructional Design
Contributor to Information Landscape Badge
Assignments and Criteria
Course Skill
Assignment/ Criteria
Our Community,
Our Health
Keyword searching and maximizing search
efficacy in Google and other search engines
Online module and quiz
Community
Nutrition
Keyword searching, basic Boolean search
techniques, and database functionality in a
subject-specific database. (Health Source)
D2L assignment (flipped prior
to library session), library
session, and annotated
bibliography

14. Faculty
Perspectives Dawn
Richardson

15. Faculty
Perspectives Betty Izumi

16. Faculty
Perspectives

17. A recent article in Yahoo Finance listed the “10
Worst States for Retirement.” The state ranked #1
(i.e., the worst) was Oregon:
“Oregon ranks dead last on our list of bad states for
retirement for a variety of reasons. Its crime rate,
state and local tax burden and cost of living are all
higher than the national average. Its annual average
temperature is 48.8 degrees, which is colder than
the 30-year national average of 52.8 degrees.
However, The Beaver State offers spectacular
scenery from Mount Hood to the Pacific coast, and
plentiful opportunities for hikers to climb its rugged
terrain and kayakers to experience its exhilarating
white-water rapids -- perhaps unsuitable activities for
all but the hardiest retirees.”
Faculty
Perspectives

18. Future
Directions
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AToutes
_directions.JPG

19. Claim Your
Badge
http://bit.ly/badgeit

20. Questions/
Discussion
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADiscus
sion.png

21. Abramovich, S., Schunn, C., & Higashi, R. M. (2013). Are badges useful in education?: it
depends upon the type of badge and expertise of learner. Educational Technology Research
and Development, 61(2), 217–232.
Albanese, M. a, Mejicano, G., Anderson, W. M., & Gruppen, L. (2010). Building a
competency-based curriculum: the agony and the ecstasy. Advances in Health Sciences
Education : Theory and Practice, 15(3), 439–54.
Brasley, S. S. (2008). Effective Librarian and Discipline Faculty Collaboration Models for
Integrating Information Literacy into the Fabric of an Academic Institution. New Directions for
Teaching and Learning, (114), 71–88.
Cary, K. (2012). A Future Full of Badges - Commentary. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Gordon, L., & Bartoli, E. (2012). Using Discipline-Based Professional Association Standards
for Information Literacy Integration: A Review and Case Study. Behavioral & Social Sciences
Librarian, 21(1), 23–38.
Levidow, L. (2002). Marketizing higher education : neoliberal strategies and counter
strategies. In K. Robins & F. Webster (Eds.), The Virtual University? Knowledge, Markets
and Management (pp. 227–248). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lozano, J. F., Boni, A., Peris, J., & Hueso, A. (2012). Competencies in Higher Education: A
Critical Analysis from the Capabilities Approach. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 46(1),
132–147.
Further
Readings

22. Moser, F. Z. (2007). Strategic Management of Educational Technology--The Importance of
Leadership and Management. Tertiary Education and Management, 13(2), 141–152.
Meulemans, Y. N., & Carr, A. (2013). Not at your service: building genuine faculty-librarian
partnerships. Reference Services Review, 41(1), 80–90.
Pagowsky, N. (n.d.). Keeping Up With... Digital Badges for Instruction. ACRL Keeping Up With...
Schneckenberg, D., Ehlers, U., & Adelsberger, H. (2011). Web 2.0 and Competence-Oriented
Design of Learning--Potentials and Implications for Higher Education. British Journal of
Educational Technology, 42(5), 747–762.
Schulte, S. J. (2012). Embedded Academic Librarianship: A Review of the Literature. Evidence
Based Library & Information Practice, 7(4), 122–138.
Sleeter, C. (2008). Equity, democracy, and neoliberal assaults on teacher education. Teaching
and Teacher Education, 24(8), 1947–1957.
Smith, K. (2012). Lessons Learnt from Literature on the Diffusion of Innovative Learning and
Teaching Practices in Higher Education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International,
49(2), 173–182.
Wheelahan, L. (2007). How competency‐based training locks the working class out of powerful
knowledge: a modified Bernsteinian analysis. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 28(5),
637–651.
Wheelahan, L. (2012). The appropriation of constructivism by instrumentalism: The case of
competency-based training. In Why Knowledge Matters in Curriculum: A Social Realist
Argument. New Studies in Critical Realism and Education (pp. 126–144). New York: Routledge,
Taylor & Francis Group.
Further
Readings
Cont’d

23. Emily Ford
Urban & Public
Affairs Librarian
Millar Library
Portland State
University
forder@pdx.edu
Jost Lottes
Research Associate
Institute on Aging
Portland State
University
jost@pdx.edu
Betty Izumi
Assistant Professor
School of
Community Health
Portland State
University
izumibet@pdx.edu
Dawn Richardson
Assistant Professor
School of
Community Health
Portland State
University
drichar2@pdx.edu