The document provides a technical overview of open badges, highlighting their structure as PNG files with embedded JSON metadata. It discusses various issuing platforms and tools for displaying badges, such as BadgeOS and Credly, while emphasizing the importance of supporting users in displaying badges and aligning technical choices with broader frameworks and standards. Additionally, it touches on considerations like badge issuing triggers and interaction with standards like xAPI.

1. Open Badges:
Technical
Overview
R. John Robertson,
LTDC October 8, 2013

2. Technical Context
● What do you need to know?
● What questions do you need ask?

3. So what is a badge?
A png file
With ‘baked in’ json metadata

4. What can it contain?

5. The Metadata specification
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#E._Metadata_Spec

6. Technical Infrastructure

7. Technical Infrastructure
Issuing Platform
Backpack
Issue
Accept
and
Store
Display ‘Widget’
Display

8. Some Issuing Tools
BadgeOS - WordPress plugin
Credly - Web service
Purdue’s Passport - Platform/ BB add on
D2L - coming soon?
There are plenty of other tools and platforms

9. One example of use @ UW Oshkosh

10. Course progress in Passport

11. Bigger picture considerations
● How do we support users in displaying
badges?
● How does the technical choice fit into a the
wider framework?
○ can it support the intended use / purpose?
○ what triggers badge issuing for these activities?
● How does this fit with the wider technical /
standards arena? eg interaction with xApi

12. Links
Mozilla Open Badges
http://openbadges.org
Metadata Specification https://wiki.mozilla.
org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#E.
_Metadata_Spec