A college degree is important, but it provides an incomplete picture of a graduate’s knowledge, skills, and experiences. Microcredentialing (awarding recognition for small, granular achievements) may help! By collecting and displaying digital badges online, students can combine evidence from all of their learning activities (including classroom, co-curricular, and outside learning) to promote themselves more effectively. In this session, which was presented at the 2015 Faculty Summer Institute, we discussed what badges are and how to create and award them to your students.

1. Microcredentialing:
Recognizing Student Learning
with Digital Badges

2. Presenters
Cameron Wills
Research Associate
cwills@niu.edu
@MetaWills
Stephanie Richter
Assistant Director
srichter@niu.edu
@slrichter

3. Slides available at j.mp/fsi15badges

4. The landscape of learning is
changing…

5. Why Microcredentialing?

6. What are Badges?
Visual representations of
achievements, learning, skills,
interests, & competencies

7. Digital Badge
an online record of achievement, tracking the
recipient’s communities of interaction that issued
the badge and the work completed to get it
(The Mozilla Foundation & Peer 2 Peer University, 2012)

8. Digital Badges – Examples

9. Digital Badges – Examples

10. Badge Alliance

11. Microcredential
Awarded on the acquisition of specific knowledge
or demonstrated competency of an identified skill
and validated by recognized professional bodies or
educational institutions
(Elliott et al., 2014)

12. Badge vs. Microcredential
• Some debate on the difference
• Formative vs. summative assessment

13. Common terminology
Lifecycle Creating > Issuing > Displaying
Stacking
“Upgrading” badges to higher level achievements
Ecosystem
Overall badging architecture, including badges,
platforms, and paths for earning

14. Challenges to Adoption
Value
Do badges/microcredentials mean anything? Do
employers value them?
Trust
Are issuers valid? Does the recipient deserve the badge?
Equivalency
• How do badges compare to certificates or degrees?

15. Mozilla Open Badge Backpack
• Repository for saving badges
• Framework for displaying badges
• Learn more at openbadges.org

16. Step 1: Create a Mozilla Persona Account
• Go to backpack.openbadges.org/
• Click Log In or Sign Up
• Enter your information
TIP: Choose an email address you can check during
this session

17. Step 2: Give us your email address
• Go to j.mp/fsi15_claimbadge
• Enter your name and the email address you
used for your Mozilla account
Note: Personal information will only be used to
distribute the badges

18. Using Microcredentials in Teaching

19. Why Use Badges?
Recognition Motivation

20. ETR 531 – Educational Program Evaluation
12-week Graduate level course
Students working toward M.S. Ed in
Instructional Technology
Badges rewarded students for mastering
evaluation concepts

21. Badges for ETR 531

22. Evaluation Measures Mastery

23. Disability in Society MOOC

24. Perspectives on Disability
10-week Massive Open Online Course
(MOOC)
Instead of grades,
participants earned badges

25. Badges for
Perspectives on Disability

26. Week 1

27. Week 10

28. Lessons learned
Students liked the badges & certificate
Was ideal for providing recognition
without grading
Easy to set up

29. Discussion
How would you use microcredentials
or badges in your teaching?

30. Creating and Issuing Badges

31. Formula for Making Badges
Image + metadata = badge

32. Image
No secret – it’s just an image
Usually square

33. Metadata
• Proves that the badges was earned
• Validates the issuer, the criteria, the evidence
Metadata is what creates trust in badges

34. Metadata
{
"uid": "f2c20",
"recipient": {
"type": "email",
"hashed": true,
"salt": "deadsea",
"identity": "sha256$c7ef86405ba71b85acd8e2e95166c4b111448089f2e1599f42fe1bba46e865c5"
},
"image": "https://example.org/beths-robot-badge.png",
"evidence": "https://example.org/beths-robot-work.html",
"issuedOn": 1359217910,
"badge": "https://example.org/robotics-badge.json",
"verify": {
"type": "hosted",
"url": "https://example.org/beths-robotics-badge.json"
}
}
Learn More About Badge MetaData
wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer

35. Badge Images

36. Made with PowerPoint
Program Evaluation
ETR 531
PROSPECTUS
Program Evaluation
ETR 531
LOGIC MODEL
Program Evaluation
ETR 531
EVALUATION
DESIGN
GREAT
CONTRIBUTOR
ETR 531
Program Evaluation
Program Evaluation
ETR 531
MEASURES
Program Evaluation
ETR 531
EVALUATION
MANAGEMENT
Program Evaluation
ETR 531
EVALUATION
PLAN
Program Evaluation
ETR 531
EVALUATION
PRESENTATION

37. Other Tools for Making Badge Graphics
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• Inkscape (free)
• OpenBadges.me

38. Issuing Badges

39. Tools for Creating Metadata
• BadgeKit
• Purdue Passport
• Credly
• Blackboard Achievements

40. Create a Badge with Credly
1. Go to credly.com
2. Click the Customize This button
3. Create a Credly account if you want to save or
issue your badge

41. Accepting a Badge

42. Learn more
Mozilla Open Badges
www.openbadges.org/
Badge Alliance
www.badgealliance.org/
7 Things You Should Know About Badges
www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-
know-about-badges
7 Things You Should Read About Badges
www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-
read-about-badges

43. Questions?
Cameron Wills
Research Associate
cwills@niu.edu
@MetaWills
Stephanie Richter
Assistant Director
srichter@niu.edu
@slrichter
Slides available at j.mp/fsi15badges