This document provides an outline for a presentation on open badges in education. It discusses key concepts and perspectives on open badges, including their pedagogical and technological aspects. On the pedagogical side, it explores how open badges can serve as motivational mechanisms and learning scaffolds. Technologically, it examines badging platforms and tools and demonstrates designing badges interactively. It also covers community aspects like stakeholders and enthusiasts, and provides an overview of the process for designing and developing an open badge system.

1. This communication reflects the views only of authors, and the commission cannot be held
responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein.
Funded with support from the European Commission, as part of the project
Grading soft skills: GRASS, No. 543029-LLP-1-RS-KA3-KA3MP
Open Badges in Education
Vladan Devedzic, Jelena Jovanovic, Bojan Tomic, Nikola Milikic
University of Belgrade, Serbia

2. ● Introduction - concepts and perspectives
● Pedagogical aspects of Open Badges
● Technological aspects of Open Badges I –
badging platforms and tools
● Interactive design of Open Badges
● Designing and developing Open Badges I –
Open Badges for soft skills
Outline

3. ● Community aspects of Open Badges I –
enthusiasts and stakeholders
● Designing and developing Open Badge systems –
the big picture
Outline

4. ● Here is the intro
Introduction –
concepts and perspectives

5. OBs as a motivational mechanism
OBs as learning scaffolds
Pedagogical aspects of Open Badges

6. Traditional role: Badges as a rewarding mechanism
● an important element of ‘gamification’ or ‘game-mechanics’
● required features: desirable and attainable, yet challenging
● what a badge is awarded for - effort, improvement, performance -
tends to affect motivation
OBs as a Motivational Mechanism

7. Facilitators of learning practices that foster intrinsic motivation
● Participatory learning and peer-based learning communities
● Badges enable novel forms of learners’ engagement:
◦ receiving badges and earning reputation to recommend peers for badges
◦ interacting around badges as social objects
◦ building badge-based (context-specific) e-portfolios
◦ community-building around shared ‘badge missions’
OBs as a Motivational Mechanism (2)

8. ● Recognition of learning in multiple and diverse locations and
environments that go beyond traditional classrooms
● Recognition of under- or non-recognized skills and prior learning
● Reputation building and social comparison within a learning community
OBs as a Motivational Mechanism (3)

9. Concerns:
● higher focus on accumulating badges than on learning
activities/materials associated with the badges
● motivation displacement
OBs as a Motivational Mechanism (4)

10. Drawbacks could be avoided with well designed instr. strategy
● ‘chain’ badges, so that they appear as means of unlocking new learning
opportunities
● associate badges with roles that bring about both privileges and
responsibilities in the learning community
● introduce badges as a feedback rather than a reward mechanism
OBs as a Motivational Mechanism (5)

11. OBs might be used for charting learning routes, through:
● badge-earning criteria
● privileges and responsibilities opened up by earning a badge
● badge hierarchies
● ‘chaining’ of badges
Badges assume the role of ‘signposts’ in the learning space
OBs as learning scaffolds

12. OBs offer support for self-directed learning, by allowing
● continuous tracking of what has been learned (self-monitoring and
reflection), and
● insights into what the next step might be (planning)
OBs as learning scaffolds (2)

13. Proper tool support is still missing
What is envisioned/needed: a discovery tool
● assisting learner when looking for new learning opportunities
◦ e.g., recommending badges; enabling personalized search of badges
● empowering learner to make well-informed decisions, so that the learner’s
agency is promoted/sustained
◦ e.g., through explanation facility
OBs as learning scaffolds (3)

14. Java programming course, University of Belgrade
http://jgrass.fon.bg.ac.rs/
● Advanced programming concepts, 12 weeks, not in the official curriculum
(no credits)
● Goal: addressing both hard and soft skills (related to programming)
● OBs given for tasks well done/skills obtained
● 2015, 56 students (2016, 62 students, ongoing)
UB application case

15. Hard skills
UB application case (2)
Soft skills
● Git (GitHub)
● JUnit
● JavaDoc
● GUI
● Three tier architecture
● JSON
● Threads
● Collections
● Enthusiasm
● Collaboration
● Skilled communication
● Real-world problem solving

16. UB application case (3)

17. Hard skills - pedagogy, assessing,
grading
UB application case (4)
Soft skills - pedagogy, assessing,
grading
● One task per skill (homework)
● One OB per skill (no
hierarchy)
● OB submissions
● OB evidence – link to code
repository on GitHub
● One task per skill (homework)
OR continuous activity
throughout the course
● Pedagogical rubrics
● Several OBs per skill
● OB submissions or admin
awarded
● OB evidence

18. More coprehensive list at http://www.badgealliance.
org/badge-issuing-platforms/
● Badge List
● Open Badge Factory &
Open Badge Passport
Technological aspects of Open Badges I –
badging platforms and tools
● Credly
● ForAllRubrics
● BadgeOS
● Open Badge Academy

19. Use case scenarios:
Badging Platforms: Scenarios: http://bit.ly/badging-platforms-scenarios
Scenario-based Comparison of Features (Live version): http://bit.ly/badging-platforms
● Offering badges
● Badge discovery
● Applying for badges
● Awarding badges
● Management of and reflection over
collected badges
● Displaying and Sharing badges
● (Re)viewing a badge earner’s
achievements
Technological aspects of Open Badges I –
badging platforms and tools (2)

20. Badge Canvas - http://www.digitalme.co.uk/badgecanvas
Tasks:
● Form a group of 3-4 people
● Agree on a badge name
● Fill in your canvas
Time: 30 minutes
Hands-on: Design Your Badge

21. Demo 1 - Creating a badge in BadgeOS
http://badgeos.fon.bg.ac.rs
Interactive design of Open Badges

22. ● personal attributes associated with effective and harmonious
interaction with other people
● transversal (cross-domain/discipline) skills
● closely related to and often equated with 21st Century Skills
Soft Skills

23. Personal development
● ways of thinking (e.g., problem solving, critical thinking,...)
● ways of working (e.g., enthusiasm, persistence, self-regulation,...)
Classification of Soft Skills

24. Social participation
● ways of thinking with others (e.g., negotiating and refining meaning,
constructive discourse…)
● ways of working with others (e.g., communication, collaboration, conflict
resolution,...)
Classification of Soft Skills (2)

25. GRASS framework for soft skills
(available at: http://goo.gl/3bkx9b)

26. Demo 2 - Awarding a badge in BadgeOS
http://badgeos.fon.bg.ac.rs
Designing and developing Open
Badges I

27. ● Open Badges in Education 2014 (Tallinn, Estonia)
Community aspects of Open Badges I –
enthusiasts and stakeholders

28. ● Open Badges in Education 2014 (Tallinn, Estonia)
Community aspects of Open Badges I –
enthusiasts and stakeholders

29. ● Open Badges in Education 2014 (Tallinn, Estonia)
Community aspects of Open Badges I –
enthusiasts and stakeholders

30. ● OB system development process, v01
● OB system development process - big picture
● OB system development process, v02
Community aspects of Open Badges I –
enthusiasts and stakeholders

31. Designing and developing an OB system
Adapted from:
Devedzic, V., Jovanovic, J. (2015). Developing Open Badges: a comprehensive approach. Educational Technology Research and Development, 63(4), 603-620.

32. Includes identification and elaboration of:
● the purpose/objectives of the OB system: what do we want to achieve with
OBs? why do we want to badge our course?
● types of achievements to badge - e.g., attendance, participation, effort,
assessed performance
Goal setting and initial planning

33. Includes identification and elaboration of:
● competences/skills to badge - including definition/selection of
competence/skill model to assure wide recognition of badged achievements
● options for integration of badges in the instructional design
Goal setting and initial planning (2)

34. Should be informed by the capabilities of the available
technical solutions
No worth envisioning badge system design that
● cannot be supported by the available toolsets
● requires efforts and costs that go over the available budget
Goal setting and initial planning (3)

35. ● Mapping out the skills/competences and the associated instructional design
● Defining the types of badges, and for each type, the number of badges to
issue
● Designing individual badges, by defining
◦ association with the elements of instr. design (e.g., assessment items)
◦ badge earning criteria and the required type(s) of evidence
◦ badge visual appearance
Design of an OB system

36. ● Defining badge dependencies and hierarchy (optional)
● Defining options for managing and sharing badges
Design of an OB system (2)

37. The major challenges:
● effective communication / demonstration of the value of OBs
● ensuring effective feedback loops
● ensuring teachers’ motivation
● ensuring the privacy of students’ data
Building / sustaining
internal trust network

38. The major concerns:
● proper interpretation of the meaning of a badge - what does it actually say
about a person?
● aggregation and semantic alignment of learner’s badges that originate from
different sources (i.e., badge issuers)
● seamless integration of badges with existing recognition and certification
standards and practices
Building / sustaining
external trust network