This document provides an overview of a keynote presentation given at Waterloo University on recognizing knowledge and skills in a digital age. It discusses the changing skills demands of the modern workplace and challenges with traditional education models. Open badges are proposed as a way to provide micro-credentials that represent skills gained through formal, non-formal and informal learning. Examples are given of how open badges are being used by various institutions and organizations to recognize skills, provide alternative credentials, and create skills networks. Aligning open badges with ePortfolios is discussed as a way to showcase learning from both academic and co-curricular experiences.

1. Waterloo University Keynote
February 27, 2017
Recognizing
Knowledge and Skills
in a Digital Age
#EdTechWeek17
bit.ly/WaterlooEdTech17

2. Volatile ~ Uncertain ~ Complex ~ Ambiguous
A VUCA world
sceptrefellows

3. Agenda
1. Skills and capabilities
2. Waterloo context
3. Defining Open Badges
4. Open Badges in action
5. Open Badges and open recognition networks
6. CanCred.ca
#EdTechWeek17

4. The skills gap and current solutions
Macro Context:

5. Technology skills are in demand, but they change fast!
slideshare.net/linkedin

6. The future of jobs
World Economic Forum: Future Of Jobs 2016
Across nearly all industries, the
impact of technological and other
changes is shortening the shelf-life
of employees’ existing skill sets.
Overall, social skills—such as
persuasion, emotional intelligence
and teaching others—will be in
higher demand across industries
than narrow technical skills
Top 10 Skills in 2020
1. Complex problem solving
2. Critical thinking
3. Creativity
4. People management
5. Coordinating with others
6. Emotional intelligence
7. Judgment & decision making
8. Service orientation
9. Negotiation
10.Cognitive flexibility

7. WEF: Recommendations for Action
Make HR more strategic – get in front of trends
Inform decisions with data analytics
Implement more flexible, virtual work models
World Economic Forum: Future Of Jobs 2016
SHORT TERM
LONG TERM
Break down educational silos:
• Humanities/Sciences, education/work (WIL, etc.)
Incentivize lifelong learning (time, motivation, means)
Collaborate across sectors

8. Is there a “Skills Gap”?
TheAssociationRoleintheNewEducationParadigm
declining degree completion rates
“non-traditional” students: 73% PSE enrolment
high youth unemployment
critical skills shortages affecting productivity
rising cost of higher education
World of Work: volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous
Traditional educational approaches can’t keep up!

9. Employers vs. Graduates
Is there a “Skills Gap”?
Hart Research Associates for the Association of
American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) January 2015
Soft Skills
Proportions saying they/recent
college graduates are well
prepared in each area
Employers
Students

10. Here in Canada
Business Council of Canada 2016 PSE Skills for a Prosperous British Columbia: 2016

11. Calling for a common language for competencies

12. Breaking free from the credit hour?
Competency Based Learning
hbr.org
“… high-quality learning
pathways that are affordable,
scalable, and tailored to a wide
variety of current and
emergent industries, based on
competencies, not courses.”
ingegno.in

13. Experiential learning in BC
PSE: Expand co-op, apprenticeship, internship,
and other workplace opportunities…
PSE: Create communication channels for employers
to communicate skills needs…
Governments: Fund additional programs in target disciplines…
Employers: Make workplace experiential learning a priority by developing an HR
strategy for employee renewal and growth
Individuals: Seek out workplace experience opportunities, including co-op,
internships, mentoring, and volunteering, to gain practical experience and
workplace skills.
PSE Skills
for a prosperous
British Columbia
PSE Skills for a Prosperous British Columbia: 2016

14. And in Ontario
theglobeandmail.com

15. Key findings about non-completion:
1. Many non-completers had significant earnings gains
2. Economic value: content vs. credential
3. Non-completers are “non-traditional” students
4. Unknown factor: value of 3rd party credentials
Study: Program completion stats miss the point!
“The ones that got away” – a solution in hiding?
WestEd Slideshare

16. www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/verify/HDDAGRLXE4 verify.edx.org/cert/5d882acb67b64425a3355cd73954dd6c
Disruption: MOOCs and micro-credentials

17. Disruption: Education à la carte
www.udacity.com/nanodegree

18. 70: 20: 10 L-i-f-e-w-i-d-e learning
deakinprime.com / wikipedia.org
The LIFE Center

19. Ontario’s call to action
rethinking …
learning
resources credentials
the learning
experience
David Porter, BC Open Badges Forum

20. How do we more
broadly address the
experiential learning
desires of students?
Driving growth and innovation through technology-enabled learning
eCampus Ontario
How do we provide
students with relevant
real-world projects as
practical experiences?
How to we allow employers
to audition student talent
while the students are still
in school?
How can we provide self-managed environments
for supporting experiential learning?
David Porter, BC Open Badges Forum

21. For all?
Experiential learning: Waterloo’s wheelhouse
cou.on.ca/heqco.ca/en-ca

22. Paper silos: Issues with certification today
freedesignfile.com/92259
Transparency issues
• “Dumb” paper often needs other
documents, e.g. syllabus
• Proxy only – not the whole story
• Easy to forge
Physical issues
• Difficult to share, easy to lose
Recognition issues
• Lack of granularity
• Lack of context - no links to supporting
evidence
• Experiential learning not valued
• Lack of alignment, transfer,
articulation, “stackability”

23. Example: Transcript for graduate employability
ccr.utoronto.ca

24. Disruption: LinkedIn Learning
linkedin.com slideshare.net/LinkedIn

25. Trends in professional credentialing
Use technology to:
•reduce waste (paper, effort)
•increase quality
Re-use credential information for:
•onboarding
•HR planning
•performance review
•accreditation
•Quality Assurance, systemic analysis
Enable continuous credentialing
SEER Health: The Future of Provider Credentialing

26. Waterloo University
Micro Context:

27. Another reason to come to Canada… and Waterloo
Co-op programs
usnews.com 2017-02-24

28. Waterloo, Toronto-Waterloo corridor
An innovation ecosystem
betakit.com

29. Strategic Planning
uwaterloo.ca/strategic-plan
uwaterloo.ca/strategic-plan/in-action/experiential-education
Objectives for Experiential Education:
1. Educate world-ready graduates
2. Develop innovative culture
3. Enlarge employer resource base
4. Integrate research and co-op
5. Expand experiential education

30. Degree Level Expectations
BA BA Hons Masters PhD
Depth and Breadth of
Knowledge
X X X X
Knowledge of
Methodologies
X X X X
Application of Knowledge X X X X
Communication Skills X X X X
Awareness of Limits of
Knowledge
X X X X
Professional
Capacity/Autonomy
X X X X
Experiential Learning X X - -
Diversity X X - -
undergraduate-degree GDLEs.doc

31. Help me here….
Issues for Waterloo?
Placing international students?
Adding employers – (overseas?)
Meeting the needs of non co-op students
Avoiding complacency - self-improvement?
Virtualization of learning, work, co-op?
The Innovator’s Dilemma?

32. What does the future hold for HigherEd?

33. 4 provocations & a toolkit
Stanford thought experiment
stanford2025.com

34. From alumni to recursive learners
stanford2025.com

35. From cohorts to adaptive modules
stanford2025.com

36. From knowledge to competency
stanford2025.com

37. From majors to missions
stanford2025.com

38. Toolkit
www.stanford2025.com/build

39. “micro-portfolios”
Open Badges

40. Scouting
Achievement
Heraldry
Affiliations
Blue Light
Authority
Military
Rank & Skills
www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7253
metronews.ca/
History of recognition using Badges
Since pre-Roman times ...
Badge Tracking Android App

41. Clear progress markers
 motivating learners, supporting advisors
Flexible learning pathways
 granular, incremental, multi-source, laddered,
remixable
Visual branding
 issuers and earners
Online trust system
 demonstrate skills & capabilities
 proof of performance
 backed by issuer
A digital representation of an accomplishment, interest or affiliation that is visual, available online and
contains metadata including trusted links that help explain the context, meaning, process and result of an
activity.
As an open artefact, the earner can present the badge in different contexts from which it was earned.
Micro-credential – portable record of learning
What is an Open Badge?

42. Mapping badgespace
credentials
digital badges
certifications
Open
Badges
micro-
credentials
CC BY Doug Belshaw dougbelshaw.com
Standards-based
& interoperable
No image
requirement

43. Immediate transparency, instant validation
Interactive digital credentials

44. Share on social media
LinkedIn for “résumé worthy” badges
also

45. www.badgealliance.org/why-badges/
VISION: a skills ecosystem
Open Badges, micro-portfolios in social networks
Going digital helps…
searchingdeconstructingvalidating aligning
sharingcombiningassessing “valorizing”

46. SUMMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
a micro-credential
a discrete record
in a modular transcript
TECHNICAL
DESCRIPTION
a portable “smart”
graphic embedded with
structured data with links
to supporting information
Different perspectives…
What is an Open Badge?
FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
a reward for
positive behaviour
a marker on a
development path
“… a simple digital standard for recognizing and sharing
achievements, skills and performance over networks.”

47. How do Open Badges support learning &
recognition?

48. Some uses of badges (can be combined)
transformingassessment.com/TA_webinar_5_mar_2014_Simon_Cross.pdf
Recognize status
Reputation
Group affiliation
Keep artefacts
Souvenirs of
experience
Motivate
learning
“Game mechanics”
Set goals,
track progress
Personal learning
pathways
Assess &
recognize learning
Formal, non-formal,
informal
Fill recognition gaps

49. Purdue University
Beyond grades
Open Badges Grades
Learner control over presentation and
“ownership”
A-F grading system focuses on sorting-based
assessment and can be opaque.
Transparency of learner attainments and
mastery
Not always indicators of actual capabilities.
(Often) provide specific evidence for learner
attainments from life-wide contexts
Do not explicitly address informal learning
except via Recognition of Prior Learning
(RPL) processes
Adapted from Bill Watson, PurduePoly 2014 (YouTube )

50. Badge taxonomy from Penn State
Chris Long

51. Early trends: A summary
Over 10 million badges, thousands of issuers
Early adoption:
• After school, community programs (youth)
• Continuing Education
• Professionalization and PD
• Product training (esp. ICT) - the “Extended Enterprise”
• Business Soft Skills
• Testing Recognition
• Pre-employment

52. Continuing Education

53. Granular learning pathways
Colorado State University
Community focused
Industry driven
Learner centric
Ecosystem friendly
slideshare.net/secret/xBjQY3Ipdsc06l bit.ly/1E0TqAM
“...an opportunity to
facilitate large
numbers of learners
from across the world
with just-in-time
education from a
multitude of
educational providers.”

54. “Extended Enterprise Learning”
Technology vendor product training
Adobe
IBM
AutodeskOracle
Hortonworks

55. Professionalization & PD
Unregulated:
• AXELOS
• HR Certification Institute
• AACE (total cost management)
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
• International Board of Credentialing and
Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES)
• ASIS International
Regulated:
• American Board for Certification in Orthotics,
Prosthetics & Pedorthics
• Institute of Management Accountants
• Association of Clinical Research Professionals

56. University of Michigan
Co-Curricular business skills development

57. Fortune 500 Competency Performance Model
Lipscomb University/Polaris
www.lipscomb.edu/professionalstudies/core-for-employersCORE_brochure
“CORE measures 15 competencies on a badge system, which is based on a nationally respected
and Fortune 500-proven competency performance model—the Polaris Assessment System.
Companies already utilizing this system include Nike, PetSmart, Disney, Mars, Wendy’s among
many others.”

58. 192,000 workers in Scotland
Regulator & Sector Council
badges.sssc.uk.com/badges
 Work based qualifications: enter with little
education, achieve a degree
 Open Badges to recognized informal learning
 Potential for formalized RPL later

59. Expanding your learning influence
Key concept: “Extended Enterprise” learning

60. OU’s OpenLearn – Badge Open Courses (BOC)
bit.ly/OUbadges

61. IBM: Technology engagement
ibm.com

62. Impact of badging “Extended Enterprise” learning
bit.ly/IBMbadges

63. Value proposition

64. Pervasive ROI

65. Emerging benefit: corporate skills registry

66. Deakin University
Case Study

67. Aligned to the AQF…

68. Authentic assessment of graduate learning outcomes
deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/teaching-and-learning/curriculum-framework

69. Employability soft skills shared on social media
Deakin University Hallmarks
t.co/ior8y5pbqe

70. DeakinDigital: Credentials for your career
deakindigital.com
Recognition of Professional Practice
Targeted at mid-career professionals; an
alternative to traditional higher education
Lower cost, less time commitment
Modular evidence-based credentials for
capabilities achieved through independent
learning, experience and employment
Meaningful to employers
Used for continuous career development

71. Graduate Learning Outcomes ~ RPP credits
Recognition of Professional Practice

72. Graduate Learning Outcomes ~ RPP credits
Recognition of Professional Practice
RPP Credentials applied toward Professional Practice Qualifications (FutureLearn “Cloud Campus” – 1st 2 wk block free!):
Master of Professional Practice (Financial Planning) $5K (10 RPPs) + $14.6K (courses)
Graduate Certificate Professional Practice (Financial Planning)
Master of Professional Practice (Information Technology) $5K (10? RPPs) + $13.1K (courses)
Graduate Certificate Professional Practice (Information Technology)

73. PACE: technology/business/leadership
Recognition of Professional Expertise
Partnerships with
NPOs, private sector

74. 21st Century Skills Badging Challenge
Case Study

75. A regional network
Cross-sectoral partnerships
eddesignlab.org/badgingchallenge/ * see p21.org

76. Collaborative cross-sectoral design

77. Pilot: “Catalyst” Credential
Action grounded
in Contemplation

78. Paper Badger: Recognizing research paper contributions
badges.mozillascience.org https://github.com/mozillascience/PaperBadger

79. What’s happening in Canada?

80. Some early adopters
Community
Professional,
Workplace
Education
(incl PD)

81. Non-credit recognition
Ryerson – Chang School
SME Coaching
4 sessions, applied
learning
Badges issued: 2
SME Lecture
1-2 hours, 2-3
outcomes
Badges issued: 158
Online Course
4 weeks (~20 hrs) with
assignments
Badges issued: 140
Retirement Home
Love of Learning,
Personal Recognition
Badges issued: 4

82. Program accreditation, NOS and professional recognition
ITAC – Business technology management
SFIA – 3
BTM Pgm
$50
SFIA = Skills Framework
for the Information Age
SFIA – 5
BTM Pgm
Board Assessment
$350
SFIA – 7
BTM Pgm
Board Assessment
$350
btm-forum.org

83. Starting up a regional skills network in Canada …
Help us transform Open Badges
into alternative credentials
that build our workforce

84. Open Badges and ePortfolios

85. ePortfolios, Badge Passports
Collect and curate

86. DeakinSync: ePortfolio for Workforce Transition
assuringgraduatecapabilities.com/21c-credentials-case-studies.html

87. “If you add up all the time undergraduate students spend in their four years at
college, only about 8 percent of their time is on the curricular, and 92 percent is
on everything else.
....the light really went on when we saw how well the service learning students
picked up on this opportunity to earn badges and showcase them in their
eportfolios, at the same time truly highlighting, as never before, their co-
curricular experiences.”
G. Alex Ambrose
Professor of Practice, Associate
Ass. Director of ePortfolio Assessment
Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning
University of Notre Dame
ePortfolios & Open Badges at Notre Dame
Showcasing the Co-Curricular
campustechnology.com

88. Open Badges & ePortfolios: Tracy Penny Light, Tom Carey
bit.ly/BC2017-Notes

89. Academic
Transcript
Co-Curricular
Record
Experienced
Learning
Formal
Learning
Open Badges
ePortfolio
Degree
courses
Thesis /
Capstone Project
Unapproved
co-curricular
activities
Work
experience
-past
-current
Open
courses,
PD
Approved
co-curricular
activities
Personal life
experience
-past
-current
PLAR/RPL
Why not the whole story ... online?
Accredited
experiential
learning

90. Recursive structural reinforcement
Badges help ePortfolios help badges help ePortfolios….
By Wistula - Own work, CC BY 3.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10760348

91. Emerging open recognition networks

92. Toward a national digital skills framework
Ireland’s ALL ABOARD
allaboardhe.org CC BY-NCalso: Slideshare presentation
Diverse, transversal recognition:
• skills development in courses
• study skills
• employability & leadership
• graduate attributes (GLOs)
• non-formal & informal CPD
• outreach, volunteering & communications
Open Educational Practices
• multi-institution collaboration
• open curriculum (shared framework,
remix/repurpose)
• distributed delivery network
(multi-LMS via SCORM, xAPI, zip)
• distributed credentialing network via OBF
(WP/Bb/Moodle plugins)
• open recognition network via OBP

93. Aspirational project (DigitalMe)
“Open Badge Network” (EU)
openbadgenetwork.com
“Badge the World”

94. Co-developing knowledge and learning
bit.ly/OEPS_OpenEd15

95. Open Badges in OEPS
bit.ly/OEPS_ALTC_2016

96. OEPS: Future “devolution”
bit.ly/OEPS_ALTC_2016

97. Humanitarian PLE - across agencies, across careers
Talent
Pipeline
Recruitment
Induction
Formative Assessment
Gap Training
Team Building
Performance Management
Talent Management
Experience
Achievements
Professional Development
Career Development
Leadership
Development
SME Specialization
Career Change
Outplacement
Career
Pathways
External
Performance
Support
Google, YouTube
External repositories
Coaching
and
Mentoring
Other
External Learning
MOOCs, Open Ed Resources,
Personal Learning Network,
Communities of
Practice
OCBA
OCG
OCP
Academic
recognition?
New
Career?
OCB
OCA
Other
MSF LMSs
such as:
Skills
Marketplace
Demand
Supply
Badge
Passport/
ePortfolio
Digital
Credentials
External
Recognition
Workplace
Assessments
&
Achievements
New
Mission?
New
MSF role?
HRIS/ERP
Systems
Performance
Management
System Talent
Management
System

98. Humanitarian Passport Initiative
Vision: an international recognition network
PLE/PDE

99. Open Badges: Next steps

100. Mozilla passes the torch
x

101. IMS: using Open Badges in networked data
Extended Transcript Open Badges Extensions
for Education (OBEE)
2016: Issuer Accreditation & Assessment
imsglobal.org/initiative/enabling-better-digital-credentialing
VISION

102. Pre-implementation phase
v2.0 Open Badge specification
Improved Linked Data / JSON-LD support
• more flexibility, interoperability
Embedded evidence and criteria
More flexible recipient identifiers
• email, telephone number, url, profile id
Third Party Endorsement
• badge issuer, badge class, badge assertion
• new image metadata for accessibility
Internationalization and multi-lingual badges
Improved alignment to external frameworks and objectives
• by issuer, by consumer/3rd party, can be part of endorsement
Security improvements

103. Related initiatives
connectingcredentials.org
credentialengine.org
ceds.ed.gov

104. Filling a void – Open Recognition
openrecognition.org
Claim this badgeRead the Declaration – and sign it!

105. What does all this mean?

106. Open Badges, ePortfolios &“Badge Passports”
Benefits of a new skills currency
Visually efficient and appealing
Engages, builds confidence, provides continuing
feedback
Individual pathways, multiple sources of
learning
Formal non-formal informal learning
Modular, stackable, diverse, re-mixable, portable,
shareable
Programs not completed can be partially recognized
and recombined
Add evidence, reflection as appropriate
Drill down to specifics or roll up into larger outcomes
Combined in badge passports and ePortfolios
Common standard for skills exchange
Trustable, easy to understand
Transparent criteria, evidence, issue/expiry date
Flexible alignment to frameworks, requirements,
training plans
Issuing organization validated and branded by the
badges it issues; maintains ongoing connection to
earners
Learner centred, employer friendly, becoming
more machine-readable

107. Some questions to ask
Are you a potential Open Badges issuer?
Behavioural goals?
Redeemable worth?
worth the effort? filling a void? marketing ROI?
Value add?
Champions?
Sustainability?
what will your badges “buy”? have you talked to employers? students?
internal leadership? professional bodies? employers?
cost structure? who will maintain & improve it over time?
engagement? feedback? recognition? development? skills frameworks?

109. Forthcoming Request for Expressions of Interest
Provincial prototype for alternative recognition
To support & extend technology-enhanced teaching and learning,
especially in:
• Recognition of Prior Learning
• Informal Co-Curricular Learning
• Skills and knowledge required for workforce entry
Potential common themes:
• Open educational practices
• Competency based education
• Institutional & program learning outcomes
• Employability soft skills
• Work Integrated Learning

110. Penultimate thought: please …

111. The future is already here;
it’s just not very e
venly dis
tributed.
William Gibson
Final thought
en.wikiquote.org

112. Don Presant
don@learningagents.ca
@donpresant
Presentation support page:
http://bit.ly/openbadges4he
bit.ly/WaterlooEdTech17