Open Badges

Two years on - who’s wearing them?

Andy Kirk, Channel Partner Manager :: Totara Learning

What are open badges?

A changing/evolving learning landscape

How they add value to learners and employers

Who’s wearing them?

Future growth

A visual digital indicator of achievements, skills, knowledge

Verifiable, credible, evidence-based records of learning; achievements, skills, knowledge – embedded data

Time-bound and staying current; learners can refresh, update, recertify and learn new skills

Portable, once earned they can be shared and showcased

Framework – show skills from one or many organisations

What are Open Badges

Employers requiring different skills & competenciesSpecific and industry recognised

Encompassing Projects :: work based experience :: Softer skills

Not wedded to spending X time on a course or provider

Tell the bigger story of your learning, multiple providers

Paper – based credentials can’t always keep pace

A changing landscape

Motivating learners

Allowing easier display of achievements

Recognising specific skills or knowledge

Recognising soft skills or work achievements

Maintain currency vs historic qualifications’ deterioration

Adding value

Credentialling non traditional pathways

Not just ‘seat time’ on a course

Skills developed in the workplace

Or short informal/external learning

Micro credentialling

More accurately represent skills, knowledge,

Behaviour

Unbundle learning from large programs or quals

to specific skills

Focus on the job critical skills

Professional development

Most popular sphere for badges

Can provide more flexible development pathways

Transparency

Easier choices and comparison

Compare objectives and outcomes across issuers

And across your own organisation

Streamlining credentialling process and improving efficiencies

Greater efficiency, earn – receive

Embedded data allows easier validation

Automate expiry and recertification requirements

Reduce costs of validation and duplicated training

More learner control

Richer framework of achievements

Demonstrate professional status

Signal suitability to employers

Display appropriate skills in a backpack, blog,

Website

Contextualise for different needs/audiences

Adoption is growing fast

2013 - release of the first version of Open Badges Infrastructure

Allowing uptake by organisations :: integrations with learning platforms :: social environments :: even peers

An estimated 14,000 organisations are issuing them; NASA :: Mellon Carnegie:: Yale:: Khan Academy, Google….

Extreme Networks survey 2015 points to wide and growing adoption, from concept to practical applications

Who’s wearing them?

Samsung Samsung Backstage

Rewarding product knowledge

In broader community framework of gamification, quizzes and social media integration

Taps into competitive nature of audience

Hunkemoller

Company wide customer service standards

Certification and badges for all employees from the CEO down

Badge details

Certified and badge issued

BBC Academy

‘Non-traditional’

Work in broadcasting

Part of a bigger picture of learning –Digital Skills campaign

Totara Academy

Product knowledge certification

145 completions –partners and subscribers

Displaying on own websites and partner listings

A competitive edge

Portable evidence for a large and mobile European distribution network

Badges stay with the learner, not the service centre. Avoids duplication

Shimano

Newport City Homes

Creating learning pathways

Independent or building on each other

An ecosystem at play

NHSNHS Healthcare Assistants

Micro-credentialling

Communication Skills credits as part of wider QCF Health core skills curriculum

An ecosystem of badges

Key part of compliance management

65% believe the popularity and usage of badges will grow in the future.

81% of those who are using badges plan to maintain or increase their badge usage.

61% believe badges will someday replace, or be combined with, college diplomas.

38% of those surveyed currently use or plan to use badges.

The Road ahead

Countering some of the blocks

Competing standards in the market: (We like open): How about 70 million Moodle and Totara user base to build on?

‘Badges’ can be a barrier, (frivolous?) some employers using ‘Skills Qualifications’

More organisations and employers ‘now ready’ for badges

Easier for employers

Easier for learners

Wear them with pride!

Final thoughts

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