Changes

'''==Badges FAQ, last updated September 10, 2012'== Don't worry if you'<br>'''DRAFT IN PROGRESS re unsure what this badging thing is all about -- changing monthly'''<br>see the questions below for an overview of what badges are and why you might be interested in them!

 *A badge is a symbol or indicator digital representation of an accomplishment, a skill, quality learning achievement or experience.**Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or interestoffline life.**Each badge is associated with an image and some metadata. The metadata provides information about what the badge represents and the evidence used to support it.**Earners can display their badges online and can share badge information through social networks. *Badges are used to set goals, motivate behaviors, represent achievements and communicate success. *They can support learning that happens in new ways, in new spaces beyond the traditional classroom, from online courses to after-school programs to work and life experience. **This motivates learning and signals achievement across communities and institutions. And It also provides a more complete picture of learners' skills, achievements and qualities , which can then be communicated to potential employers, educational organizations and communities.<br>

*Badges create are a more complete representation of an individual's learning to potential employers, communities and stakeholdersexperience. **Earners can group badges into collections for sharing through particular channels. *They Badges unlock new career and learning opportunities, potentially allowing employers and other stakeholders to better match individuals to jobs, courses and projects.

 In today's world, learning happens anywhere and everywhere. Despite increased opportunities for learning, there’s still an essential piece missing: We - we need formal recognition for these newly earned and hard-won competencies and skills. One solution is an open badge ecosystem that can help bridge this gap.

*'''Signal achievement.''' Badges - badges signal skills and achievements to peers, potential employers, educational institutions and others. *'''Recognize informal learning.''' Get - earners can get credit and recognition for learning that happens outside of school. e.g., for example in after-school programs, work experience or online. *'''Transfer learning across spaces and contexts.''' Make - make skills more portable across jobs, learning environments and places. *'''Capture more specific skills than traditional degrees.''' Badges - badges allow a more granular recognition of specific skills than a traditional degree, which is typically a generic representation of a diverse set of learning experiences. *'''Support greater specialization and innovation.''' Move - move faster to support and recognize new skills than traditional degree or certificate programs. *'''Allow greater diversity.''' With - with specific recognition for "soft skills," social habits, ability to collaborateand so on, etc. than traditional programs badges can measure or and recognizeskills that are valuable in many contexts but that traditional educational models do not even attempt to quantify. *'''Motivate participation and learning outcomes.''' Badges - badges provide feedback, milestones and rewards throughout a course or learning experience, encouraging engagement and retention, as well as reinforcing a sense of achievement. *'''Allow multiple pathways to learning.''' Encourage learners - being open and inherently flexible, badges encourage earners to take new paths or spend more time developing specific skills. *'''Open doors.''' - Communities of Practice, Professional Associations or Specialized Groups could require obtaining a set of badges to gain access. The verification of these badges could then be automated using the OBI. For this reason badges are used to implement CPD (Continuing Professional Development) in certain industries.*'''Unlock privileges.''' For - for example, students at a school computer lab might be required to earn a "Digital Safety" badge before being allowed to surf the web. *'''Enhance your identity and reputation.''' Badges - badges raise your the earner's profile with the learning community and peers, giving the individual control over their online identity. And allow you The portable nature of badges also allows the earner to aggregate identities from across other communities. *'''Build community and social capital.''' Help learners - badges can help earners to find peers or mentors with similar interests. Community badges help formalize camaraderie, team synthesis and communities of practice. The [http://discovery.openbadges.org/ Discovery] project promises to enhance the potential of badges to open up learning and career pathways. *'''Capture the learning path and history.''' With - with degrees or cumulative grades, much of the learning path -- (the set of steps and milestones that led to the degree -- ) is lost or hard to see. Badges can capture a more specific set of skills and qualities dates , dated as they occur along the way, along with using issue dates for each. This means we can track the set of steps the most successful learners take to gain their skills -- and replicate that experience for others. With [http://discovery.openbadges.org/ Discovery], earners will be able to carve out their own pathways, learning more about their own skill-sets along the way. *'''Recognize new skills and literacies.''' New - a host of new literacies that are critical to success in today's digital world -- like (e.g. appropriating information, judging its quality, multitasking and networking ) -- these are not typically taught in schools and don't show up on a transcript. Badges can recognize these new skills and literacies. *'''Provide a more complete picture of the learner.''' Give - badges give a more complete detailed, granular skills and learning history and , creating a more representative overview for potential employers, schools, peer groups and others.*'''Provide branding opportunities for institutions, organizations and learning communities''' Badges - badges can be displayed in many locations throughout the internetWeb. Increasing awareness of your institution, organization and learning community and , as well as linking relevant curriculum, skills and knowledge .*'''Work within various different types of system''' - badges are open and interoperable, which means stakeholders in a badging system can use whatever technologies they want or need, implementing badging within existing systems and choosing freely to theseutilize badging in whatever way suits their own community of badge earners.

The diversity of skills and experiences Open Badges can represent is a key aspect of their usefulness. Badges can represent skills, competencies, qualities, achievements and interests, including:  *'''"Hard skills" ''' - e.g. completing a course, mastering a specific programming language or math concept. *'''"Soft skills" ''' - e.g. critical thinking, communication or collaboration. *'''Community aspects''' - including reputation and status *'''New skills''' - such as digital literacies. *'''Specific, granular accomplishments or activities''' - for example, leaving helpful comments for other learners, logging into an online learning web site for 10 consecutive days, and so on.*'''Anything else''' - badges are open, so their potential to represent varied skills and experiences is unlimited.

In general, résumés and CVs are static in that they need to be updated and re-published. Badges can be more dynamic - new skills, competencies and knowledge are automatically published, and updated, after the badge is issued. In other words, badges can represent the same skills and experiences a CV represents, plus a lot more, as well as generally providing a richer level of detail. Badges are also discoverable in a variety of online contexts, so earners can share them in different ways. ====What are the 21st century skills that may be better announced through represented by badges than through other formats of skill communication?==== What skill types are better suited to badges really remains to be seen! Badges could be better at announcing digital literacy and peer -developed skills. There are current efforts where once  Notable uses of badges include digital literacy skills are demonstrated through there implementation the badge will be automatically issued - , for example with [https://webmaker.org/ '''Mozilla webmaker'''], for example. Or with where badges are automatically issued - see also [https://p2pu.org/en/ '''P2PU'''] , a peer assessment once successfully completed by peers will automatically issue system also involving automatic issuing. ====What form do badges take? Do I stick it on a Web page or sew it on my shirt?====  *A badgeis more than just a static image - its value comes from the information or "metadata" attached to it. Other approaches may also emerge as *This supporting data contained within the badge reduces the use risk of abusing the system (e.g., illegitimately copying badges increases and maturesputting them on your site) and builds in an implicit validation system.*The metadata may vary based on the particular skill, assessment and issuer. For more on metadata, see [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/roadmapOnboarding-Issuer#Q3_Open_Badger_development '''Open Badger'''Metadata Metadata for Badge Issuers] and the current [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion specification]. [[File:Anatomy_of_an_Open_Badge.png]] ==Badging Systems==

*'''Traditional educational institutions''' (e.g., Cornell University, The University of California or Colby College)

*'''Other community organizers''' (e.g. voluntary groups, event organizers)*'''Communities of practice''' (e.g., open education projects, peer learners, or the individual learners themselves) *'''After-school programs and learning networks.''' *'''Online courses and open courseware initiatives.''' *'''Companies/organizations that employ peopleGovernment agencies and other public sector bodies''' (e.g. NASA, libraries, museums)*'''Employers'''

====If we Can I issue badges against http://beta.openbadges.org will they survive into the production releasea badge to a group?====Yes, badges issued against the beta issuer API will survive into production. Badges issued against the staging ( http://stage.openbadges.org ) environment will NOT survive.

====Can I issue a badge to a group?====Not to the group as a whole- however, you can issue the same badge to each member of the a group. A badge is issued to an individual and the assignment is based upon their email address. When you create a badge and make it available, you can decide whether it should be unique or whether it can be issued to multiple earners. * https====What are the different types and levels of badges?==== Badge levels and types can be configure by issuers to suit the needs of their own communities. In general://groups.google.com/d/topic/openbadges/tk-JhsLvDMQ/discussion

====What are the different type and levels of badges?====*'''"Smaller" ''' badges can be used for motivation and feedback and , tied to smaller behaviors or achievements. (Like those you may have seen on the online forum "Stack Overflow," or x, y or zforums). *'''"Larger" ''' badges can be used for certification purposes. Endorsed by specific organizations or other authorities, with more rigorous or defined assessments. These types of badges are used in CPD (Continuing Professional Development) situations. *'''Basic or foundational badges''' can provide the core or entry-level framework for acquiring skills .

*These requirements can be made explicit through '''documented pathways and instructions''', providing learners with a roadmap toward mastery. The upcoming [http://discovery.openbadges.org/ Discovery] project will facilitate this process to a greater degree. *Or a '''"stealth Stealth assessment" ''' approach can involve particular actions or accomplishments suddenly unlocking higher levels, making learners more aware of their learning progress and motivating engagement.

**These meta-badges can be created and issued by organizations to target specific sets of skills and to signal general mastery.**For issuers using [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit], badges can be arranged to culminate in Milestone badges to represent collective achievements.

====What form do badges take? Is it just something I stick on Badge systems have already been designed and implemented by a web page or sew on my shirt?==== *The badge itself is more than a static image or button -- its value comes host of organizations as you can see from the information or "metadata" attached to it. *This supporting data contained within the badge reduces the risk list of abusing the system (e[http://openbadges.gorg/participating-issuers/ participating issuers].To find out more about implementing badging systems, illegitimately copying badges and putting them on your site) and builds in an implicit validation systemget involved with the [http://community.openbadges. *The metadata may vary based on the particular skill, assessment and issuerorg/ Open Badges Community].

In March 2014 Mozilla announced [[Filehttps:Anatomy_of_an_Open_Badge//wiki.png]mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] , a suite of tools for implementing badging, including a Web app for creating badges and managing applications for them, plus an API to use when creating an interface for your earners. BadgeKit can dramatically simplify the process of creating a badging system to work with an existing site or application.

The key elements of an Open Badge system for connected learning are:  #Badges#badges*images and metadata assertions#assessmentsAssessment#an open infrastructure *the ability for reviewers to assess badge applications and make issuing, collecting decisions#Collecting and sharing badges.Sharing tools#criteria Criteria & evidenceEvidence#*links to these can be built into the metadata for a badge.

====Is there some kind of Open Badges does not see other badge accreditation body====Currently there is no badge accreditation bodyissuing sites as competitors but as potential partners. The idea of a badge accreditation body or bodies goal is currently an item of discussion within the badges community.* https://groups.googleOpen Badges specification that all badge issuers can share.com/d/topic/openbadges/G2ADhxpp_M8/discussion

 The Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure is the core underlying technical scaffolding for the badge ecosystem that . The OBI supports a multitude of issuers conferring badges into the ecosystem, and as well as many displayers or consumers and earners using badges to share their competencies and achievements. Any given learner/user Anyone can earn badges across many issuers, collect them in one place tied to their identity, and then share them with various websites and audiences (including career sites, social networks or personal portfolios). Mozilla is building this infrastructure including the core repositories and management interfaces (each user’s Badge Backpack), as well as specifications required to push badges in (issuersissuing) or pull them out (displayersdisplaying).

*supports the issuing, collection, and display of badges. *allows learners to tie badges to their idenityidentity, and carry their badges with them wherever they go *displays their badges to the audiences they care the earner cares about -- (peers, employers, or other institutions. ) *allows learners to group, sort and manage their badges, and set as well as setting privacy controls. *is open and decentralized, to support badges from multiple sources *issuing and enable display displaying across multiple sitesand sources.

====I am non-technical The success of badges as an alternative path to accreditation and how do I implement the OBI against other open source projects like Moodlecredentialing for learners relies on a significant “ecosystem” of badge issuers, Drupalbadge seekers, Wordpressand badge displayers. The Mozilla Foundation, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, Etc?====There is a growing community building an Open Badge Infrastructure to enable the interoperability and collection of projects that are implementing badges. The infrastructure will support badges from any issuer across the OBI against these open source projectsInternet. Due It will allow learners to our community engagement activities collect, carry, and the [http://openbadges.org/en-US/faq.html#dml-competition 2011 DML competition] we have a growing list of these projects on the open display their badges github site ( https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets ).* https://groups.googleacross websites and experiences and from youth through adulthood.com/d/topic/openbadges/8-90aX5qMcI/discussion

====Where could I find a list Each digital badge, or collection of partner widgets (wordpressbadges, can inspire learning and translate “anytime, anyplace, drupalany age” learning into a powerful tool for getting jobs, javascriptfinding communities of interest, facebookand demonstrating skills, bloggercompetencies and achievements. For more on the Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure, etcplease see [http://openbadges.org OpenBadges.org].) that  ====I am non-technical - how do I could use or explore for reuse and learningOpen Badges with other systems?==== There is a growing community of projects that are implementing the OBI against these open source projects. Due to our community engagement activities we have a growing list of partner widgets these projects on the open badges github site. [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgetsOpen Badges GitHub repo].

At To issue a badge, at a minimum you need to create a json JSON message and pass it to the OBI [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md Issuer API]. This is explained to two different blog posts;See the following resources:

* Organizations can also benefit from [https://groupswiki.googlemozilla.comorg/dBadges/topic/openbadges/lwydKy9I2h0/discussionbadgekit BadgeKit] to automate and many various aspects of the badge issuing process.

 The Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI) has been built to work against any system wanting to issue badges. This includes non-educational environments like gaming. Learning to code against To work with the OBI requires you review check out the technical documentation and sample code available within the open badges Open Badges [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges githubGitHub repos] and [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges wiki]. * https://groups.google.com/d/topic/openbadges/DqUhJIo2ttA/discussion

 The Badge Backpack is the Mozilla's core repository for the storing digital badge data and the management interface on top. Each user will earner can have his/her own Badge Backpack, accessible only to him/her, where s/he can view all her badges, set privacy controls, create groups and share them. Throughout 2014, Mozilla will be developing and announcing additional tools for collecting badges, including federated backpacks.

 A displayer site pulls a json JSON message from the badge earners earner's backpack to display their badgesvia the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]. This json message JSON can represent one or more badges from within the backpack. The permissions and controls the backpack owner has set against their badges will determine the badges that will be present within the json message available for display.* https://groups.google.com/d/topic/openbadges/EO22Yf6JdLE/discussion

====How will There are no costs associated with collecting badges within the value of Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) or sharing them through the badges be authenticated?====In this systemAPI (Application Programming Interface) and communication channels. That said, a digital badge the OBI is more than just an image the infrastructure in the middle – it is essentially a collection issuers and displayers are free to innovate and design experiences on their own, independent of metadata that fully explains the badge infrastructure. So some issuers may charge for certain assessments or badges, and includes information such as on the issuerother end, issue date, criteria some displayers may have a fee for earning the badge, expiration if needed, the learner work or evidence behind the badge, etc. So the badge acts as pulling badges into a gateway particular network or conversation starter, but the bulk of the information is in that metadata and it can act as an informal validation system itselfprofile.

====How is the value of the badges authenticated?==== In this system, a digital badge is more than just an image – it is essentially a collection of metadata that fully explains the badge and includes information such as the issuer, issue date, criteria for earning the badge, expiration, evidence and so on. The badge acts as a gateway or conversation starter, but the bulk of the information is in the metadata and it can act as an informal validation system itself. Further, the Open Badge Infrastructure includes an authentication channel so that whenever someone tries to use or share a badge, the displayer/consumer can call back to the issuer through this channel and confirm that the issuer in fact issued this badge to this user (and that they badge it is still valid). If the issuer responds positively, the badge is authenticated/validated, otherwise the badge is non-validated and therefore will most likely not be accepted or used.

====When can Where do I access the online Badge Backpack? When is the first badge availableOBI?====The Open Badge Infrastructure, and Badge Backpacks, are currently in beta1 version with an initial set of issuers. Learners are already earning badges from these issuers and collecting them in their Badge Backpacks. The infrastructure is expected to be launched publicly in January 2012 at which point anyone can become an issuer and there will be many ways people can earn badges.

====On what website will The goal is to support lifelong learning through lifelong access to badges. Mozilla hosts the reference implementations of the Open Badge Infrastructure be hosted after Backpacks, but develops the infrastructure in a way to support complete decentralization and openness so it is built? Will this hosting will be “lifelong” easy for users, or even organizations, to match our goals of students engaging in lifelong learning?====host and manage their own Badge Backpacks and still work within the infrastructure/ wider ecosystem.

The goal is to support lifelong learning through lifelong access to ====How can learners manage their badges. Mozilla is building the reference implementations of the Badge Backpacks and will host them. But Mozilla is building the infrastructure in a way to support complete decentralization and openness so it will be easy for users, or even organizations, to host and manage their own Badge Backpacks and still work within the infrastructure different uses and wider ecosystem.audiences?====

====How can learners manage their badges for different uses and audiences?====*Badges' Badge value increases as learners gain control over how they're badges are displayed for different audiences and contexts. *Learners can create '''subgroups'' groups of badges through the Backpack and control which badges collections are available to different audiences. For example, you may want to display one set of badges for your peers, but another set for a specific potential employer. *'''Learners can also add badges to any external website or environment that supports badge display.''' These include personal websites, blogs, and social networking environments such as Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

==Badge Pilots and Conceptual Framework Work======What is the Mozilla tools and P2PU badge pilotresources are there to help me work with badges?====*P2PU and Mozilla, in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, are implementing a badge pilot project. *The pilot uses the experimental badge framework and January session of the School of Webcraft, a set of open courses around web development education

The badge pilot Mozilla has three core componentsdeveloped a number of tools and resources for working with Open Badges. See the [https: //github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources Resource List] for an overview. [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] also promises to simplify badge issuing and assessment for organizations.

A number of badging systems have been working for some time, see the following questions for an insight into what we have learned/ are learning from them. ====Where could I find a description of the features in the public BetaHow does assessment work?====It is difficult to provide a list of features for a product in beta; the list changes as things are fixed and added due to current development need. The best way to develop an understanding of the features available is through viewing the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki github wiki] and this [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/PublicBeta beta announcement].

====Who else are you partnering with?====Mozilla is working with other collaborators and partnersWhen an earner sees a badge they wish to acquire, including iRemix and they can typically apply for it through the issuers website. Depending on the National Writing Projectbadge, the earner may be required to work through submit evidence together with their specific use cases and scenariosapplication. The goal is to help develop a plan Issuer admin staff can then review the badge application against criteria defined for badges that captures learning and achievement within their environmentsthe badge, while also plugging into a larger overall deciding whether to award (issue) the badge infrastructureor not. Our aim is The reviewer can optionally forward feedback to learn quickly from a broad combination of different badges, use cases, and assessments, and support badges from across any environment where learning is occurringthe earner regarding their application. <br>

*Badges can contain multiple levels of assessment, depending on the use case, community or intended audience .**some will require distinct pre-defined assessment exercises and success criteria **others may be loosely defined and require learner earner reflection or peer recommendations. *Hard skills may can require standard or more rigid rubrics to compare learner work against.

*For certification badges, intended for audiences like hiring managers, admission boards, more rigorous assessments can be required .*For badges intended to simply build community or reward behaviors, simple assessments may be enoughsufficient.*Badges could can also encourage innovations around assessment. Just as digital badges are an innovation for credentialing, this could trigger innovations around assessment approaches. Issuers using BadgeKit can facilitate assessment through the Web app, with a simple interface aiding the process of managing assessments, reviewing evidence and issuing badges.

*drive innovation around new types of assessments (e.g., x or y) *provide more personalized assessments for learners (e.g., x or y) *move beyond out of date or irrelevant testing practices (e.g., x or y)

*'''Asynchronous assessment.''' Instead - instead of being required to take an exam at a pre-determined time, for example, learners can seek out the assessment on their own time. *'''"Stealth assessment." ''' Assessment - assessment and awarding badges can happen automatically and provide immediate feedback. [Need a half sentence summary This can create reinforcement of what "stealth assessment islearning in less formal environments.] *'''Portfolio assessment.''' Work - work samples, projects and other artifacts the learner has produced or been involved in can demonstrate skills and competencies. *'''Multiple assessors or group assessment.''' In - in traditional classrooms, an individual instructor generally does most of the assessing. An open badge system can support assessment from multiple contexts, including course organizers, peers, or learners themselves. This flexible and networked nature could can mean that there are multiple paths or assessment options for earning a badge, making the system more flexible, ensuring that the needs of each learner earner are met and limiting the learning path constraints. ==Ongoing questions under consideration==

*How do badges translate to more traditional learning environments?

*Can we meet those requirements without requiring more fundamentally fundamental changes? ==Further Resources== *For an overview of badging terms and concepts, see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Glossary].*For more information about issuing badges, also see the [https://badgekit.org/help BadgeKit FAQs].*Join the [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/openbadges Open Badges community group].*Join the [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/openbadges-dev Open Badges dev group].*Connect with the Open Badges team on IRC in the #badges channel.*Follow Open Badges on Twitter [https://twitter.com/OpenBadges @OpenBadges].