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Updates with new FAQs.
[[File:Anatomy_of_an_Open_Badge.png]]
==Badging Systems==
A badging system involves a number of key participants:
*'''Portfolio assessment''' - 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 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 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 earner are met and limiting the learning path constraints.
====How do earners receive badges?====
Earners can receive badges in various ways. For example, badges can be issued directly or through claim codes. When an issuer creates a badge they can define claim codes for one or more earner to use in order to receive the badge. If a badge requires an application submitted along with evidence, the issuer personnel (e.g. reviewers) assess the application, then takes action to issue the badge if the application is a success. Once a badge issuing decision is made, the issuer can contact the earner and the earner can choose whether or not to accept the badge.
====What happens if I no longer want to issue a particular badge?====
In BadgeKit, you can manage badges you no longer wish to issue by archiving them. This allows the issuer to retain data related to the badge, for example to reuse it in future, and lets existing earners continue to share and display the badge.
====How are badges designed and created?====
This is really a matter for the issuer system. Issuers may involve various administration and other individuals in the process of designing and defining the data for a badge. When using BadgeKit, issuers can design badges within the app or upload designs prepared elsewhere, and can configure all data items within a badge in conjunction with various admin personnel if necessary.
====The metadata/ assertion specification seems too complex for my needs - are all of the data items necessary?====
No! The data items are there to fulfil the needs of a wide range of issuers and earners. Some of the items are required and some are optional.
====How do earners find out about badges?====
Badge issuers can create custom directory listings of available badges presented in ways that suit their own community of earners. In 2014 Mozilla will also be announcing new ways earners can find badges and create badge pathways through the [http://discovery.openbadges.org/ Discovery] project.
====What happens if an earner does not supply sufficient evidence to receive a badge?====
The badge issuer can provide feedback to earners when an application is not successful and the earner can choose to re-apply.
====Can a badge be issued to a potentially infinite number of earners?====
This is something the badge issuer can decide when creating a badge. You can opt to set a maximum number of times a particular badge can be issued, or can leave it open.
====Can issuers re-use parts of badge data?====
Issuers using BadgeKit can create badge templates, which allow you to re-use and remix badge data elements. This is something we learned working with real-world badging systems, as often the same data items will apply to multiple different badges.
==Ongoing questions under consideration==
