MozillaWiki - User contributions [en]

Badges/badgekit

2014-05-23T18:35:25Z

Suesmith: Updates private beta sign-up language.

The Mozilla Open Badges team is developing BadgeKit, a set of tools to make badging easier. With a private beta version launched in March 2014, the BadgeKit project will be expanding throughout the year. BadgeKit is primarily focused on helping organizations to issue badges through a Web application and API for building earner interfaces.

==History==

BadgeKit evolved out of experience with real-world badging systems including Chicago Summer of Learning. Open Badges are being used in an ever-increasing range of contexts, with each community having its own set of unique needs. BadgeKit provides a set of open foundational tools to support various key badging processes, including ''creating'', ''assessing'' and ''issuing''.

Since the BadgeKit tools are free and open, organizations can use them to build the component parts in a badging system quickly, easily and in a way that suits their own community. BadgeKit takes care of the back-end in a badge issuing system using a Web application, with an API to support issuers' own front-end Web interaction with badge earners. This lets issuers retain control over the badge earning experience and over their earners' data.

The BadgeKit Web app includes a series of new utilities to speed up the badge creation process. The tools are modular, so that issuers can implement badging within existing systems. The aim with BadgeKit is to support growth and adoption within the badging ecosystem in a way that reflects Mozilla's values for openness, choice and interoperability.

==Tools==

BadgeKit is composed of two main component parts: a '''Web app''' and an '''API'''. The Web application handles back-end processing and provides a user interface for administrators in a badge issuing system. Issuers can use the BadgeKit API in conjunction with the Web app to interact with badge earners and ultimately support the full badging lifecycle within their own environments.

===Web Application===

The BadgeKit Web application provides badge issuing and assessment admin, within a simple to use interface, which is equipped with a range of utilities to aid common badging processes. Badge issuers can configure a range of user account types in BadgeKit, for badge creators and assessors. Once logged in, a BadgeKit user can access badge templates, draft badges, badge applications and data. The user can carry out a series of actions on badges and applications, including:

* Creating new badges
** badges can be created from ''templates'', a new feature to enable remixing of badge elements
** users can create and save ''draft'' badges, letting them work on badges over a period of time and optionally in collaboration with others
** badge designs and metadata fields can all be defined using the BadgeKit interface, which includes explanatory information to help users complete the data items
** ''milestone'' badges allow issuers to recognize cumulative skills and experiences.
* Managing badge state
** users can publish draft badges, making them available to earners
** badges can also be ''archived'', meaning they can no longer be earned but their data can still be viewed and used
* Assessment and Issuing
** assessors can view badge applications together with supporting information
** badges can be issued from within BadgeKit.

Badge issuers can also manage BadgeKit accounts, defining the actions each user can carry out within the application. The UI provides various ways to view and navigate the badge and application data, making interacting with badge data quick and easy.

You can see a preview of the current BadgeKit app in action now: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=uvz-chEpi7Q BadgeKit Tutorial]

The BadgeKit Web application handles the administration part of a badge issuing system, '''but the issuer remains in control over interaction with their community of badge earners''' - BadgeKit supports this part of the process through the API.

===BadgeKit API===

BadgeKit is designed to provide much of the badge issuing processing, while still allowing issuers to fully customize the earner experience. For this reason, BadgeKit supports the earner-facing functionality in a badging system through API '''endpoints''' and '''webhooks''' issuer sites can use to facilitate badge earning within their own environment.

The BadgeKit app and API aid the processes of creating badges, publishing them and managing applications for them. The API endpoints and webhooks let you interact with the badge and application data as well as receiving notification of events such as badges being awarded.

The BadgeKit API complements badge issuing with the Web app to let you detect events and access badge data. For example:

* an issuer administrator can create and publish a badge in the BadgeKit app
* the issuer site can retrieve the list of published badges and present them to earners
* earners can apply for the new badge through the issuer site listing (submitting evidence if necessary)
* the pending application appears in the BadgeKit app
* an assessor can view the pending application and make a decision to issue it, optionally providing feedback
* the issuer site can receive notification from the API that the issuing decision has been made - it can then communicate with the earner.

''These steps involve the BadgeKit Web app and API working in conjunction with one another.''

This is an example of what an issuer might do with the BadgeKit app and API, but the nature of the tools means that you can configure each of the component parts to customize the functionality. The separation of badge issuing and assessment from interaction with earners lets organizations retain full control over their own badge data (''and over communication with a community of earners which may include children and young people'').

==Using BadgeKit==

In March 2014 BadgeKit was launched in private beta and the tools are still under active development. At the moment there are two options for using BadgeKit: ''private beta'' and ''installing BadgeKit on your own server''.

The BadgeKit private beta is only available to select partners with specific technical resources (sign-up has now ended), but support for a wider range of badge issuers will be implemented at a future stage. The private beta is intended for organizations looking to play a role in BadgeKit's future, but if your organization doesn't fit that profile you can still get involved with BadgeKit. By using the code hosted on GitHub, you can create your own version of BadgeKit with all of the features in the hosted version and can make any alterations to the code that you need.

For private beta access, visit [http://badgekit.org/ BadgeKit.org]

To build an instance of BadgeKit on your own server, follow the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Self-Hosting-Guide Self-Hosting Guide].

You can browse the code for the BadgeKit API and app in the following GitHub repos:
* [https://github.com/mozilla/badgekit-api BadgeKit API]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit BadgeKit Web app]

Additional BadgeKit features will be announced through the year, including tools for ''sharing'', ''collecting'' and ''discovering'' badges.

==BadgeKit Resources==

BadgeKit is still in the development stage, so expect lots of news throughout 2014! In the meantime, here are some additional resources for learning about the project:

* [https://badgekit.org/help BadgeKit Help and FAQs]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Tutorial BadgeKit Tutorial]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary BadgeKit Glossary]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-API-Introduction API Intro]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Self-Hosting-Guide BadgeKit Self-Hosting Guide]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Troubleshooting-BadgeKit Troubleshooting BadgeKit]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resources]

Badges

2014-05-23T18:33:36Z

Suesmith: Updates private beta sign-up language.

<section begin=summary />{{RoadmapSummary
|icon=3ea2d817e92ac6e2e4e69bf9e9290d4f bigger.png
|pagelocation=Open Badges
|pagetitle=Mozilla Open Badges
|owner=Erin Knight, Carla Casilli, Sunny Lee, Emily Goligoski, Chris McAvoy, Brian Brennan, Mike Larsson, Jess Klein, Chloe Varelidi, Atul Varma, Meg Cole, Jade Forester
|updated=March 2014
|description=Mozilla's Open Badges make it easy for anyone to issue, earn and display badges across the web through a shared infrastructure that's free and open to all.
}}<section end=summary />

__NOTOC__

== What is a Badge? ==

badge [baj]: a special or distinctive mark, token, or device worn as a sign of
allegiance, membership, authority, achievement, etc. (Source: [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/badge Dictionary.com])

A badge is a symbol or indicator of an accomplishment, skill, quality or interest. From the Boy and Girl Scouts, to PADI diving instruction, to the more recently popular geo-location game, [https://foursquare.com/ Foursquare], badges have been successfully used to set goals, motivate behaviors, represent achievements and communicate success in many contexts. A “digital badge” is an online record of achievements, tracking the recipient’s communities of interaction that issued the badge and the work completed to get it. Digital badges can support connected learning environments by motivating learning and signaling achievement both within particular communities as well as across communities and institutions. (Source: [https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/5/59/OpenBadges-Working-Paper_012312.pdf Erin Knight White Paper])

== Digital Badges vs Open Badges ==

A digital badge is an online representation of a skill you’ve earned. Open Badges take that concept one step further, and allows you to verify your skills, interests and achievements through credible organizations and attaches that information to the badge image file, hard-coding the metadata for future access and review. Because the system is based on an open standard, earners can combine multiple badges from different issuers to tell the complete story of their achievements — both online and off. Badges can be displayed wherever earners want them on the web, and share them for employment, education or lifelong learning.

'''Open Badges are:'''

*'''Free and open:''' Mozilla Open Badges is not proprietary. It’s free software and an open technical standard any organization can use to create, issue and verify digital badges.
*'''Transferable:''' Collect badges from multiple sources, online and off, into a single backpack. Then display your skills and achievements on social networking profiles, job sites, websites and more.
*'''Stackable:''' Whether they’re issued by one organization or many, badges can build upon each other and be stacked to tell the full story of your skills and achievements.
*'''Evidence-based:''' Open Badges are information-rich. Each badge has important metadata which is hard-coded into the badge image file itself that links back to the issuer, criteria and verifying evidence.

'''Open Badges make it easy to:'''

*Get recognition for the things you learn;
*Give recognition for the things you teach;
*Verify skills; and
*Display your verified badges across the web.

== What is Mozilla's Open Badges project? ==

Learning today happens everywhere, not just in the classroom. But it's often difficult to get recognition for skills and achievements that happen outside of school. '''Mozilla's Open Badges project''' is working to solve that problem, making it easy for anyone to issue, earn and display badges across the web through a shared technical infrastructure. '''The result:''' helping people of all ages gain and display 21st century skills and unlock new career and educational opportunities.

Want to know more about Open Badges? [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/About Read about what badges are and how they work] and check out our [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/FAQs Frequently Asked Questions] page to find some answers, or shoot us an email at [mailto:badges@mozillafoundation.org badges@mozillafoundation.org]

== Mozilla BadgeKit ==

Mozilla BadgeKit is a new set of open, foundational tools to make the badging process easy.

'''BadgeKit:'''
*Supports key stages in the badging experience including creating, designing, assessing and issuing.
*Includes remixable templates and milestone badges allowing for easy customization.
*Provides modular and open options (standards) for the community of badge makers to use and build upon within their existing sites or systems.

BadgeKit is currently available in private beta for select partner organizations that meet specific technical requirements - '''sign-up for private beta has now ended'''. Alternatively, anyone can download the code from GitHub and implement it on their own servers.

We will continue to add additional BadgeKit features throughout the coming year, including tools to support collecting, sharing and discovering badges.

Signed-up users can access the private beta hosted version of BadgeKit at http://www.badgekit.org. Alternatively grab the code for each tool from Github today at https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit

For general information on BadgeKit, and to join our community, check out http://badgekit.openbadges.org

[[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]]

== Get started with Open Badges ==

;Ready? Check out our site and Community page
:*http://openbadges.org
:*http://community.openbadges.org/

;Set? Create your Backpack
:*https://backpack.openbadges.org

;Go! Get some Badges!
:*Take the [http://openbadges.org/earn/ Badges 101 Quiz] and earn your first badge!

Read more about the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges#mozilla-open-badges Technology] behind Open Badges.
 
Find the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki Onboarding information for Issuers, Displayers and Earners] and get started!

== Become part of the Community ==

*[https://groups.google.com/d/forum/openbadges '''Open Badges learning group'''] and [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/openbadges-dev '''development group'''] -- Subscribe to these groups to take part in ongoing conversations about badges in the wild.
*[https://openbadges.etherpad.mozilla.org/openbadges-community-2 '''Open Badges Community Calls'''] -- Join our weekly global call every Wednesday at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm GMT. During these hour-long calls we share our progress and encourage you to share your Open Badges work, questions, and comments. They're fun and we encourage you to come along!
*[https://openbadges.etherpad.mozilla.org/research-calls '''Open Badges Research & Design Calls'''] -- If you are interested in Open Badges Research and Badge System Design, join this call, held on Wednesdays in the hour before the Community Calls, at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT.
*[http://openbadges.tumblr.com// '''Open Badges Blog'''] -- Follow our blog for Open Badges news and updates.
*[http://twitter.com/#!/openbadges '''Twitter'''] -- Follow @OpenBadges and use the [https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OpenBadges&src=typd #OpenBadges] hashtag to join the conversation on Twitter.
*[https://www.facebook.com/MozillaOpenBadges '''Facebook'''] -- Like us on Facebook for news and updates you can share with your networks.
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/IRC '''IRC'''] -- Reach us on IRC at irc.mozilla.org, #badges
*[[Media:Open_Badges_Presentation_-_General.pdf‎| '''Open Badges presentation materials''']] -- Want to give an Open Badges presentation? To get you started, here's a PDF. Please note that all of these documents are [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ CC by SA].
*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aTAP04N9dAuSGv71tWOUA1iqYxWWTA4dlQIyP-7WT0E/edit '''Common badges terms and vocabulary'''] -- Help us to build a common lexicon of digital badge terms.

== Who is using Open Badges? ==

*[http://openmatt.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/badges-in-the-real-world/ '''User stories'''] -- Hypothetical examples of how badges can help solve problems in everyday scenarios. 
*[http://www.2mbetterfutures.org/ '''2 Million Better Futures'''] -- This project from [http://www.cgiamerica.org/ CGI America] aims to help 1 million workers and 1 million students succeed using Open Badges by 2016.
*[http://chicagosummeroflearning.org/about '''Chicago Summer of Learning'''] -- The first citywide badging initiative, which was so successful that [http://www.enewspf.com/school-news/45425-mayor-emanuel-announces-nearly-100-000-badges-awarded-through-chicago-summer-of-learning.html '''Mayor Emmanuel committed to continuing the program next year.''']
*[http://www.openbadges.org/participating-issuers/ '''Participating Issuers'''] -- An updated list of badge issuers and designers.
*[http://bit.ly/platform-chart '''General Badge Issuing Platform Chart'''] -- A list of platforms for issuing open badges generated and continuously updated by the community.
*[http://blog.makewav.es/2013/08/05/open-badges-for-schools-what-are-the-options/ '''Badges for School Issuer Platforms'''] -- Badge issuing platforms for schools.
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Issuers '''Add your organization!'''] -- If you're issuing, designing or exploring open badges with your communities, add your organization to our list of issuers.

== Further Reading ==

*[http://www.reconnectlearning.org/case-studies/ '''Case Studies'''] -- A set of case studies looking at how badges are being used to capture learning and achievements in higher education, professional training, and after school programs.
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/File:OpenBadges-Working-Paper_012312.pdf '''White Paper'''] -- An in-depth look at how badges can reinvent 21st century learning 
*[http://bit.ly/badgevalidation '''Open Badges Validation Paper'''] -- An exploration of how to build an open and distributed accreditation system for badges and the organizations that issue them 
*[http://www.scoop.it/t/badges-for-lifelong-learning/?tag=Sheryl+Grant '''Press coverage'''] -- A collection of articles and related items from community member [http://www.hastac.org/users/slgrant Sheryl Grant] (new Press Coverage page coming soon!)
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/roadmap '''Open Badges roadmap'''] -- We're continually updating the roadmap with new features.
*[http://dmlcompetition.net '''Digital Media and Learning Competition: Badges for LifeLong Learning'''] (administered by HASTAC and funded by MacArthur) -- click to learn more.

== Press Inquiries ==

Please contact [mailto:press@mozilla.com press@mozilla.com].

== Get involved with Mozilla ==

*[http://join.mozilla.org '''Join Mozilla'''] -- you could get a snazzy t-shirt for joining!
*[http://www.mozilla.org/about/mission.html '''Mozilla's mission'''] -- Read more about our mission to promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web.
*[https://www.facebook.com/mozilla '''Like Mozilla on Facebook'''] and [http://twitter.com/mozilla '''Follow Mozilla on Twitter''']
*[https://donate.mozilla.org/Sign-Up '''Get updates from Mozilla'''] -- Be the first to know what we're doing and how you can get involved.

[[Image:Open_Badges_napkin_sketch.png|800px]]

Badges/badgekit

2014-04-16T14:12:50Z

Suesmith: Expanding API info.

The Mozilla Open Badges team is developing BadgeKit, a set of tools to make badging easier. With a private beta version launched in March 2014, the BadgeKit project will be expanding throughout the year. BadgeKit is primarily focused on helping organizations to issue badges through a Web application and API for building earner interfaces.

==History==

BadgeKit evolved out of experience with real-world badging systems including Chicago Summer of Learning. Open Badges are being used in an ever-increasing range of contexts, with each community having its own set of unique needs. BadgeKit provides a set of open foundational tools to support various key badging processes, including ''creating'', ''assessing'' and ''issuing''.

Since the BadgeKit tools are free and open, organizations can use them to build the component parts in a badging system quickly, easily and in a way that suits their own community. BadgeKit takes care of the back-end in a badge issuing system using a Web application, with an API to support issuers' own front-end Web interaction with badge earners. This lets issuers retain control over the badge earning experience and over their earners' data.

The BadgeKit Web app includes a series of new utilities to speed up the badge creation process. The tools are modular, so that issuers can implement badging within existing systems. The aim with BadgeKit is to support growth and adoption within the badging ecosystem in a way that reflects Mozilla's values for openness, choice and interoperability.

==Tools==

BadgeKit is composed of two main component parts: a '''Web app''' and an '''API'''. The Web application handles back-end processing and provides a user interface for administrators in a badge issuing system. Issuers can use the BadgeKit API in conjunction with the Web app to interact with badge earners and ultimately support the full badging lifecycle within their own environments.

===Web Application===

The BadgeKit Web application provides badge issuing and assessment admin, within a simple to use interface, which is equipped with a range of utilities to aid common badging processes. Badge issuers can configure a range of user account types in BadgeKit, for badge creators and assessors. Once logged in, a BadgeKit user can access badge templates, draft badges, badge applications and data. The user can carry out a series of actions on badges and applications, including:

* Creating new badges
** badges can be created from ''templates'', a new feature to enable remixing of badge elements
** users can create and save ''draft'' badges, letting them work on badges over a period of time and optionally in collaboration with others
** badge designs and metadata fields can all be defined using the BadgeKit interface, which includes explanatory information to help users complete the data items
** ''milestone'' badges allow issuers to recognize cumulative skills and experiences.
* Managing badge state
** users can publish draft badges, making them available to earners
** badges can also be ''archived'', meaning they can no longer be earned but their data can still be viewed and used
* Assessment and Issuing
** assessors can view badge applications together with supporting information
** badges can be issued from within BadgeKit.

Badge issuers can also manage BadgeKit accounts, defining the actions each user can carry out within the application. The UI provides various ways to view and navigate the badge and application data, making interacting with badge data quick and easy.

You can see a preview of the current BadgeKit app in action now: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=uvz-chEpi7Q BadgeKit Tutorial]

The BadgeKit Web application handles the administration part of a badge issuing system, '''but the issuer remains in control over interaction with their community of badge earners''' - BadgeKit supports this part of the process through the API.

===BadgeKit API===

BadgeKit is designed to provide much of the badge issuing processing, while still allowing issuers to fully customize the earner experience. For this reason, BadgeKit supports the earner-facing functionality in a badging system through API '''endpoints''' and '''webhooks''' issuer sites can use to facilitate badge earning within their own environment.

The BadgeKit app and API aid the processes of creating badges, publishing them and managing applications for them. The API endpoints and webhooks let you interact with the badge and application data as well as receiving notification of events such as badges being awarded.

The BadgeKit API complements badge issuing with the Web app to let you detect events and access badge data. For example:

* an issuer administrator can create and publish a badge in the BadgeKit app
* the issuer site can retrieve the list of published badges and present them to earners
* earners can apply for the new badge through the issuer site listing (submitting evidence if necessary)
* the pending application appears in the BadgeKit app
* an assessor can view the pending application and make a decision to issue it, optionally providing feedback
* the issuer site can receive notification from the API that the issuing decision has been made - it can then communicate with the earner.

''These steps involve the BadgeKit Web app and API working in conjunction with one another.''

This is an example of what an issuer might do with the BadgeKit app and API, but the nature of the tools means that you can configure each of the component parts to customize the functionality. The separation of badge issuing and assessment from interaction with earners lets organizations retain full control over their own badge data (''and over communication with a community of earners which may include children and young people'').

==Using BadgeKit==

In March 2014 BadgeKit was launched in private beta and the tools are still under active development. At the moment there are two options for using BadgeKit: ''signing up for access to the private beta'' and ''installing BadgeKit on your own server''.

The BadgeKit private beta is only available to select partners with specific technical resources, but support for a wider range of badge issuers will be implemented at a future stage. The private beta is intended for organizations looking to play a role in BadgeKit's future, but if your organization doesn't fit that profile you can still get involved with BadgeKit. By using the code hosted on GitHub, you can create your own version of BadgeKit with all of the features in the hosted version and can make any alterations to the code that you need.

To sign up for private beta access, visit [http://badgekit.org/ BadgeKit.org]

To build an instance of BadgeKit on your own server, follow the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Self-Hosting-Guide Self-Hosting Guide].

You can browse the code for the BadgeKit API and app in the following GitHub repos:
* [https://github.com/mozilla/badgekit-api BadgeKit API]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit BadgeKit Web app]

Additional BadgeKit features will be announced through the year, including tools for ''sharing'', ''collecting'' and ''discovering'' badges.

==BadgeKit Resources==

BadgeKit is still in the development stage, so expect lots of news throughout 2014! In the meantime, here are some additional resources for learning about the project:

* [https://badgekit.org/help BadgeKit Help and FAQs]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Tutorial BadgeKit Tutorial]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary BadgeKit Glossary]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-API-Introduction API Intro]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Self-Hosting-Guide BadgeKit Self-Hosting Guide]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Troubleshooting-BadgeKit Troubleshooting BadgeKit]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resources]

Badges/badgekit

2014-04-14T18:48:03Z

Suesmith: Updates with self-hosting BadgeKit info.

The Mozilla Open Badges team is developing BadgeKit, a set of tools to make badging easier. With a private beta version launched in March 2014, the BadgeKit project will be expanding throughout the year. BadgeKit is primarily focused on helping organizations to issue badges through a Web application and API for building earner interfaces.

==History==

BadgeKit evolved out of experience with real-world badging systems including Chicago Summer of Learning. Open Badges are being used in an ever-increasing range of contexts, with each community having its own set of unique needs. BadgeKit provides a set of open foundational tools to support various key badging processes, including ''creating'', ''assessing'' and ''issuing''.

Since the BadgeKit tools are free and open, organizations can use them to build the component parts in a badging system quickly, easily and in a way that suits their own community. BadgeKit takes care of the back-end in a badge issuing system using a Web application, with an API to support issuers' own front-end Web interaction with badge earners. This lets issuers retain control over the badge earning experience and over their earners' data.

The BadgeKit Web app includes a series of new utilities to speed up the badge creation process. The tools are modular, so that issuers can implement badging within existing systems. The aim with BadgeKit is to support growth and adoption within the badging ecosystem in a way that reflects Mozilla's values for openness, choice and interoperability.

==Tools==

BadgeKit is composed of two main component parts: a '''Web app''' and an '''API'''. The Web application handles back-end processing and provides a user interface for administrators in a badge issuing system. Issuers can use the BadgeKit API in conjunction with the Web app to interact with badge earners and ultimately support the full badging lifecycle within their own environments.

===Web Application===

The BadgeKit Web application provides badge issuing and assessment admin, within a simple to use interface, which is equipped with a range of utilities to aid common badging processes. Badge issuers can configure a range of user account types in BadgeKit, for badge creators and assessors. Once logged in, a BadgeKit user can access badge templates, draft badges, badge applications and data. The user can carry out a series of actions on badges and applications, including:

* Creating new badges
** badges can be created from ''templates'', a new feature to enable remixing of badge elements
** users can create and save ''draft'' badges, letting them work on badges over a period of time and optionally in collaboration with others
** badge designs and metadata fields can all be defined using the BadgeKit interface, which includes explanatory information to help users complete the data items
** ''milestone'' badges allow issuers to recognize cumulative skills and experiences.
* Managing badge state
** users can publish draft badges, making them available to earners
** badges can also be ''archived'', meaning they can no longer be earned but their data can still be viewed and used
* Assessment and Issuing
** assessors can view badge applications together with supporting information
** badges can be issued from within BadgeKit.

Badge issuers can also manage BadgeKit accounts, defining the actions each user can carry out within the application. The UI provides various ways to view and navigate the badge and application data, making interacting with badge data quick and easy.

You can see a preview of the current BadgeKit app in action now: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=uvz-chEpi7Q BadgeKit Tutorial]

The BadgeKit Web application handles the administration part of a badge issuing system, '''but the issuer remains in control over interaction with their community of badge earners''' - BadgeKit supports this part of the process through the API.

===BadgeKit API===

BadgeKit is designed to provide much of the badge issuing processing, while still allowing issuers to fully customize the earner experience. For this reason, BadgeKit supports the front-end functionality in a badging system through '''API webhooks''' issuer sites can use to facilitate badge earning within their own environment.

The BadgeKit API complements badge issuing with the Web app via a series of endpoints to detect events such as changes in state and to access badge data. For example:

* an issuer administrator can create and publish a badge in the BadgeKit app
* the issuer site can retrieve the list of published badges and present them to earners
* earners can apply for the new badge through the issuer site listing (submitting evidence if necessary)
* the pending application appears in the BadgeKit app
* an assessor can view the pending application and make a decision to issue it, optionally providing feedback
* the issuer site can receive information from the API that the issuing decision has been made - it can then communicate with the earner.

This is an example of what an issuer might do with the BadgeKit app and API, but the nature of the tools means that you can configure each of the component parts to customize the functionality. The separation of badge issuing and assessment from interaction with earners lets organizations retain full control over their own badge data (''and over communication with a community of earners which may include children and young people'').

==Using BadgeKit==

In March 2014 BadgeKit was launched in private beta and the tools are still under active development. At the moment there are two options for using BadgeKit: ''signing up for access to the private beta'' and ''installing BadgeKit on your own server''.

The BadgeKit private beta is only available to select partners with specific technical resources, but support for a wider range of badge issuers will be implemented at a future stage. The private beta is intended for organizations looking to play a role in BadgeKit's future, but if your organization doesn't fit that profile you can still get involved with BadgeKit. By using the code hosted on GitHub, you can create your own version of BadgeKit with all of the features in the hosted version and can make any alterations to the code that you need.

To sign up for private beta access, visit [http://badgekit.org/ BadgeKit.org]

To build an instance of BadgeKit on your own server, follow the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Self-Hosting-Guide Self-Hosting Guide].

You can browse the code for the BadgeKit API and app in the following GitHub repos:
* [https://github.com/mozilla/badgekit-api BadgeKit API]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit BadgeKit Web app]

Additional BadgeKit features will be announced through the year, including tools for ''sharing'', ''collecting'' and ''discovering'' badges.

==BadgeKit Resources==

BadgeKit is still in the development stage, so expect lots of news throughout 2014! In the meantime, here are some additional resources for learning about the project:

* [https://badgekit.org/help BadgeKit Help and FAQs]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Tutorial BadgeKit Tutorial]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary BadgeKit Glossary]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-API-Introduction API Intro]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Self-Hosting-Guide BadgeKit Self-Hosting Guide]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Troubleshooting-BadgeKit Troubleshooting BadgeKit]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resources]

Badges/GetStarted

2014-04-02T13:47:17Z

Suesmith: Altering issuer wording to keep it general enough.

__NOTOC__
= Start Learning about Badges =
If you're new to Open Badges, the amount of information available may seem overwhelming. However, although the technical aspects of badging can be complex, the concepts in a badging system are mostly intuitive. Use this page to navigate the available badging resources from your own perspective and don't worry - it'll all fall into place! If you haven't already read it, a great starting place is the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/About About Badges] page.

== Roles in a Badging System ==

Badging involves a lot of technology, with a diverse range of organizations issuing badges and an even more diverse range of people earning them. It will help your initial understanding of Open Badges to think of the participants in a badging system as falling into three main roles: earner, issuer and displayer. Understanding these roles is key to understanding how the badging processes fit together.

=== The Earner ===

Anyone who wants to earn a badge is a potential earner. Badges are everywhere, particularly for young people - girl Scouts, students in sailing school and swimmers can earn badges in offline life. Earners use badges to demonstrate skills, knowledge and experiences. Open Badges apply this concept to a wider variety of achievements, letting people represent their full range of accomplishments earned in online and offline life, sharing and displaying their badges in digital contexts. Badges can represent anything from attending an event or being involved in a community organization to demonstrating a professional accreditation in a particular career field.

Earners can come into contact with Open Badges in various ways - the following is a typical scenario:
* The earner sees a badge on a website and decides to apply for it.
* The earner submits an application, which may include evidence.
* The earner receives feedback from the badge issuer, detailing whether or not their application was successful.
** If successful, the earner is offered the badge and decides whether or not to accept it.
* The earner is offered the ability to push their new badge to their backpack.
** The earner can manage, collect and display badges in the backpack.

See the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Earner earner onboarding] page for more info from the earner's perspective.

=== The Issuer ===

Badge issuers create badges and make them available for earning. The process of defining and designing a badge involves deciding what skills, knowledge or experience the badge represents. The issuer also needs to decide how an earner can demonstrate that they meet the requirements for a badge, as well as how this will be assessed. In some cases the assessment may involve processing an application, but in others the procedure will be much more lightweight, for example where a badge represents attending an event. Many issuers are organizations such as educators and community groups. The issuer role involves using technologies to represent badges and to facilitate various parts of the badge lifecycle, from making badges available to handling applications for them and ultimately awarding them to earners. The issuing process needs to be rigorous for a badge to hold value.

Like earning, the issuing process can vary, but the following scenario is typical:
* The issuer (often involving multiple personnel) decides to create a particular badge.
** Issuer designs the badge and defines the badge metadata.
* The issuer makes the badge available to earners via a website.
** The badge listing includes a link/ instructions to apply for it, sometimes requiring evidence.
* The issuer receives and assesses badge applications.
** The issuer returns feedback to applicants, informing them whether or not the badge is being awarded.
* The issuer offers the badge to the earner, who can choose whether to accept it.

'''Note on assessment:'''
There are many ways to assess peoples' abilities and knowledge. Figuring out effective ways to assess is the responsibility of the issuer. Existing assessment methods used for the badges available to our youth are proven and have considerable rigor. For example, the assessment of the skills and knowledge to get a scouting badge is carried out with well-articulated criteria and assessment forms within a master-apprentice model. Once the badge earner has proven their skills and knowledge against the criteria as assessed by the master, they are issued a badge. ''It should be noted that there are many approaches to assessment and what is described here is only one approach. The important thing is that the issuer needs to figure out how to assess if the earner is deserving of the badge.''

See the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer issuer onboarding] page for more info from the issuing perspective.

'''''Mozilla announced BadgeKit in March 2014 - a set of tools to help issuers implement badging systems. BadgeKit provides much of the back-end processing in an issuing application, with APIs to connect to the issuer's own site.''''' [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]]

=== The Displayer ===

The displayer provides the ability to display badges. The display context could be a social media site like Facebook/ Twitter or it could, for example, be a personal WordPress blog. The displayer can retrieve badges from an earner's backpack and display them for all to see. The groupings and permissions affecting the display of badges is determined by the settings in the backpack, so the earner has control over how their badges are displayed.

See the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Displayer displayer onboarding] page for more info from the displaying perspective.

==== Badge Consumers ====

Although not active participants in a badging system, it's worth remembering another group of relevant people - consumers. Consumers are people who may view earned badges. Examples of consumers could be prospective employers, college admin and peers. Much of badging is designed with these people in mind, from designing and defining to displaying and sharing.

== The Technology ==

So, how is all of this implemented? Well, Mozilla is providing a range of software and programming tools such as APIs to help people adopt badging systems. See the diagram below for a visual overview of how the badging processes fit together:

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]

From a technology/ infrastructure perspective the issuer is the provider of badges, the backpack stores the badges earned and the displayer shows them to the world.

The boxes, lines, images, and text in the diagram each represent a piece of the technology that makes up the Open Badges Infrastructure. As you learn more about the badges technology you will become familiar with all the elements in the diagram. Take time to review the diagram, reflecting upon the earner, issuer and displayer roles and on how they could interact.

One important question for anyone involved in badging is: "How do you determine if a badge is genuine?" The OBI is built with verification in mind, as you can see in this [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Displayer#Verification Verification] overview.

=== Further Resources ===
* [http://openbadges.org/about/ About Open Badges]
* [http://openbadges.org/earn/ Open Badges - Earn]
* [http://openbadges.org/issue/ Open Badges - Issue]
* [http://openbadges.org/display/ Open Badges - Display]
* [http://community.openbadges.org/ Open Badges Community]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges Open Badges source code]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources Resource list]
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/FAQs Badges FAQs]

Badges/GetStarted

2014-04-01T16:07:42Z

Suesmith: General updating/ restructuring.

__NOTOC__
= Start Learning about Badges =
If you're new to Open Badges, the amount of information available may seem overwhelming. However, although the technical aspects of badging can be complex, the concepts in a badging system are mostly intuitive. Use this page to navigate the available badging resources from your own perspective and don't worry - it'll all fall into place! If you haven't already read it, a great starting place is the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/About About Badges] page.

== Roles in a Badging System ==

Badging involves a lot of technology, with a diverse range of organizations issuing badges and an even more diverse range of people earning them. It will help your initial understanding of Open Badges to think of the participants in a badging system as falling into three main roles: earner, issuer and displayer. Understanding these roles is key to understanding how the badging processes fit together.

=== The Earner ===

Anyone who wants to earn a badge is a potential earner. Badges are everywhere, particularly for young people - girl Scouts, students in sailing school and swimmers can earn badges in offline life. Earners use badges to demonstrate skills, knowledge and experiences. Open Badges apply this concept to a wider variety of achievements, letting people represent their full range of accomplishments earned in online and offline life, sharing and displaying their badges in digital contexts. Badges can represent anything from attending an event or being involved in a community organization to demonstrating a professional accreditation in a particular career field.

Earners can come into contact with Open Badges in various ways - the following is a typical scenario:
* The earner sees a badge on a website and decides to apply for it.
* The earner submits an application, which may include evidence.
* The earner receives feedback from the badge issuer, detailing whether or not their application was successful.
** If successful, the earner is offered the badge and decides whether or not to accept it.
* The earner is offered the ability to push their new badge to their backpack.
** The earner can manage, collect and display badges in the backpack.

See the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Earner earner onboarding] page for more info from the earner's perspective.

=== The Issuer ===

Badge issuers create badges and make them available for earning. The process of defining and designing a badge involves deciding what skills, knowledge or experience the badge represents, as well as formalizing how earner applications will be assessed. Many issuers are organizations such as educators and community groups. The issuer role involves using technologies to represent badges and to facilitate various parts of the badge lifecycle, from making badges available to handling applications for them and ultimately awarding them to earners. The issuing process needs to be rigorous for a badge to hold value.

Like earning, the issuing process can vary, but the following scenario is typical:
* The issuer (often involving multiple personnel) decides to create a particular badge.
** Issuer designs the badge and defines the badge metadata.
* The issuer makes the badge available to earners via a website.
** The badge listing includes a link/ instructions to apply for it, sometimes requiring evidence.
* The issuer receives and assesses badge applications.
** The issuer returns feedback to applicants, informing them whether or not the badge is being awarded.
* The issuer offers the badge to the earner, who can choose whether to accept it.

'''Note on assessment:'''
There are many ways to assess peoples' abilities and knowledge. Figuring out effective ways to assess is the responsibility of the issuer. Existing assessment methods used for the badges available to our youth are proven and have considerable rigor. For example, the assessment of the skills and knowledge to get a scouting badge is carried out with well-articulated criteria and assessment forms within a master-apprentice model. Once the badge earner has proven their skills and knowledge against the criteria as assessed by the master, they are issued a badge. ''It should be noted that there are many approaches to assessment and what is described here is only one approach. The important thing is that the issuer needs to figure out how to assess if the earner is deserving of the badge.''

See the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer issuer onboarding] page for more info from the issuing perspective.

'''''Mozilla announced BadgeKit in March 2014 - a set of tools to help issuers implement badging systems. BadgeKit provides much of the back-end processing in an issuing application, with APIs to connect to the issuer's own site.''''' [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]]

=== The Displayer ===

The displayer provides the ability to display badges. The display context could be a social media site like Facebook/ Twitter or it could, for example, be a personal WordPress blog. The displayer can retrieve badges from an earner's backpack and display them for all to see. The groupings and permissions affecting the display of badges is determined by the settings in the backpack, so the earner has control over how their badges are displayed.

See the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Displayer displayer onboarding] page for more info from the displaying perspective.

==== Badge Consumers ====

Although not active participants in a badging system, it's worth remembering another group of relevant people - consumers. Consumers are people who may view earned badges. Examples of consumers could be prospective employers, college admin and peers. Much of badging is designed with these people in mind, from designing and defining to displaying and sharing.

== The Technology ==

So, how is all of this implemented? Well, Mozilla is providing a range of software and programming tools such as APIs to help people adopt badging systems. See the diagram below for a visual overview of how the badging processes fit together:

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]

From a technology/ infrastructure perspective the issuer is the provider of badges, the backpack stores the badges earned and the displayer shows them to the world.

The boxes, lines, images, and text in the diagram each represent a piece of the technology that makes up the Open Badges Infrastructure. As you learn more about the badges technology you will become familiar with all the elements in the diagram. Take time to review the diagram, reflecting upon the earner, issuer and displayer roles and on how they could interact.

One important question for anyone involved in badging is: "How do you determine if a badge is genuine?" The OBI is built with verification in mind, as you can see in this [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Displayer#Verification Verification] overview.

=== Further Resources ===
* [http://openbadges.org/about/ About Open Badges]
* [http://openbadges.org/earn/ Open Badges - Earn]
* [http://openbadges.org/issue/ Open Badges - Issue]
* [http://openbadges.org/display/ Open Badges - Display]
* [http://community.openbadges.org/ Open Badges Community]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges Open Badges source code]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources Resource list]
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/FAQs Badges FAQs]

Badges/Onboarding-Displayer

2014-04-01T15:41:13Z

Suesmith: /* Removing a line pending clarification */

== Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==

NOTE: For a general introduction to badge displaying with the Mozilla OBI, read on. For more technical documentation, please see our [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API github pages].

=== Background ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills and experiences, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support earners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of these representations by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each earner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give earners control and support of the entire ecosystem;
* Provide software and development tools to help organizations implement badging systems.

==== Description ====

The Open Badges framework is designed to make badging flexible enough to represent the full range of learning and experience in online and offline life. This requires support for multiple, potentially significantly varied, badge issuers. Empowering earners to use their badges as legitimate credentials also requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites.

Earners can share badges across such varied online environments as personal blogs and social networking channels, tying a variety of achievements to a single identity. It is critical for the infrastructure to be open, to give earners control over how they represent their own learning and experiences, to allow anyone to issue badges, and for each earner to be able to carry their badges with them throughout their online life.

The participants in a badging system are characterized using a few broad groups:
* Issuers - they create badges, make them available to earners and award them.
* Earners - they apply for badges and decide where to display them.
* Displayers - they display badges earned by particular earners (this also involves verifying badges).

You will see these roles described throughout the material you read on Open Badges. This page is aimed at providing an overview of badging for ''displayers'', with an introduction to the technical aspects of displaying.

Last but not least, although not involved directly in badging systems, let's not forget this group of people:
* Consumers - they include anyone looking at a badge (or badges) earned
** examples include potential employers, college admin and peers.

=== Tech Specs ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* Badges are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* Identity management is handled by [http://identity.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Persona]

=== Open Badges Ecosystem ===

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

Here's an overview of how badging works:
* An issuer makes a badge available to their community of earners on their website. When awarded the badge, an earner sends it to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] script, presenting the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the badge to their Backpack.
** If the issuer wants the earner to be able to store the badge outside the OBI, they can optionally push it to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the Issuer API.
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address, optionally through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the issuer using a verification check.

=== Definitions and Concepts ===

'''Badge'''

A digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience. Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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.

'''Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)'''

Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers and displayers. Includes the metadata specification, APIs, verification framework, Backpack and software tools.

'''''ROLES'''''

'''Earner'''

Someone who earns a badge (either by applying or being directly issued with it). The earner can use their Backpack to manage and share their badges.

'''Issuer'''

Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their community. The issuer is responsible for defining badges, making them available to earners and handling applications for them.
* Badge issuing can involve participants with various specific roles, such as application assessors, badge creators and administrators.

'''Displayer'''

A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.

'''''TOOLS'''''

'''Mozilla Backpack'''

The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badge data is stored.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Assertion Specification]'''

Badge metadata is represented as an [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Metadata assertion]. The assertion specification defines the information within a badge. An assertion includes multiple items of data, such as: badge name and description, issuer, date, criteria URL, evidence URL and badge image URL. The assertion should carry all the information needed to process a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]'''

A badge is an image combined with assertion data - badge baking embeds assertion data into an image to produce a portable badge.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]'''

The Issuer API provides a script for issuers to let earners send badges to the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]'''

The Displayer API provides specifications for displaying badges beyond the Backpack.

'''[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Verification Verification]

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges, i.e. checking that a badge is valid and was issued to the person claiming it.

'''[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]'''

A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners while supporting much of the badge admin process through a Web app.

See also the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resource list]

To explore the concepts and terms in badging and badge issuing, check out the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Badging and BadgeKit Glossary]

== Badge Issuing ==

Badge issuing and displaying are two complementary actions within the badging framework. To understand badge displaying, it's therefore worth first understanding a little about badge issuing.

An issuer is an organization or individual who designs and issues badges within the ecosystem. Issuers determine the badging approach that will work best for their communities, using Open Badges JavaScript interfaces to send badges to Backpacks, and optionally creating their badges using BadgeKit.

Badge issuers store badges online either as hosted or signed assertions. This allows displayers to retrieve and present badges within Web and software user interfaces. Issuers store badge data using the standard assertion structures, so that displayers can process this data and present it in a consistent way.

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges - issuers are required to take the following steps in order to facilitate this:
** For Hosted Assertions - issuers must maintain a server with the Badge Assertion information (at the unique badge URL) to verify each badge.
** For Signed Assertions:
*** Issuers must generate public/private key pair and maintain the hosted public key.
*** Issuers must sign the badges themselves, sign the whole package, and push badges to earner backpacks through the Issuer JavaScript API.
* Issuers can opt to use [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]] to automate parts of this process.

== Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack - that lets them manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== Metadata ==

Badge metadata is defined as an assertion, which contains multiple required and optional fields. The structure has evolved over time - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion specification] for complete details.

Issuers can put a reasonable amount of extra material into a badge, but that material must be static - once the badge is issued, any change to the information must not change. This is to prevent someone from issuing one badge, then sneakily changing it later to another badge unbeknownst to the earner.

Badge displayers can utilize any technology capable of parsing JSON data to process badge metadata, presenting it in a way that reflects the display context.

== Displayers ==

Displayers are key to the value of Open Badges for earners. The OBI is designed to support display of badges acquired in various different types of context, letting earners paint a more detailed, complete picture of their skills and experiences.

* Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner controls where their badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create groups/ collections of badges and share with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public; those badges are discoverable by displayers if they have the earner's email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they can query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. The response is a JSON representation of the badges.

=== Requirements ===

The following requirements apply to displayers:
* A Web server capable of serving requests to the general internet.
* The ability to make a GET request from their server backend and read a JSON response.
* Access to earners' backpack ID.
** Displayer can convert from earner’s email to backpack ID using this [http://beta.openbadges.org/displayer/convert/email converter]
* Ability to communicate with the Mozilla [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].

=== Displayer API ===

The [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API] returns on a JSON feed of badges the earner has made public. The displayer retrieves the list with the earner’s Backpack ID. Displayers can convert earner email addresses to user IDs, including those IDs in their API calls. Displayers can request badges using REST queries. The API provides endpoints to query for available groups of badges (that the user has made public), then to request badge data for a particular group using the group ID. The list of badges in a group is returned, including the assertion data for each badge. Displayers can then parse the assertion metadata for each badge and present it within their own site.

=== Public Badge Discovery Flow ===

# Earner sets privacy controls on badges through the Backpack, setting some badges to Public.
# Displayer has an identifier (email address/ Backpack ID) for the Backpack owner.
# Displayer queries the Backpack via the Displayer API, using the earner's Backpack ID (can be converted from earner’s email address).
# Mozilla unpacks the badges and sends the JSON for all public badges for that earner to the displayer.
# Displayer processes and presents the resulting badges.

=== Mozilla Display Support - Next Steps ===

Ongoing developments to be announced through 2014 include a number of tools to aid the earning, collecting, displaying, discovering and sharing processes.

* Provide Earner with embed code in the Backpack so that they can embed badges into any personal websites
* Display sites that have an API, eg. Facebook, Twitter
** Build Facebook widget
** Provide documentation so that community can be empowered to be proactive in building additional widgets for sites with available APIs.
* Display sites that don’t have an API, e.g. InsideJobs, LinkedIn
** Possible workflow
*** (1) Displayer comes to openbadges.org site
*** (2) Displayer agrees to be a Displayer
**** (2.1) Agrees to ToS
*** (3) Displayer gets the widget
*** (4) Displayer provides a button or UI component for Earner to import badges from the Backpack
*** (5) If Earner clicks yes, Displayer makes javascript call to get badges
*** (6) Displayer must reconcile email addresses if they are different - Earner must provide email address or Backpack ID associated with their Backpack
** n.b. Displayer cannot query Backpacks or discover badges without Earner interaction.
** n.b. It may be possible to display displayer buttons in the Backpack interface. TBD
* API for anonymized data.

== Verification ==

Badge verification involves checking that a badge was issued to the person displaying it, using their email address. Verification affects both issuers and displayers.

* To avoid gaming and duplication, the OBI is built to support badge verification.
* This is essential to allow earners to prove the authenticity and validity of their badges. Badges can also have expiry dates, allowing organizations to issue badges for skills which are only valid for a set period of time.
* The OBI provides the channel for this verification to happen through the Backpack, by communicating with the issuer.
* Verification is typically carried out by displayers, who should not display a badge that cannot be verified.

=== Verification Method ===

The OBI currently supports verification of badges through hosted and signed assertions. The assertion data for a badge contains verification information. For hosted assertions, this includes a URL field representing the assertion hosted on the issuer's server. For signed assertions, it includes a link to the issuer's public key. Displayers can utilize this data to verify badge earners.

The verification process is as follows:

'''''For hosted assertions''''':
# Displayer carries out a GET request on the verification URL from the assertion.
#* If the response is not 200 OK or if the data at the URL is not structurally valid, the badge is treated as invalid.
# Displayer analyses content of data at assertion verification URL, which includes recipient email address.
#* Verification can now be achieved by comparing the salted hash value for the recipient (according to the verification data) to the salted hash for the email of the person claiming the badge.
# The displayer can optionally check further information in the verification data, including an expiry date if there is one.

'''''For signed assertions''''':
# Displayer unpacks JWS object specified in the assertion verification fields.
#* If the data fails to parse as JSON data, verification fails.
# Displayer extracts the verify.url property from the JSON, carries out a GET request on it and stores the public key.
#* If the HTTP status is not 200 OK, verification fails.
# Displayer uses the public key to perform JWS verification on the JWS object - if this fails, the badge is considered invalid.
# Displayer retrieves the revocation list and checks that the badge ID is not included.

For more about assertions and verification, see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Specification].

''Note: for baked badges, verification also involves extracting the assertion URL from the badge image - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-verifier Verifier] for more on this.''

=== Functional Flow ===

# Badge (including assertion) exists in the Backpack.
# User attempts to display badge via a display site widget.
# Display site takes the earner’s email and puts it through a salted hash function.
#* eg. hash (‘hipjoe@example.com’ + salt)
# Display site compares the resulting value with the value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata.
# If values match, badge is verified and displayer displays the badge. If not, displayer should reject the badge.

== Identity ==

* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they collect badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== Verifying Identity in Backpack ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/Onboarding-Issuer

2014-03-31T13:10:32Z

Suesmith: Removing a line pending confirmation.

== Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==
NOTE: For a general introduction to badge issuing with the Mozilla OBI, read on. For more technical documentation, please see our [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md github pages].

=== Background ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills and experiences, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support earners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of these representations by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each earner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give earners control and support of the entire ecosystem;
* Provide software and development tools to help organizations implement badging systems.

==== Description ====

The Open Badges framework is designed to make badging flexible enough to represent the full range of learning and experience in online and offline life. This requires support for multiple, potentially significantly varied, badge issuers. Empowering earners to use their badges as legitimate credentials also requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites.

Earners can share badges across such varied online environments as personal blogs and social networking channels, tying a variety of achievements to a single identity. It is critical for the infrastructure to be open, to give earners control over how they represent their own learning and experiences, to allow anyone to issue badges, and for each earner to be able to carry their badges with them throughout their online life.

The participants in a badging system are characterized using a few broad groups:
* Issuers - they create badges, make them available to earners and award them.
* Earners - they apply for badges and decide where to display them.
* Displayers - they display badges earned by particular earners (this also involves verifying badges).

You will see these roles described throughout the material you read on Open Badges. This page is aimed at providing an overview of badging for ''issuers'', with an introduction to the technical aspects of issuing.

Last but not least, although not involved directly in badging systems, let's not forget this group of people:
* Consumers - they include anyone looking at a badge (or badges) earned
** examples include potential employers, college admin and peers.

=== Tech Specs ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* Badges are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* Identity management is handled by [http://identity.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Persona]

=== Open Badges Ecosystem ===

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

Here's an overview of how badging works:
* An issuer makes a badge available to their community of earners on their website. When awarded the badge, an earner sends it to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] script, presenting the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the badge to their Backpack.
** If the issuer wants the earner to be able to store the badge outside the OBI, they can optionally push it to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the Issuer API.
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address, optionally through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the issuer using a verification check.

''Badge issuing is significantly simplified using BadgeKit, Mozilla's new set of badging tools. The BadgeKit Web app lets issuers create and publish badges through an intuitive interface. An issuer can then present those badges using the BadgeKit API, which also handles reviewing applications - [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]].''

=== Definitions and Concepts ===

'''Badge'''

A digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience. Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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.

'''Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)'''

Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers and displayers. Includes the metadata specification, APIs, verification framework, Backpack and software tools.

'''''ROLES'''''

'''Earner'''

Someone who earns a badge (either by applying or being directly issued with it). The earner can use their Backpack to manage and share their badges.

'''Issuer'''

Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their community. The issuer is responsible for defining badges, making them available to earners and handling applications for them.
* Badge issuing can involve participants with various specific roles, such as application assessors, badge creators and administrators.

'''Displayer'''

A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.

'''''TOOLS'''''

'''Mozilla Backpack'''

The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badge data is stored.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Assertion Specification]'''

Badge metadata is represented as an [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Metadata assertion]. The assertion specification defines the information within a badge. An assertion includes multiple items of data, such as: badge name and description, issuer, date, criteria URL, evidence URL and badge image URL. The assertion should carry all the information needed to process a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]'''

A badge is an image combined with assertion data - badge baking embeds assertion data into an image to produce a portable badge.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]'''

The Issuer API provides a script for issuers to let earners send badges to the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]'''

The Displayer API provides specifications for displaying badges beyond the Backpack.

'''[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Verification Verification]

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges, i.e. checking that a badge is valid and was issued to the person claiming it.

'''[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]'''

A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners while supporting much of the badge admin process through a Web app.

See also the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resource list]

To explore the concepts and terms in badging and badge issuing, check out the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Badging and BadgeKit Glossary]

== Issuing Badges ==

An issuer is an organization or individual who designs and issues badges within the ecosystem. The OBI is open and supports any independent issuer who conforms to the necessary badge and issuing specifications. Additionally, issuers can now benefit from the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] tools, providing they meet specific technical requirements.

=== Background ===
* Issuers determine the badging approach that will work best for their communities.
* Touchpoints with the OBI occur through interfaces, including sending badges to Backpacks and optionally using BadgeKit.
* Issuers do not need to register with the OBI - they simply utilize the JavaScript APIs.

=== Requirements ===
* Issuers must have Web hosting facilities including:
** A server capable of serving requests to the general Internet.
** The ability to make a POST request from their server backend and read a JSON response.
** Email addresses for earners (and the ability to email them).
** Badges structured in the format that the assertion expects - when using BadgeKit this structuring is automated.
** Earners must be registered with the backpack implementation that the issuer is trying to send their badges to. ''In the future, the issuer will need to ask the earner which backpack they want to push badges to and honor that request.''
* For verification:
** For Hosted Assertions - issuers must maintain a server with the Badge Assertion information (at the unique badge URL) to verify each badge.
** For Signed Assertions:
*** Issuers must generate public/private key pair and maintain the hosted public key.
*** Issuers must sign the badges themselves, sign the whole package, and push badges to earner backpacks through the Issuer JavaScript API.
* Issuers looking to use [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]] have a specific range of options and requirements regarding hosting and technical provision - see the following blog post for more information: [http://openbadges.tumblr.com/post/78764181250/announcing-mozilla-badgekit Announcing Mozilla BadgeKit].

=== Badge Creation Flow ===

Issuers need to:
# Have an email address for the earner.
# Create and host an assertion on site.
# Create and host the badge PNG; this is a single PNG for all badges, not a single physical PNG per issued badge.
# Integrate your site with the Backpack via the Issuer API

''The Issuer API is a script that can be dropped into any badge issuer's website to provide a way for earners to add an issuer's badges to their Mozilla Backpack (or federated backpacks). There's no need to bake the badges independently as the API takes care of this.''

'''''The badge creation flow varies significantly for issuers using [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]. Issuer admins can design and define the data for a badge within the BadgeKit Web app, with BadgeKit handling metadata structuring. Issuers can then present available badges to their earners using the BadgeKit API.'''''

=== Open Badges related Widgets created by the community ===

A number of Open Badges widgets and utilities have been developed for integrating badges with various technologies including WordPress, Drupal, Django, Rails, PHP, Java, Moodle, Mahara, Joomla, Blackboard, Google Sites, Canvas, iOS, Android and AJAX.

See [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets the list] on GitHub (which is regularly updated).

=== BadgeKit ===

[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] builds on a range of tools which have been under continual development for some time, through projects such as Chicago Summer of Learning. These tools include [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadger/blob/v2.0/docs/api.md Open Badger] and [https://github.com/mozilla/aestimia Aestimia].

== Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack - that lets them manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== Metadata ==

Badge metadata is defined as an assertion, which contains multiple required and optional fields. The structure has evolved over time - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion specification] for complete details.

Issuers can put a reasonable amount of extra material into a badge, but that material must be static - once the badge is issued, any change to the information must not change. This is to prevent someone from issuing one badge, then sneakily changing it later to another badge unbeknownst to the earner.

== Badge Images and Baking ==

* A baked badge is a JSON blob of metadata embedded in a PNG file.
* This allows the badge to be more easily portable - a collection of information that can be emailed, carrying its details with it.
* Ultimately, this is important for decentralization of the system and will allow earners to have more control over where their badges live.

=== Baking Service ===

* To bake a badge, you must host a badge [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion] on your site.
** The system is designed to:
*** avoid SPAMing the earner with unwanted badges, and
*** give earners ultimate control over where the badges go.
* Mozilla provides the "tools" for unpacking the PNG file through the OBI.
* PNG files will be unpacked in the Backpack where each earner can view, manage, and organize their badges (and see all the metadata behind each badge).
* PNG files are unpacked so that displayers just have the raw data to work with on their end.

''If you are building a new system, we strongly recommend using the JavaScript Issuer API or BadgeKit for awarding badges. The tools and APIs take care of the badge baking.''

=== Badge Image Standards ===

* Image must be a PNG.
* Images should be square and not exceed 256kb. They should have dimensions not smaller that 90 x 90.
* Image is provided as a URL to the image on the issuer server, stored within the metadata.
* Mozilla will cache the image in at least two sizes.
* When a badge is displayed, it will be loaded from the Mozilla cache to avoid extra burden on the issuer servers. This also helps if the issuer is not available or the link is broken.
* When using BadgeKit, issuers can design badges inside the Web app using a graphical tool, or can upload images prepared elsewhere.

== Verification ==

Badge verification involves checking that a badge was issued to the person displaying it, using their email address. Verification affects both issuers and displayers.

* To avoid gaming and duplication, the OBI is built to support badge verification.
* This is essential to allow earners to prove the authenticity and validity of their badges. Badges can also have expiry dates, allowing organizations to issue badges for skills which are only valid for a set period of time.
* The OBI provides the channel for this verification to happen through the Backpack, by communicating with the issuer.
* Verification is typically carried out by displayers, who should not display a badge that cannot be verified.

=== Verification Method ===

The OBI currently supports verification of badges through hosted and signed assertions. The assertion data for a badge contains verification information. For hosted assertions, this includes a URL field representing the assertion hosted on the issuer's server. For signed assertions, it includes a link to the issuer's public key. Displayers can utilize this data to verify badge earners.

The verification process is as follows:

'''''For hosted assertions''''':
# Displayer carries out a GET request on the verification URL from the assertion.
#* If the response is not 200 OK or if the data at the URL is not structurally valid, the badge is treated as invalid.
# Displayer analyses content of data at assertion verification URL, which includes recipient email address.
#* Verification can now be achieved by comparing the salted hash value for the recipient (according to the verification data) to the salted hash for the email of the person claiming the badge.
# The displayer can optionally check further information in the verification data, including an expiry date if there is one.

'''''For signed assertions''''':
# Displayer unpacks JWS object specified in the assertion verification fields.
#* If the data fails to parse as JSON data, verification fails.
# Displayer extracts the verify.url property from the JSON, carries out a GET request on it and stores the public key.
#* If the HTTP status is not 200 OK, verification fails.
# Displayer uses the public key to perform JWS verification on the JWS object - if this fails, the badge is considered invalid.
# Displayer retrieves the revocation list and checks that the badge ID is not included.

For more about assertions and verification, see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Specification].

''Note: for baked badges, verification also involves extracting the assertion URL from the badge image - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-verifier Verifier] for more on this.''

=== Functional Flow ===

# Badge (including assertion) exists in the Backpack.
# User attempts to display badge via a display site widget.
# Display site takes the earner’s email and puts it through a salted hash function.
#* eg. hash (‘hipjoe@example.com’ + salt)
# Display site compares the resulting value with the value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata.
# If values match, badge is verified and displayer displays the badge. If not, displayer should reject the badge.

== Displayers ==

Displayers are key to the value of Open Badges for earners. The OBI is designed to support display of badges acquired in various different types of context, letting earners paint a more detailed, complete picture of their skills and experiences.

* Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner controls where their badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create collections of badges and share with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public; those badges are discoverable by displayers if they have the earner's email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they can query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. The response is a JSON representation of the badges.

== Identity ==

* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they collect badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== Verifying Identity in Backpack ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/FAQs

2014-03-26T16:39:10Z

Suesmith: Updates with new FAQs.

==Badges==

Don't worry if you're unsure what this badging thing is all about - see the questions below for an overview of what badges are and why you might be interested in them!

====What is a badge?====

*A badge is a digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience.
**Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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 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. 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.

====What do badges do?====

*Badges can capture a wide set of skills and achievements.
*They provide concrete evidence and proof of your skills, achievements and qualities.
*Badges create a more complete representation of an individual's learning and experience.
**Earners can group badges into collections for sharing through particular channels.
*Badges unlock new career and learning opportunities, potentially allowing employers and other stakeholders to better match individuals to jobs, courses and projects.

====Why do we need badges?====

In today's world, learning happens anywhere and everywhere. Despite increased opportunities for learning, there’s still an essential piece missing - 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.

====What are the benefits of badges?====

Badges can:

*'''Signal achievement''' - badges signal skills and achievements to peers, potential employers, educational institutions and others.
*'''Recognize informal learning''' - earners can get credit and recognition for learning that happens outside of school, for example in after-school programs, work experience or online.
*'''Transfer learning across spaces and contexts''' - make skills more portable across jobs, learning environments and places.
*'''Capture more specific skills than traditional degrees''' - 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 faster to support and recognize new skills than traditional degree or certificate programs.
*'''Allow greater diversity''' - with specific recognition for "soft skills," social habits, ability to collaborate and so on, badges can measure and recognize skills that are valuable in many contexts but that traditional educational models do not even attempt to quantify.
*'''Motivate participation and learning outcomes''' - 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''' - 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 example, students at a school computer lab might be required to earn a "Digital Safety" badge before being allowed to surf the web.
*'''Enhance identity and reputation''' - badges raise the earner's profile with the learning community and peers, giving the individual control over their online identity. The portable nature of badges also allows the earner to aggregate identities across communities.
*'''Build community and social capital''' - 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 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, dated as they occur along the way using issue dates. 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''' - a host of new literacies are critical to success in today's digital world (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''' - badges give a more detailed, granular skills and learning history, creating a more representative overview for potential employers, schools, peer groups and others.
*'''Provide branding opportunities for institutions, organizations and learning communities''' - badges can be displayed in many locations throughout the Web. Increasing awareness of your institution, organization and learning community, 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 utilize badging in whatever way suits their own community of badge earners.

====What kinds of skills and accomplishments can badges represent?====

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.

====How different are badges from the information we provide in our résumés and CVs?====

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 21st century skills may be better represented by badges than other formats?====

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.

Notable uses of badges include digital literacy skills are demonstrated, for example with [https://webmaker.org/ '''Mozilla webmaker'''], where badges are automatically issued - see also [https://p2pu.org/en/ '''P2PU'''], a peer assessment 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 badge is more than just a static image - its value comes from the information or "metadata" attached to it.
*This supporting data contained within the badge reduces the risk of abusing the system (e.g., illegitimately copying badges and putting 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/Onboarding-Issuer#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==

A badging system involves a number of key participants:
*Earners
*Issuers
**''Issuing can involve a number of additional roles, including assessors, mentors, learning designers and so on''.
*Displayers
*Consumers
**''The consumer is anyone viewing a badge, for example an employer or college admin''.

====Who can issue badges?====

Badges can be created, defined and issued by a number of sources, including: 

*'''Traditional educational institutions''' (e.g. Cornell University, The University of California or Colby College)
*'''Professional bodies''' (e.g. doctors, engineers, accountants)
*'''International credential assessment agencies'''
*'''Non formal, community learning organizations''' (e.g. Adult Basic Education, Literacy, Employability)
*'''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'''
*'''Government agencies and other public sector bodies''' (e.g. NASA, libraries, museums)
*'''Employers'''

====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 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.

====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:

*'''"Smaller" ''' badges can be used for motivation and feedback, tied to smaller behaviors or achievements. (Like those you may have seen on online forums).
*'''"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.
*'''Intermediate and expert level''' badges can provide the pathways and milestones to guide learners through to mastery.
*Lower level badges may be required as '''pre-requisites''' to unlock higher level badges, much as we have seen in various gaming environments.
*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.
*'''"Stealth assessment" ''' approach can involve particular actions or accomplishments suddenly unlocking higher levels, making learners more aware of their progress and motivating engagement.
*Multiple badges can be aggregated into higher-level '''"meta badges" ''' that represent more complex literacies or competencies.
**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.
*'''Life-long learner badges''' that show a continuous growth and mastery within a subject domain where new levels are added via length of commitment, increasing competency or life-time achievement.

====What kind of badge system designs exist? Where do we start when designing badge systems?====

Badge systems have already been designed and implemented by a host of organizations as you can see from the list of [http://openbadges.org/participating-issuers/ participating issuers]. To find out more about implementing badging systems, get involved with the [http://community.openbadges.org/ Open Badges Community].

In March 2014 Mozilla announced [https://wiki.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.

====What are the key components of a successful badge system?====

The key elements of an Open Badge system for connected learning are:

#Badges
#*images and metadata assertions
#Assessment
#*the ability for reviewers to assess badge applications and make issuing decisions
#Collecting and Sharing tools
#Criteria & Evidence
#*links to these can be built into the metadata for a badge.

====Who are the competitors to the open badges infrastructure?====

Open Badges does not see other badge issuing sites as competitors but as potential partners. The goal is an Open Badges specification that all badge issuers can share.

==Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)==

The Open Badge Infrastructure is key element in the adoption and success of badging systems. Read on to see why.

====What is the Open Badge Infrastructure?====

The Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure is the core underlying technical scaffolding for the badge ecosystem. The OBI supports a multitude of issuers conferring badges into the ecosystem, as well as many displayers and earners using badges to share their competencies and achievements. Anyone can earn badges across many issuers, collect them in one place tied to their identity, 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, as well as specifications required to push badges in (issuing) or pull them out (displaying).

====What does the Open Badge Infrastructure do?====

The badge infrastructure:

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

====Why is the Open Badge Infrastructure a necessary part of this work?====

The success of badges as an alternative path to accreditation and credentialing for learners relies on a significant “ecosystem” of badge issuers, badge seekers, and badge displayers. The Mozilla Foundation, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, is building an Open Badge Infrastructure to enable the interoperability and collection of badges. The infrastructure will support badges from any issuer across the Internet. It will allow learners to collect, carry, and display their badges across websites and experiences and from youth through adulthood.

Each digital badge, or collection of badges, can inspire learning and translate “anytime, anyplace, any age” learning into a powerful tool for getting jobs, finding communities of interest, and demonstrating skills, competencies and achievements. For more on the Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure, please see [http://openbadges.org OpenBadges.org].

====I am non-technical - how do I use Open 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 these projects on the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets Open Badges GitHub repo].

====What are the minimum requirements for issuing a badge?====

To issue a badge, at a minimum you need to create a JSON message and pass it to the OBI [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md Issuer API]. See the following resources:
# http://billymeinke.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/open-badges-want-to-make-your-own-badges-by-hand-heres-how/
# http://criticaltechnology.blogspot.com/2012/06/open-badges-for-wikiversity-course.html

Organizations can also benefit from [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] to automate and many various aspects of the badge issuing process.

====I'd like to use the OBI in a non-educational environment such as gaming. How do I code against the OBI?====

The Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI) has been built to work against any system wanting to issue badges. This includes non-educational environments like gaming. To work with the OBI check out the technical documentation and sample code available within the Open Badges [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges GitHub repos].

====What is the Badge Backpack?====

The Badge Backpack is Mozilla's core repository for storing digital badge data. Each earner can have his/her own Badge Backpack, accessible only to him/her, where s/he can view 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.

====What is the difference between a displayer site and my backpack?====

A displayer site pulls a JSON message from the badge earner's backpack to display their badges via the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]. This 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 available for display.

====Will there be costs associated with earning badges?====

There are no costs associated with collecting badges within the Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) or sharing them through the API (Application Programming Interface) and communication channels. That said, the OBI is the infrastructure in the middle – issuers and displayers are free to innovate and design experiences on their own, independent of the infrastructure. So some issuers may charge for certain assessments or badges, and on the other end, some displayers may have a fee for pulling badges into a particular network or profile.

====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 can call back to the issuer and confirm that the issuer in fact issued this badge to this user (and that 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.

====Will badges expire? Or will that depend on the individual badge?====

It will depend on the individual badge. Issuers can set expiration dates with each badge that they issue and that information will be carried with the badge. Issuers might choose to do so for skills that need to be refreshed or are quickly outdated. Through the Open Badge Infrastructure, when someone tries to use or share a badge that has expired, the OBI will convey that the badge is expired.

====Where do I access the OBI?====

The goal is to support lifelong learning through lifelong access to badges. Mozilla hosts the reference implementations of the Badge Backpacks, but develops 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/ wider ecosystem.

====How can learners manage their badges for different uses and audiences?====

*Badge value increases as learners gain control over how badges are displayed for different audiences and contexts.
*Learners can create groups of badges through the Backpack and control which 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.

====Can I see the tech behind all of this?====

Absolutely.
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Technology '''Documentation''']
*[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges '''Source Code''']

====What tools and resources are there to help me work with badges?====

Mozilla has developed 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.

==Working Badge Systems==

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.

====How does assessment work?====

When an earner sees a badge they wish to acquire, they can typically apply for it through the issuers website. Depending on the badge, the earner may be required to submit evidence together with their application. Issuer admin staff can then review the badge application against criteria defined for the badge, deciding whether to award (issue) the badge or not. The reviewer can optionally forward feedback to the earner regarding their application.

*For badges to hold real value and carry the weight of more traditional grades or degrees, assessment and quality is critical.
*Badges can contain multiple levels of assessment, depending on the use case, community or intended audience.
**some require distinct pre-defined assessment exercises and success criteria
**others may be loosely defined and require earner reflection or peer recommendations.
*Hard skills can require standard or more rigid rubrics to compare learner work against.
*Softer skills can be more fluid and require more open and social assessments like peer reviews or endorsements.
*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 sufficient.
*Badges 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.

====How can badges provide greater flexibility and innovation in assessment?====

Badges can help:

*drive innovation around new types of assessments
*provide more personalized assessments for learners
*move beyond out of date or irrelevant testing practices.

''For example:''
*'''Asynchronous assessment''' - 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 and awarding badges can happen automatically and provide immediate feedback. This can create reinforcement of learning in less formal environments.
*'''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==

The following questions are relevant for anyone getting involved in the badging ecosystem, both in terms of creating individual badges and as ongoing considerations.

'''The right badges'''

*What skills should be assessed? Who decides?
*Are some skills better left unassessed?
*What do we want to encourage? How do we avoid encouraging the "wrong" behavior?

'''External influences'''

*How much influence should outside stakeholders, such as employers, have on badges?
*Should they be able to design assessments and badges that are relevant to them?
*How do we allow them to have a say without creating imbalances in the system, or constraining learning?

'''Granularity'''

*What's the right level of granularity for individual badges?
*Should badges aggregate into larger or higher level badges?

'''Badge lifetime and evolution'''

*Should badges expire?
*What's the best way to deal with skills that need to be refreshed or renewed?
*How can the badge system grow with learners?

'''Motivation'''

*How does introducing badges affect learners' motivations?
*If learners were already intrinsically motivated, how do we avoid "crowding out" those motivations with an extrinsic badge system?

'''Gaming and Validity'''

*For any system with value, some people will inevitably try to cheat or "game" the system.
*How will people game the system? How much will they do so?
*How do we discourage gaming and recognize when it happens?

'''Formal learning'''

*How do badges translate to more traditional learning environments?
*What's required to make traditional schools and institutions value and recognize badges?
*Can we meet those requirements without requiring more 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].

Badges/FAQs

2014-03-25T18:17:01Z

Suesmith: General updating - ongoing.

==Badges==

Don't worry if you're unsure what this badging thing is all about - see the questions below for an overview of what badges are and why you might be interested in them!

====What is a badge?====

*A badge is a digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience.
**Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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 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. 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.

====What do badges do?====

*Badges can capture a wide set of skills and achievements.
*They provide concrete evidence and proof of your skills, achievements and qualities.
*Badges create a more complete representation of an individual's learning and experience.
**Earners can group badges into collections for sharing through particular channels.
*Badges unlock new career and learning opportunities, potentially allowing employers and other stakeholders to better match individuals to jobs, courses and projects.

====Why do we need badges?====

In today's world, learning happens anywhere and everywhere. Despite increased opportunities for learning, there’s still an essential piece missing - 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.

====What are the benefits of badges?====

Badges can:

*'''Signal achievement''' - badges signal skills and achievements to peers, potential employers, educational institutions and others.
*'''Recognize informal learning''' - earners can get credit and recognition for learning that happens outside of school, for example in after-school programs, work experience or online.
*'''Transfer learning across spaces and contexts''' - make skills more portable across jobs, learning environments and places.
*'''Capture more specific skills than traditional degrees''' - 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 faster to support and recognize new skills than traditional degree or certificate programs.
*'''Allow greater diversity''' - with specific recognition for "soft skills," social habits, ability to collaborate and so on, badges can measure and recognize skills that are valuable in many contexts but that traditional educational models do not even attempt to quantify.
*'''Motivate participation and learning outcomes''' - 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''' - 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 example, students at a school computer lab might be required to earn a "Digital Safety" badge before being allowed to surf the web.
*'''Enhance identity and reputation''' - badges raise the earner's profile with the learning community and peers, giving the individual control over their online identity. The portable nature of badges also allows the earner to aggregate identities across communities.
*'''Build community and social capital''' - 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 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, dated as they occur along the way using issue dates. 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''' - a host of new literacies are critical to success in today's digital world (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''' - badges give a more detailed, granular skills and learning history, creating a more representative overview for potential employers, schools, peer groups and others.
*'''Provide branding opportunities for institutions, organizations and learning communities''' - badges can be displayed in many locations throughout the Web. Increasing awareness of your institution, organization and learning community, 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 utilize badging in whatever way suits their own community of badge earners.

====What kinds of skills and accomplishments can badges represent?====

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.

====How different are badges from the information we provide in our résumés and CVs?====

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 21st century skills may be better represented by badges than other formats?====

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.

Notable uses of badges include digital literacy skills are demonstrated, for example with [https://webmaker.org/ '''Mozilla webmaker'''], where badges are automatically issued - see also [https://p2pu.org/en/ '''P2PU'''], a peer assessment 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 badge is more than just a static image - its value comes from the information or "metadata" attached to it.
*This supporting data contained within the badge reduces the risk of abusing the system (e.g., illegitimately copying badges and putting 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/Onboarding-Issuer#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==

A badging system involves a number of key participants:
*Earners
*Issuers
**''Issuing can involve a number of additional roles, including assessors, mentors, learning designers and so on''.
*Displayers
*Consumers
**''The consumer is anyone viewing a badge, for example an employer or college admin''.

====Who can issue badges?====

Badges can be created, defined and issued by a number of sources, including: 

*'''Traditional educational institutions''' (e.g. Cornell University, The University of California or Colby College)
*'''Professional bodies''' (e.g. doctors, engineers, accountants)
*'''International credential assessment agencies'''
*'''Non formal, community learning organizations''' (e.g. Adult Basic Education, Literacy, Employability)
*'''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'''
*'''Government agencies and other public sector bodies''' (e.g. NASA, libraries, museums)
*'''Employers'''

====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 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.

====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:

*'''"Smaller" ''' badges can be used for motivation and feedback, tied to smaller behaviors or achievements. (Like those you may have seen on online forums).
*'''"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.
*'''Intermediate and expert level''' badges can provide the pathways and milestones to guide learners through to mastery.
*Lower level badges may be required as '''pre-requisites''' to unlock higher level badges, much as we have seen in various gaming environments.
*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.
*'''"Stealth assessment" ''' approach can involve particular actions or accomplishments suddenly unlocking higher levels, making learners more aware of their progress and motivating engagement.
*Multiple badges can be aggregated into higher-level '''"meta badges" ''' that represent more complex literacies or competencies.
**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.
*'''Life-long learner badges''' that show a continuous growth and mastery within a subject domain where new levels are added via length of commitment, increasing competency or life-time achievement.

====What kind of badge system designs exist? Where do we start when designing badge systems?====

Badge systems have already been designed and implemented by a host of organizations as you can see from the list of [http://openbadges.org/participating-issuers/ participating issuers]. To find out more about implementing badging systems, get involved with the [http://community.openbadges.org/ Open Badges Community].

In March 2014 Mozilla announced [https://wiki.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.

====What are the key components of a successful badge system?====

The key elements of an Open Badge system for connected learning are:

#Badges
#*images and metadata assertions
#Assessment
#*the ability for reviewers to assess badge applications and make issuing decisions
#Collecting and Sharing tools
#Criteria & Evidence
#*links to these can be built into the metadata for a badge.

====Who are the competitors to the open badges infrastructure?====

Open Badges does not see other badge issuing sites as competitors but as potential partners. The goal is an Open Badges specification that all badge issuers can share.

==Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)==

The Open Badge Infrastructure is key element in the adoption and success of badging systems. Read on to see why.

====What is the Open Badge Infrastructure?====

The Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure is the core underlying technical scaffolding for the badge ecosystem. The OBI supports a multitude of issuers conferring badges into the ecosystem, as well as many displayers and earners using badges to share their competencies and achievements. Anyone can earn badges across many issuers, collect them in one place tied to their identity, 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, as well as specifications required to push badges in (issuing) or pull them out (displaying).

====What does the Open Badge Infrastructure do?====

The badge infrastructure:

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

====Why is the Open Badge Infrastructure a necessary part of this work?====

The success of badges as an alternative path to accreditation and credentialing for learners relies on a significant “ecosystem” of badge issuers, badge seekers, and badge displayers. The Mozilla Foundation, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, is building an Open Badge Infrastructure to enable the interoperability and collection of badges. The infrastructure will support badges from any issuer across the Internet. It will allow learners to collect, carry, and display their badges across websites and experiences and from youth through adulthood.

Each digital badge, or collection of badges, can inspire learning and translate “anytime, anyplace, any age” learning into a powerful tool for getting jobs, finding communities of interest, and demonstrating skills, competencies and achievements. For more on the Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure, please see [http://openbadges.org OpenBadges.org].

====I am non-technical - how do I use Open 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 these projects on the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets Open Badges GitHub repo].

====What are the minimum requirements for issuing a badge?====

To issue a badge, at a minimum you need to create a JSON message and pass it to the OBI [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md Issuer API]. See the following resources:
# http://billymeinke.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/open-badges-want-to-make-your-own-badges-by-hand-heres-how/
# http://criticaltechnology.blogspot.com/2012/06/open-badges-for-wikiversity-course.html

Organizations can also benefit from [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] to automate and many various aspects of the badge issuing process.

====I'd like to use the OBI in a non-educational environment such as gaming. How do I code against the OBI?====

The Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI) has been built to work against any system wanting to issue badges. This includes non-educational environments like gaming. To work with the OBI check out the technical documentation and sample code available within the Open Badges [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges GitHub repos].

====What is the Badge Backpack?====

The Badge Backpack is Mozilla's core repository for storing digital badge data. Each earner can have his/her own Badge Backpack, accessible only to him/her, where s/he can view 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.

====What is the difference between a displayer site and my backpack?====

A displayer site pulls a JSON message from the badge earner's backpack to display their badges via the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]. This 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 available for display.

====Will there be costs associated with earning badges?====

There are no costs associated with collecting badges within the Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) or sharing them through the API (Application Programming Interface) and communication channels. That said, the OBI is the infrastructure in the middle – issuers and displayers are free to innovate and design experiences on their own, independent of the infrastructure. So some issuers may charge for certain assessments or badges, and on the other end, some displayers may have a fee for pulling badges into a particular network or profile.

====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 can call back to the issuer and confirm that the issuer in fact issued this badge to this user (and that 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.

====Will badges expire? Or will that depend on the individual badge?====

It will depend on the individual badge. Issuers can set expiration dates with each badge that they issue and that information will be carried with the badge. Issuers might choose to do so for skills that need to be refreshed or are quickly outdated. Through the Open Badge Infrastructure, when someone tries to use or share a badge that has expired, the OBI will convey that the badge is expired.

====Where do I access the OBI?====

The goal is to support lifelong learning through lifelong access to badges. Mozilla hosts the reference implementations of the Badge Backpacks, but develops 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/ wider ecosystem.

====How can learners manage their badges for different uses and audiences?====

*Badge value increases as learners gain control over how badges are displayed for different audiences and contexts.
*Learners can create groups of badges through the Backpack and control which 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.

====Can I see the tech behind all of this?====

Absolutely.
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Technology '''Documentation''']
*[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges '''Source Code''']

====What tools and resources are there to help me work with badges?====

Mozilla has developed 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.

==Working Badge Systems==

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.

====How does assessment work?====

When an earner sees a badge they wish to acquire, they can typically apply for it through the issuers website. Depending on the badge, the earner may be required to submit evidence together with their application. Issuer admin staff can then review the badge application against criteria defined for the badge, deciding whether to award (issue) the badge or not. The reviewer can optionally forward feedback to the earner regarding their application.

*For badges to hold real value and carry the weight of more traditional grades or degrees, assessment and quality is critical.
*Badges can contain multiple levels of assessment, depending on the use case, community or intended audience.
**some require distinct pre-defined assessment exercises and success criteria
**others may be loosely defined and require earner reflection or peer recommendations.
*Hard skills can require standard or more rigid rubrics to compare learner work against.
*Softer skills can be more fluid and require more open and social assessments like peer reviews or endorsements.
*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 sufficient.
*Badges 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.

====How can badges provide greater flexibility and innovation in assessment?====

Badges can help:

*drive innovation around new types of assessments
*provide more personalized assessments for learners
*move beyond out of date or irrelevant testing practices.

''For example:''
*'''Asynchronous assessment''' - 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 and awarding badges can happen automatically and provide immediate feedback. This can create reinforcement of learning in less formal environments.
*'''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.

==Ongoing questions under consideration==

The following questions are relevant for anyone getting involved in the badging ecosystem, both in terms of creating individual badges and as ongoing considerations.

'''The right badges'''

*What skills should be assessed? Who decides?
*Are some skills better left unassessed?
*What do we want to encourage? How do we avoid encouraging the "wrong" behavior?

'''External influences'''

*How much influence should outside stakeholders, such as employers, have on badges?
*Should they be able to design assessments and badges that are relevant to them?
*How do we allow them to have a say without creating imbalances in the system, or constraining learning?

'''Granularity'''

*What's the right level of granularity for individual badges?
*Should badges aggregate into larger or higher level badges?

'''Badge lifetime and evolution'''

*Should badges expire?
*What's the best way to deal with skills that need to be refreshed or renewed?
*How can the badge system grow with learners?

'''Motivation'''

*How does introducing badges affect learners' motivations?
*If learners were already intrinsically motivated, how do we avoid "crowding out" those motivations with an extrinsic badge system?

'''Gaming and Validity'''

*For any system with value, some people will inevitably try to cheat or "game" the system.
*How will people game the system? How much will they do so?
*How do we discourage gaming and recognize when it happens?

'''Formal learning'''

*How do badges translate to more traditional learning environments?
*What's required to make traditional schools and institutions value and recognize badges?
*Can we meet those requirements without requiring more 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].

Badges/Onboarding-Issuer

2014-03-24T19:21:25Z

Suesmith: Adding link to Displayer API.

== Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==
NOTE: For a general introduction to badge issuing with the Mozilla OBI, read on. For more technical documentation, please see our [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md github pages].

=== Background ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills and experiences, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support earners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of these representations by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each earner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give earners control and support of the entire ecosystem;
* Provide software and development tools to help organizations implement badging systems.

==== Description ====

The Open Badges framework is designed to make badging flexible enough to represent the full range of learning and experience in online and offline life. This requires support for multiple, potentially significantly varied, badge issuers. Empowering earners to use their badges as legitimate credentials also requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites.

Earners can share badges across such varied online environments as personal blogs and social networking channels, tying a variety of achievements to a single identity. It is critical for the infrastructure to be open, to give earners control over how they represent their own learning and experiences, to allow anyone to issue badges, and for each earner to be able to carry their badges with them throughout their online life.

The participants in a badging system are characterized using a few broad groups:
* Issuers - they create badges, make them available to earners and award them.
* Earners - they apply for badges and decide where to display them.
* Displayers - they display badges earned by particular earners (this also involves verifying badges).

You will see these roles described throughout the material you read on Open Badges. This page is aimed at providing an overview of badging for ''issuers'', with an introduction to the technical aspects of issuing.

Last but not least, although not involved directly in badging systems, let's not forget this group of people:
* Consumers - they include anyone looking at a badge (or badges) earned
** examples include potential employers, college admin and peers.

=== Tech Specs ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* Badges are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* Identity management is handled by [http://identity.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Persona]

=== Open Badges Ecosystem ===

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

Here's an overview of how badging works:
* An issuer makes a badge available to their community of earners on their website. When awarded the badge, an earner sends it to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] script, presenting the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the badge to their Backpack.
** If the issuer wants the earner to be able to store the badge outside the OBI, they can optionally push it to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the Issuer API.
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address, optionally through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the issuer using a verification check.

''Badge issuing is significantly simplified using BadgeKit, Mozilla's new set of badging tools. The BadgeKit Web app lets issuers create and publish badges through an intuitive interface. An issuer can then present those badges using the BadgeKit API, which also handles reviewing applications - [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]].''

=== Definitions and Concepts ===

'''Badge'''

A digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience. Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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.

'''Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)'''

Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers and displayers. Includes the metadata specification, APIs, verification framework, Backpack and software tools.

'''''ROLES'''''

'''Earner'''

Someone who earns a badge (either by applying or being directly issued with it). The earner can use their Backpack to manage and share their badges.

'''Issuer'''

Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their community. The issuer is responsible for defining badges, making them available to earners and handling applications for them.
* Badge issuing can involve participants with various specific roles, such as application assessors, badge creators and administrators.

'''Displayer'''

A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.

'''''TOOLS'''''

'''Mozilla Backpack'''

The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badge data is stored.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Assertion Specification]'''

Badge metadata is represented as an [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Metadata assertion]. The assertion specification defines the information within a badge. An assertion includes multiple items of data, such as: badge name and description, issuer, date, criteria URL, evidence URL and badge image URL. The assertion should carry all the information needed to process a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]'''

A badge is an image combined with assertion data - badge baking embeds assertion data into an image to produce a portable badge.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]'''

The Issuer API provides a script for issuers to let earners send badges to the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]'''

The Displayer API provides specifications for displaying badges beyond the Backpack.

'''[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Verification Verification]

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges, i.e. checking that a badge is valid and was issued to the person claiming it.

'''[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]'''

A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners while supporting much of the badge admin process through a Web app.

See also the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resource list]

To explore the concepts and terms in badging and badge issuing, check out the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Badging and BadgeKit Glossary]

== Issuing Badges ==

An issuer is an organization or individual who designs and issues badges within the ecosystem. The OBI is open and supports any independent issuer who conforms to the necessary badge and issuing specifications. Additionally, issuers can now benefit from the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] tools, providing they meet specific technical requirements.

=== Background ===
* Issuers determine the badging approach that will work best for their communities.
* Touchpoints with the OBI occur through interfaces, including sending badges to Backpacks and optionally using BadgeKit.
* Issuers do not need to register with the OBI - they simply utilize the JavaScript APIs.

=== Requirements ===
* Issuers must have Web hosting facilities including:
** A server capable of serving requests to the general Internet.
** The ability to make a POST request from their server backend and read a JSON response.
** Email addresses for earners (and the ability to email them).
** Badges structured in the format that the assertion expects - when using BadgeKit this structuring is automated.
** Earners must be registered with the backpack implementation that the issuer is trying to send their badges to. ''In the future, the issuer will need to ask the earner which backpack they want to push badges to and honor that request.''
* For verification:
** For Hosted Assertions - issuers must maintain a server with the Badge Assertion information (at the unique badge URL) to verify each badge.
** For Signed Assertions:
*** Issuers must generate public/private key pair and maintain the hosted public key.
*** Issuers must sign the badges themselves, sign the whole package, and push badges to earner backpacks through the Issuer JavaScript API.
* Issuers looking to use [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]] have a specific range of options and requirements regarding hosting and technical provision - see the following blog post for more information: [http://openbadges.tumblr.com/post/78764181250/announcing-mozilla-badgekit Announcing Mozilla BadgeKit].

=== Badge Creation Flow ===

Issuers need to:
# Have an email address for the earner.
# Create and host an assertion on site.
# Create and host the badge PNG; this is a single PNG for all badges, not a single physical PNG per issued badge.
# Integrate your site with the Backpack via the Issuer API

''The Issuer API is a script that can be dropped into any badge issuer's website to provide a way for earners to add an issuer's badges to their Mozilla Backpack (or federated backpacks). There's no need to bake the badges independently as the API takes care of this.''

'''''The badge creation flow varies significantly for issuers using [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]. Issuer admins can design and define the data for a badge within the BadgeKit Web app, with BadgeKit handling metadata structuring. Issuers can then present available badges to their earners using the BadgeKit API.'''''

=== Open Badges related Widgets created by the community ===

A number of Open Badges widgets and utilities have been developed for integrating badges with various technologies including WordPress, Drupal, Django, Rails, PHP, Java, Moodle, Mahara, Joomla, Blackboard, Google Sites, Canvas, iOS, Android and AJAX.

See [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets the list] on GitHub (which is regularly updated).

=== BadgeKit ===

[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] builds on a range of tools which have been under continual development for some time, through projects such as Chicago Summer of Learning. These tools include [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadger/blob/v2.0/docs/api.md Open Badger] and [https://github.com/mozilla/aestimia Aestimia].

== Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack - that lets them manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== Metadata ==

Badge metadata is defined as an assertion, which contains multiple required and optional fields. The structure has evolved over time - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion specification] for complete details.

Issuers can put a reasonable amount of extra material into a badge, but that material must be static - once the badge is issued, any change to the information must not change. This is to prevent someone from issuing one badge, then sneakily changing it later to another badge unbeknownst to the earner.

== Badge Images and Baking ==

* A baked badge is a JSON blob of metadata embedded in a PNG file.
* This allows the badge to be more easily portable - a collection of information that can be emailed, carrying its details with it.
* Ultimately, this is important for decentralization of the system and will allow earners to have more control over where their badges live.

=== Baking Service ===

* To bake a badge, you must host a badge [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion] on your site.
** The system is designed to:
*** avoid SPAMing the earner with unwanted badges, and
*** give earners ultimate control over where the badges go.
* Mozilla provides the "tools" for unpacking the PNG file through the OBI.
* PNG files will be unpacked in the Backpack where each earner can view, manage, and organize their badges (and see all the metadata behind each badge).
* PNG files are unpacked so that displayers just have the raw data to work with on their end.

''If you are building a new system, we strongly recommend using the JavaScript Issuer API or BadgeKit for awarding badges. The tools and APIs take care of the badge baking.''

=== Badge Image Standards ===

* Image must be a PNG.
* Images should be square and not exceed 256kb. They should have dimensions not smaller that 90 x 90.
* Image is provided as a URL to the image on the issuer server, stored within the metadata.
* Mozilla will cache the image in at least two sizes.
* When a badge is displayed, it will be loaded from the Mozilla cache to avoid extra burden on the issuer servers. This also helps if the issuer is not available or the link is broken.
* When using BadgeKit, issuers can design badges inside the Web app using a graphical tool, or can upload images prepared elsewhere.

== Verification ==

Badge verification involves checking that a badge was issued to the person displaying it, using their email address. Verification affects both issuers and displayers.

* To avoid gaming and duplication, the OBI is built to support badge verification.
* This is essential to allow earners to prove the authenticity and validity of their badges. Badges can also have expiry dates, allowing organizations to issue badges for skills which are only valid for a set period of time.
* The OBI provides the channel for this verification to happen through the Backpack, by communicating with the issuer.
* The issuer must be online to verify badges. (We are exploring a cache to cover verification for a set amount of time).
* Verification is typically carried out by displayers, who should not display a badge that cannot be verified.

=== Verification Method ===

The OBI currently supports verification of badges through hosted and signed assertions. The assertion data for a badge contains verification information. For hosted assertions, this includes a URL field representing the assertion hosted on the issuer's server. For signed assertions, it includes a link to the issuer's public key. Displayers can utilize this data to verify badge earners.

The verification process is as follows:

'''''For hosted assertions''''':
# Displayer carries out a GET request on the verification URL from the assertion.
#* If the response is not 200 OK or if the data at the URL is not structurally valid, the badge is treated as invalid.
# Displayer analyses content of data at assertion verification URL, which includes recipient email address.
#* Verification can now be achieved by comparing the salted hash value for the recipient (according to the verification data) to the salted hash for the email of the person claiming the badge.
# The displayer can optionally check further information in the verification data, including an expiry date if there is one.

'''''For signed assertions''''':
# Displayer unpacks JWS object specified in the assertion verification fields.
#* If the data fails to parse as JSON data, verification fails.
# Displayer extracts the verify.url property from the JSON, carries out a GET request on it and stores the public key.
#* If the HTTP status is not 200 OK, verification fails.
# Displayer uses the public key to perform JWS verification on the JWS object - if this fails, the badge is considered invalid.
# Displayer retrieves the revocation list and checks that the badge ID is not included.

For more about assertions and verification, see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Specification].

''Note: for baked badges, verification also involves extracting the assertion URL from the badge image - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-verifier Verifier] for more on this.''

=== Functional Flow ===

# Badge (including assertion) exists in the Backpack.
# User attempts to display badge via a display site widget.
# Display site takes the earner’s email and puts it through a salted hash function.
#* eg. hash (‘hipjoe@example.com’ + salt)
# Display site compares the resulting value with the value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata.
# If values match, badge is verified and displayer displays the badge. If not, displayer should reject the badge.

== Displayers ==

Displayers are key to the value of Open Badges for earners. The OBI is designed to support display of badges acquired in various different types of context, letting earners paint a more detailed, complete picture of their skills and experiences.

* Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner controls where their badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create collections of badges and share with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public; those badges are discoverable by displayers if they have the earner's email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they can query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. The response is a JSON representation of the badges.

== Identity ==

* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they collect badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== Verifying Identity in Backpack ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/Onboarding-Earner

2014-03-24T19:21:14Z

Suesmith: General updating/ restructuring - in progress.

== Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==

=== Background ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills and experiences, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support earners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of these representations by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each earner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give earners control and support of the entire ecosystem;
* Provide software and development tools to help organizations implement badging systems.

==== Description ====

The Open Badges framework is designed to make badging flexible enough to represent the full range of learning and experience in online and offline life. This requires support for multiple, potentially significantly varied, badge issuers. Empowering earners to use their badges as legitimate credentials also requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites.

Earners can share badges across such varied online environments as personal blogs and social networking channels, tying a variety of achievements to a single identity. It is critical for the infrastructure to be open, to give earners control over how they represent their own learning and experiences, to allow anyone to issue badges, and for each earner to be able to carry their badges with them throughout their online life.

The participants in a badging system are characterized using a few broad groups:
* Issuers - they create badges, make them available to earners and award them.
* Earners - they apply for badges and decide where to display them.
* Displayers - they display badges earned by particular earners (this also involves verifying badges).

You will see these roles described throughout the material you read on Open Badges. This page is aimed at providing an overview of badging for ''earners'', with an introduction to the technical aspects of earning.

Last but not least, although not involved directly in badging systems, let's not forget this group of people:
* Consumers - they include anyone looking at a badge (or badges) earned
** examples include potential employers, college admin and peers.

=== Tech Specs ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* Badges are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* Identity management is handled by [http://identity.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Persona]

=== Open Badges Ecosystem ===

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

Here's an overview of how badging works:
* An issuer makes a badge available to their community of earners on their website. When awarded the badge, an earner sends it to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] script, presenting the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the badge to their Backpack.
** If the issuer wants the earner to be able to store the badge outside the OBI, they can optionally push it to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the Issuer API.
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address, optionally through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the issuer using a verification check.

=== Definitions and Concepts ===

'''Badge'''

A digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience. Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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.

'''Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)'''

Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers and displayers. Includes the metadata specification, APIs, verification framework, Backpack and software tools.

'''''ROLES'''''

'''Earner'''

Someone who earns a badge (either by applying or being directly issued with it). The earner can use their Backpack to manage and share their badges.

'''Issuer'''

Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their community. The issuer is responsible for defining badges, making them available to earners and handling applications for them.
* Badge issuing can involve participants with various specific roles, such as application assessors, badge creators and administrators.

'''Displayer'''

A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.

'''''TOOLS'''''

'''Mozilla Backpack'''

The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badge data is stored.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Assertion Specification]'''

Badge metadata is represented as an [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Metadata assertion]. The assertion specification defines the information within a badge. An assertion includes multiple items of data, such as: badge name and description, issuer, date, criteria URL, evidence URL and badge image URL. The assertion should carry all the information needed to process a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]'''

A badge is an image combined with assertion data - badge baking embeds assertion data into an image to produce a portable badge.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]'''

The Issuer API provides a script for issuers to let earners send badges to the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]'''

The Displayer API provides specifications for displaying badges beyond the Backpack.

'''[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Verification Verification]

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges, i.e. checking that a badge is valid and was issued to the person claiming it.

'''[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]'''

A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners while supporting much of the badge admin process through a Web app.

See also the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resource list]

To explore the concepts and terms in badging and badge issuing, check out the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Badging and BadgeKit Glossary]

== Earned Badges ==

To the badge earner, a badge is the core currency of exchange - a single credential demonstrating a skill, achievement, quality or affiliation. Badges are represented digitally as [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Earner#Metadata assertions]. Technically a badge is a PNG image associated with a set of JSON data, which is sometimes embedded into the image file. Organizations displaying badges can verify them, so that consumers know the earner did earn the badge they are claiming.

When an earner earns badges, they have the option of displaying those badges in a backpack. This lets earners present a detailed picture of the learning and experiences they have formalized through open badges. The earner has full control over whether and where their badges are displayed.

== Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack - that lets them manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== D. Badge Earners ==

=== Why push badges into the OBI ===

Using OBI badges offers a range of benefits to the badge earner:
* Openness - a shared framework breaks badges out of a single silo/ separate silos.
* Earners can earn and share badges from multiple issuers.
* Earners can manage badges as a comprehensive portfolio/ living transcript that the earner controls.
* Earners can display badges across multiple sites (without being tied exclusively to those sites).
* Badges are inherently discoverable - they allow employers (or other stakeholders) to find earners based on their public badges and email address.

=== Functional Flow - First Time Earner ===

''As an earner, you can choose to display your badges using the Mozilla Backpack or another displayer - the process below demonstrates what happens when the earner uses the Mozilla Backpack.''

# You earn a badge from an issuer.
# You are prompted to push your new badge to the Mozilla backpack or another backpack.
# You choose to push to the Mozilla backpack.
# In the first instance the system displays a pop-up informing you that in order to collect the badge, you must create a badge Backpack.
# The system sends you to the Backpack.
# You start the Backpack creation process by entering the email address you want to associate with the Backpack.
# The system displays a modal pop-up informing you about Mozilla’s use of your email and the use of Mozilla’s Persona product.
# If you have not already set up a Persona account, you can do so at this point
#* SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link to click) to verify and tie the email address to the Backpack.
# Once your Persona account is established, you land on the authenticated state of the badge Backpack.
# The system presents you with your new earned badge.
# You can still choose to accept or reject the badge.
# You accept the badge and are taken to your Backpack.
# You organize badges into groups (/collections) and choose which ones to make public or not.
# You select a collection to push out to displayers so that your badges can be publicly displayed and discovered.

=== Backpack Management Features ===

With the Mozilla Backpack, earners can exploit the following features:
* Accepting/ rejecting badges
** Badges come in as private - earners must accept a new badge to change its status.
** All badges are by default non-discoverable/ private until the earner makes them public and discoverable.
* Badge collections
** Earners can use a drag and drop feature to create groups/ collections of badges that are relevant to each user.
*** For example, an earner could have collections of coding badges, event attendance badges, arts badges and so on.
** Earners can also view the details of badges they have earned.
* Manage badge privacy/ visibility
** Earners can choose to make a collection of badges public or not.
** Earners can share a collection straight from the Backpack, to common communication channels including social networking services (Twitter, Google+, Facebook).
* Upload badges
** Earner may manually upload badges directly from their computer into the backpack using the badge upload feature, however these badges must be OBI compliant.

''Throughout 2014 the Mozilla Open Badges team will be announcing new features earners can benefit from, including [http://discovery.openbadges.org/ Discovery], which will allow individuals to explore pathways of badges, taking control over personal development and opening earners to career opportunities. Additional tools will facilitate collecting badges with federated backpacks and sharing badges through common channels such as social networking.''

== Display ==

Displayers are key to the value of Open Badges for earners. The OBI is designed to support display of badges acquired in various different types of context, letting earners paint a more detailed, complete picture of their skills and experiences.

* Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner controls where their badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create collections of badges and share them with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public - those badges are discoverable by displayers if they have the earner's email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they can query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. The response is a JSON representation of the badges.

== Identity ==

* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they collect badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== Verifying Identity in Backpack ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/Onboarding-Displayer

2014-03-24T19:20:56Z

Suesmith: General updating/ restructuring - in progress.

== Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==

NOTE: For a general introduction to badge displaying with the Mozilla OBI, read on. For more technical documentation, please see our [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API github pages].

=== Background ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills and experiences, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support earners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of these representations by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each earner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give earners control and support of the entire ecosystem;
* Provide software and development tools to help organizations implement badging systems.

==== Description ====

The Open Badges framework is designed to make badging flexible enough to represent the full range of learning and experience in online and offline life. This requires support for multiple, potentially significantly varied, badge issuers. Empowering earners to use their badges as legitimate credentials also requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites.

Earners can share badges across such varied online environments as personal blogs and social networking channels, tying a variety of achievements to a single identity. It is critical for the infrastructure to be open, to give earners control over how they represent their own learning and experiences, to allow anyone to issue badges, and for each earner to be able to carry their badges with them throughout their online life.

The participants in a badging system are characterized using a few broad groups:
* Issuers - they create badges, make them available to earners and award them.
* Earners - they apply for badges and decide where to display them.
* Displayers - they display badges earned by particular earners (this also involves verifying badges).

You will see these roles described throughout the material you read on Open Badges. This page is aimed at providing an overview of badging for ''displayers'', with an introduction to the technical aspects of displaying.

Last but not least, although not involved directly in badging systems, let's not forget this group of people:
* Consumers - they include anyone looking at a badge (or badges) earned
** examples include potential employers, college admin and peers.

=== Tech Specs ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* Badges are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* Identity management is handled by [http://identity.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Persona]

=== Open Badges Ecosystem ===

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

Here's an overview of how badging works:
* An issuer makes a badge available to their community of earners on their website. When awarded the badge, an earner sends it to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] script, presenting the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the badge to their Backpack.
** If the issuer wants the earner to be able to store the badge outside the OBI, they can optionally push it to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the Issuer API.
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address, optionally through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the issuer using a verification check.

=== Definitions and Concepts ===

'''Badge'''

A digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience. Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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.

'''Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)'''

Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers and displayers. Includes the metadata specification, APIs, verification framework, Backpack and software tools.

'''''ROLES'''''

'''Earner'''

Someone who earns a badge (either by applying or being directly issued with it). The earner can use their Backpack to manage and share their badges.

'''Issuer'''

Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their community. The issuer is responsible for defining badges, making them available to earners and handling applications for them.
* Badge issuing can involve participants with various specific roles, such as application assessors, badge creators and administrators.

'''Displayer'''

A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.

'''''TOOLS'''''

'''Mozilla Backpack'''

The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badge data is stored.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Assertion Specification]'''

Badge metadata is represented as an [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Metadata assertion]. The assertion specification defines the information within a badge. An assertion includes multiple items of data, such as: badge name and description, issuer, date, criteria URL, evidence URL and badge image URL. The assertion should carry all the information needed to process a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]'''

A badge is an image combined with assertion data - badge baking embeds assertion data into an image to produce a portable badge.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]'''

The Issuer API provides a script for issuers to let earners send badges to the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]'''

The Displayer API provides specifications for displaying badges beyond the Backpack.

'''[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Verification Verification]

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges, i.e. checking that a badge is valid and was issued to the person claiming it.

'''[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]'''

A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners while supporting much of the badge admin process through a Web app.

See also the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resource list]

To explore the concepts and terms in badging and badge issuing, check out the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Badging and BadgeKit Glossary]

== Badge Issuing ==

Badge issuing and displaying are two complementary actions within the badging framework. To understand badge displaying, it's therefore worth first understanding a little about badge issuing.

An issuer is an organization or individual who designs and issues badges within the ecosystem. Issuers determine the badging approach that will work best for their communities, using Open Badges JavaScript interfaces to send badges to Backpacks, and optionally creating their badges using BadgeKit.

Badge issuers store badges online either as hosted or signed assertions. This allows displayers to retrieve and present badges within Web and software user interfaces. Issuers store badge data using the standard assertion structures, so that displayers can process this data and present it in a consistent way.

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges - issuers are required to take the following steps in order to facilitate this:
** For Hosted Assertions - issuers must maintain a server with the Badge Assertion information (at the unique badge URL) to verify each badge.
** For Signed Assertions:
*** Issuers must generate public/private key pair and maintain the hosted public key.
*** Issuers must sign the badges themselves, sign the whole package, and push badges to earner backpacks through the Issuer JavaScript API.
* Issuers can opt to use [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]] to automate parts of this process.

== Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack - that lets them manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== Metadata ==

Badge metadata is defined as an assertion, which contains multiple required and optional fields. The structure has evolved over time - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion specification] for complete details.

Issuers can put a reasonable amount of extra material into a badge, but that material must be static - once the badge is issued, any change to the information must not change. This is to prevent someone from issuing one badge, then sneakily changing it later to another badge unbeknownst to the earner.

Badge displayers can utilize any technology capable of parsing JSON data to process badge metadata, presenting it in a way that reflects the display context.

== Displayers ==

Displayers are key to the value of Open Badges for earners. The OBI is designed to support display of badges acquired in various different types of context, letting earners paint a more detailed, complete picture of their skills and experiences.

* Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner controls where their badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create groups/ collections of badges and share with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public; those badges are discoverable by displayers if they have the earner's email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they can query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. The response is a JSON representation of the badges.

=== Requirements ===

The following requirements apply to displayers:
* A Web server capable of serving requests to the general internet.
* The ability to make a GET request from their server backend and read a JSON response.
* Access to earners' backpack ID.
** Displayer can convert from earner’s email to backpack ID using this [http://beta.openbadges.org/displayer/convert/email converter]
* Ability to communicate with the Mozilla [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].

=== Displayer API ===

The [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API] returns on a JSON feed of badges the earner has made public. The displayer retrieves the list with the earner’s Backpack ID. Displayers can convert earner email addresses to user IDs, including those IDs in their API calls. Displayers can request badges using REST queries. The API provides endpoints to query for available groups of badges (that the user has made public), then to request badge data for a particular group using the group ID. The list of badges in a group is returned, including the assertion data for each badge. Displayers can then parse the assertion metadata for each badge and present it within their own site.

=== Public Badge Discovery Flow ===

# Earner sets privacy controls on badges through the Backpack, setting some badges to Public.
# Displayer has an identifier (email address/ Backpack ID) for the Backpack owner.
# Displayer queries the Backpack via the Displayer API, using the earner's Backpack ID (can be converted from earner’s email address).
# Mozilla unpacks the badges and sends the JSON for all public badges for that earner to the displayer.
# Displayer processes and presents the resulting badges.

=== Mozilla Display Support - Next Steps ===

Ongoing developments to be announced through 2014 include a number of tools to aid the earning, collecting, displaying, discovering and sharing processes.

* Provide Earner with embed code in the Backpack so that they can embed badges into any personal websites
* Display sites that have an API, eg. Facebook, Twitter
** Build Facebook widget
** Provide documentation so that community can be empowered to be proactive in building additional widgets for sites with available APIs.
* Display sites that don’t have an API, e.g. InsideJobs, LinkedIn
** Possible workflow
*** (1) Displayer comes to openbadges.org site
*** (2) Displayer agrees to be a Displayer
**** (2.1) Agrees to ToS
*** (3) Displayer gets the widget
*** (4) Displayer provides a button or UI component for Earner to import badges from the Backpack
*** (5) If Earner clicks yes, Displayer makes javascript call to get badges
*** (6) Displayer must reconcile email addresses if they are different - Earner must provide email address or Backpack ID associated with their Backpack
** n.b. Displayer cannot query Backpacks or discover badges without Earner interaction.
** n.b. It may be possible to display displayer buttons in the Backpack interface. TBD
* API for anonymized data.

== Verification ==

Badge verification involves checking that a badge was issued to the person displaying it, using their email address. Verification affects both issuers and displayers.

* To avoid gaming and duplication, the OBI is built to support badge verification.
* This is essential to allow earners to prove the authenticity and validity of their badges. Badges can also have expiry dates, allowing organizations to issue badges for skills which are only valid for a set period of time.
* The OBI provides the channel for this verification to happen through the Backpack, by communicating with the issuer.
* The issuer must be online to verify badges. (We are exploring a cache to cover verification for a set amount of time).
* Verification is typically carried out by displayers, who should not display a badge that cannot be verified.

=== Verification Method ===

The OBI currently supports verification of badges through hosted and signed assertions. The assertion data for a badge contains verification information. For hosted assertions, this includes a URL field representing the assertion hosted on the issuer's server. For signed assertions, it includes a link to the issuer's public key. Displayers can utilize this data to verify badge earners.

The verification process is as follows:

'''''For hosted assertions''''':
# Displayer carries out a GET request on the verification URL from the assertion.
#* If the response is not 200 OK or if the data at the URL is not structurally valid, the badge is treated as invalid.
# Displayer analyses content of data at assertion verification URL, which includes recipient email address.
#* Verification can now be achieved by comparing the salted hash value for the recipient (according to the verification data) to the salted hash for the email of the person claiming the badge.
# The displayer can optionally check further information in the verification data, including an expiry date if there is one.

'''''For signed assertions''''':
# Displayer unpacks JWS object specified in the assertion verification fields.
#* If the data fails to parse as JSON data, verification fails.
# Displayer extracts the verify.url property from the JSON, carries out a GET request on it and stores the public key.
#* If the HTTP status is not 200 OK, verification fails.
# Displayer uses the public key to perform JWS verification on the JWS object - if this fails, the badge is considered invalid.
# Displayer retrieves the revocation list and checks that the badge ID is not included.

For more about assertions and verification, see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Specification].

''Note: for baked badges, verification also involves extracting the assertion URL from the badge image - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-verifier Verifier] for more on this.''

=== Functional Flow ===

# Badge (including assertion) exists in the Backpack.
# User attempts to display badge via a display site widget.
# Display site takes the earner’s email and puts it through a salted hash function.
#* eg. hash (‘hipjoe@example.com’ + salt)
# Display site compares the resulting value with the value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata.
# If values match, badge is verified and displayer displays the badge. If not, displayer should reject the badge.

== Identity ==

* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they collect badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== Verifying Identity in Backpack ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/Onboarding-Issuer

2014-03-21T17:59:39Z

Suesmith: More general updating/ restructuring.

== Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==
NOTE: For a general introduction to badge issuing with the Mozilla OBI, read on. For more technical documentation, please see our [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md github pages].

=== Background ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills and experiences, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support earners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of these representations by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each earner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give earners control and support of the entire ecosystem;
* Provide software and development tools to help organizations implement badging systems.

==== Description ====

The Open Badges framework is designed to make badging flexible enough to represent the full range of learning and experience in online and offline life. This requires support for multiple, potentially significantly varied, badge issuers. Empowering earners to use their badges as legitimate credentials also requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites.

Earners can share badges across such varied online environments as personal blogs and social networking channels, tying a variety of achievements to a single identity. It is critical for the infrastructure to be open, to give earners control over how they represent their own learning and experiences, to allow anyone to issue badges, and for each earner to be able to carry their badges with them throughout their online life.

The participants in a badging system are characterized using a few broad groups:
* Issuers - they create badges, make them available to earners and award them.
* Earners - they apply for badges and decide where to display them.
* Displayers - they display badges earned by particular earners (this also involves verifying badges).

You will see these roles described throughout the material you read on Open Badges. This page is aimed at providing an overview of badging for ''issuers'', with an introduction to the technical aspects of issuing.

Last but not least, although not involved directly in badging systems, let's not forget this group of people:
* Consumers - they include anyone looking at a badge (or badges) earned
** examples include potential employers, college admin and peers.

=== Tech Specs ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* Badges are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* Identity management is handled by [http://identity.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Persona]

=== Open Badges Ecosystem ===

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

Here's an overview of how badging works:
* An issuer makes a badge available to their community of earners on their website. When awarded the badge, an earner sends it to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] script, presenting the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the badge to their Backpack.
** If the issuer wants the earner to be able to store the badge outside the OBI, they can optionally push it to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the Issuer API.
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address.
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the issuer using a verification check.

''Badge issuing is significantly simplified using BadgeKit, Mozilla's new set of badging tools. The BadgeKit Web app lets issuers create and publish badges through an intuitive interface. An issuer can then present those badges using the BadgeKit API, which also handles reviewing applications - [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]].''

=== Definitions and Concepts ===

'''Badge'''

A digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience. Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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.

'''Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)'''

Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers and displayers. Includes the metadata specification, APIs, verification framework, Backpack and software tools.

'''''ROLES'''''

'''Earner'''

Someone who earns a badge (either by applying or being directly issued with it). The earner can use their Backpack to manage and share their badges.

'''Issuer'''

Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their community. The issuer is responsible for defining badges, making them available to earners and handling applications for them.
* Badge issuing can involve participants with various specific roles, such as application assessors, badge creators and administrators.

'''Displayer'''

A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.

'''''TOOLS'''''

'''Mozilla Backpack'''

The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badge data is stored.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Assertion Specification]'''

Badge metadata is represented as an [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Metadata assertion]. The assertion specification defines the information within a badge. An assertion includes multiple items of data, such as: badge name and description, issuer, date, criteria URL, evidence URL and badge image URL. The assertion should carry all the information needed to process a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]'''

A badge is an image combined with assertion data - badge baking embeds assertion data into an image to produce a portable badge.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]'''

The Issuer API provides a script for issuers to let earners send badges to the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]'''

The Displayer API provides specifications for displaying badges beyond the Backpack.

'''[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Verification Verification]

Displayers are responsible for verifying badges, i.e. checking that a badge is valid and was issued to the person claiming it.

'''[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]'''

A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners while supporting much of the badge admin process through a Web app.

See also the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resource list]

To explore the concepts and terms in badging and badge issuing, check out the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Badging and BadgeKit Glossary]

== Issuing Badges ==

An issuer is an organization or individual who designs and issues badges within the ecosystem. The OBI is open and supports any independent issuer who conforms to the necessary badge and issuing specifications. Additionally, issuers can now benefit from the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] tools, providing they meet specific technical requirements.

=== Background ===
* Issuers determine the badging approach that will work best for their communities.
* Touchpoints with the OBI occur through interfaces, including sending badges to Backpacks and optionally using BadgeKit.
* Issuers do not need to register with the OBI - they simply utilize the JavaScript APIs.

=== Requirements ===
* Issuers must have Web hosting facilities including:
** A server capable of serving requests to the general Internet.
** The ability to make a POST request from their server backend and read a JSON response.
** Email addresses for earners (and the ability to email them).
** Badges structured in the format that the assertion expects - when using BadgeKit this structuring is automated.
** Earners must be registered with the backpack implementation that the issuer is trying to send their badges to. ''In the future, the issuer will need to ask the earner which backpack they want to push badges to and honor that request.''
* For verification:
** For Hosted Assertions - issuers must maintain a server with the Badge Assertion information (at the unique badge URL) to verify each badge.
** For Signed Assertions:
*** Issuers must generate public/private key pair and maintain the hosted public key.
*** Issuers must sign the badges themselves, sign the whole package, and push badges to earner backpacks through the Issuer JavaScript API.
* Issuers looking to use [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]] have a specific range of options and requirements regarding hosting and technical provision - see the following blog post for more information: [http://openbadges.tumblr.com/post/78764181250/announcing-mozilla-badgekit Announcing Mozilla BadgeKit].

=== Badge Creation Flow ===

Issuers need to:
# Have an email address for the earner.
# Create and host an assertion on site.
# Create and host the badge PNG; this is a single PNG for all badges, not a single physical PNG per issued badge.
# Integrate your site with the Backpack via the Issuer API

''The Issuer API is a script that can be dropped into any badge issuer's website to provide a way for earners to add an issuer's badges to their Mozilla Backpack (or federated backpacks). There's no need to bake the badges independently as the API takes care of this.''

'''''The badge creation flow varies significantly for issuers using [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]. Issuer admins can design and define the data for a badge within the BadgeKit Web app, with BadgeKit handling metadata structuring. Issuers can then present available badges to their earners using the BadgeKit API.'''''

=== Open Badges related Widgets created by the community ===

A number of Open Badges widgets and utilities have been developed for integrating badges with various technologies including WordPress, Drupal, Django, Rails, PHP, Java, Moodle, Mahara, Joomla, Blackboard, Google Sites, Canvas, iOS, Android and AJAX.

See [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets the list] on GitHub (which is regularly updated).

=== BadgeKit ===

[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] builds on a range of tools which have been under continual development for some time, through projects such as Chicago Summer of Learning. These tools include [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadger/blob/v2.0/docs/api.md Open Badger] and [https://github.com/mozilla/aestimia Aestimia].

== Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack - that lets them manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== Metadata ==

Badge metadata is defined as an assertion, which contains multiple required and optional fields. The structure has evolved over time - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion specification] for complete details.

Issuers can put a reasonable amount of extra material into a badge, but that material must be static - once the badge is issued, any change to the information must not change. This is to prevent someone from issuing one badge, then sneakily changing it later to another badge unbeknownst to the earner.

== Badge Images and Baking ==

* A baked badge is a JSON blob of metadata embedded in a PNG file.
* This allows the badge to be more easily portable - a collection of information that can be emailed, carrying its details with it.
* Ultimately, this is important for decentralization of the system and will allow earners to have more control over where their badges live.

=== Baking Service ===

* To bake a badge, you must host a badge [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion] on your site.
** The system is designed to:
*** avoid SPAMing the earner with unwanted badges, and
*** give earners ultimate control over where the badges go.
* Mozilla provides the "tools" for unpacking the PNG file through the OBI.
* PNG files will be unpacked in the Backpack where each earner can view, manage, and organize their badges (and see all the metadata behind each badge).
* PNG files are unpacked so that displayers just have the raw data to work with on their end.

''If you are building a new system, we strongly recommend using the JavaScript Issuer API or BadgeKit for awarding badges. The tools and APIs take care of the badge baking.''

=== Badge Image Standards ===

* Image must be a PNG.
* Images should be square and not exceed 256kb. They should have dimensions not smaller that 90 x 90.
* Image is provided as a URL to the image on the issuer server, stored within the metadata.
* Mozilla will cache the image in at least two sizes.
* When a badge is displayed, it will be loaded from the Mozilla cache to avoid extra burden on the issuer servers. This also helps if the issuer is not available or the link is broken.
* When using BadgeKit, issuers can design badges inside the Web app using a graphical tool, or can upload images prepared elsewhere.

== Verification ==

Badge verification involves checking that a badge was issued to the person displaying it, using their email address. Verification affects both issuers and displayers.

* To avoid gaming and duplication, the OBI is built to support badge verification.
* This is essential to allow earners to prove the authenticity and validity of their badges. Badges can also have expiry dates, allowing organizations to issue badges for skills which are only valid for a set period of time.
* The OBI provides the channel for this verification to happen through the Backpack, by communicating with the issuer.
* The issuer must be online to verify badges. (We are exploring a cache to cover verification for a set amount of time).
* Verification is typically carried out by displayers, who should not display a badge that cannot be verified.

=== Verification Method ===

The OBI currently supports verification of badges through hosted and signed assertions. The assertion data for a badge contains verification information. For hosted assertions, this includes a URL field representing the assertion hosted on the issuer's server. For signed assertions, it includes a link to the issuer's public key. Displayers can utilize this data to verify badge earners.

The verification process is as follows:

'''''For hosted assertions''''':
# Displayer carries out a GET request on the verification URL from the assertion.
#* If the response is not 200 OK or if the data at the URL is not structurally valid, the badge is treated as invalid.
# Displayer analyses content of data at assertion verification URL, which includes recipient email address.
#* Verification can now be achieved by comparing the salted hash value for the recipient (according to the verification data) to the salted hash for the email of the person claiming the badge.
# The displayer can optionally check further information in the verification data, including an expiry date if there is one.

'''''For signed assertions''''':
# Displayer unpacks JWS object specified in the assertion verification fields.
#* If the data fails to parse as JSON data, verification fails.
# Displayer extracts the verify.url property from the JSON, carries out a GET request on it and stores the public key.
#* If the HTTP status is not 200 OK, verification fails.
# Displayer uses the public key to perform JWS verification on the JWS object - if this fails, the badge is considered invalid.
# Displayer retrieves the revocation list and checks that the badge ID is not included.

For more about assertions and verification, see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Specification].

''Note: for baked badges, verification also involves extracting the assertion URL from the badge image - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-verifier Verifier] for more on this.''

=== Functional Flow ===

# Badge (including assertion) exists in the Backpack.
# User attempts to display badge via a display site widget.
# Display site takes the earner’s email and puts it through a salted hash function.
#* eg. hash (‘hipjoe@example.com’ + salt)
# Display site compares the resulting value with the value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata.
# If values match, badge is verified and displayer displays the badge. If not, displayer should reject the badge.

== Displayers ==

Displayers are key to the value of Open Badges for earners. The OBI is designed to support display of badges acquired in various different types of context, letting earners paint a more detailed, complete picture of their skills and experiences.

* Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner controls where their badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create collections of badges and share with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public; those badges are discoverable by displayers if they have the earner's email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they can query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. The response is a JSON representation of the badges.

== Identity ==

* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they collect badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== Verifying Identity in Backpack ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/Onboarding-Issuer

2014-03-20T19:55:01Z

Suesmith: General updating/ restructuring - in progress.

== Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==
NOTE: The documentation below is for general on-boarding. For an overview of badge issuing with the Mozilla OBI, read on. For more technical documentation, please see our [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md github pages].

=== Background ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support earners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of those badges by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each earner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give earners control and support of the entire ecosystem;
* Provide software and development tools to help organizations implement badging systems.

==== Description ====

The Open Badges framework is designed to enable people to earn badges across the Web - this requires support for multiple individual badge issuers. Empowering earners to use their badges as legitimate credentials also requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites. The framework potentially allows the earner to both collect and display badges in multiple contexts, tied to a single identity. Earners can share badges across such varied online environments as personal blogs and social networking channels. It is critical for this infrastructure to be open, to give earners control over how they represent their own learning and experiences, to allow anyone to issue badges, and for each earner to carry their badges with them throughout their online life.

=== Tech Specs ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* Badges are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* Identity management is handled by [http://identity.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Persona]

=== Open Badges Ecosystem ===

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

* An issuer makes a badge available to their community of earners on their website. When awarded the badge, an earner sends it to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] script, presenting the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the badge to their Backpack.
** If the issuer wants the earner to be able to store the badge outside the OBI, they can optionally push it to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the Issuer API.
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address.
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the issuer using a verification check.

''Badge issuing is significantly simplified using BadgeKit, Mozilla's new set of badging tools. The BadgeKit Web app lets issuers create and publish badges through an intuitive interface. An issuer can then present those badges using the BadgeKit API, which also handles reviewing applications - [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]].''

=== Definitions and Concepts ===

'''Badge'''

A digital representation of a skill, learning achievement or experience. Badges can represent competencies and involvements recognized in online or offline 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.

'''Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)'''

Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers and displayers. Includes the metadata specification, APIs, verification framework, Backpack and software tools.

'''''ROLES'''''

'''Earner'''

Someone who earns a badge (either by applying or being directly issued with it). The earner can use their Backpack to manage and share their badges.

'''Issuer'''

Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their communities. The issuer is responsible for defining badges, making them available to earners and handling applications for badges.
* Badge issuing can involve participants with various specific roles, such as application assessors, badge creators and administrators.

'''Displayer'''

A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.

'''''TOOLS'''''

'''Mozilla Backpack'''

The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badge data is stored.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md Assertion Specification]'''

Badge metadata is represented as an [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#Assertion assertion]. The assertion specification defines the information within a badge. An assertion includes multiple items of data, such as: badge name and description, issuer, date, criteria URL, evidence URL and badge image URL. The assertion should carry all the information needed to understand a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]'''

A badge is an image combined with assertion data - badge baking embeds an assertion into an image to produce a portable badge.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]'''

The Issuer API provides a script for issuers to let earners send badges to the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]'''

The Displayer API provides specifications for displaying badges beyond the Backpack.

'''[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-verifier Verification]

The Verifier extracts badge data to verify earners.

'''[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]'''

A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners while supporting much of the badge admin process through a Web app.

See also the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resource list]

To explore the concepts and terms in badging and badge issuing, check out the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary Badging and BadgeKit Glossary]

== Issuing Badges ==

An issuer is an organization or individual who designs and issues badges within the ecosystem. The OBI is open and supports any independent issuer who conforms to the necessary badge and issuing specifications. Additionally, issuers can now benefit from the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] tools, providing they meet specific technical requirements.

=== Background ===
* Issuers determine the badging approach that will work best for their communities.
* Touchpoints with the OBI occur through various interfaces, including sending badges to Backpacks and using BadgeKit.
* Issuers do not need to register with the OBI - they simply utilize the JavaScript APIs.

=== Requirements ===
* Issuers must have Web hosting facilities including:
** A server capable of serving requests to the general Internet.
** The ability to make a POST request from their server backend and read a JSON response.
** Email addresses for earners (and the ability to email them).
** Badges structured in the format that the assertion expects - when using BadgeKit this structuring is automated.
** Earners must be registered with the backpack implementation that the issuer is trying to send their badges to. ''In the future, the issuer will need to ask the earner which backpack they want to push badges their to and honor that request.''
* For verification:
** For Hosted Assertions - issuers must maintain a server with the Badge Assertion information (at the unique badge URL) to verify each badge.
** For Signed Assertions:
*** Issuers must generate public/private key pair and maintain the hosted public key.
*** Issuers must sign the badges themselves, sign the whole package, and push badges to earner backpacks through the Issuer JavaScript API.
* Issuers looking to use [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]] have a specific range of options and requirements regarding hosting and technical provision - see the following blog post for more information: [http://openbadges.tumblr.com/post/78764181250/announcing-mozilla-badgekit Announcing Mozilla BadgeKit].

=== Badge Creation Flow ===

# Have an email address for the earner.
# Create and host an Assertion on site.
# Create and host the badge PNG; this is a single PNG for all badges, not a single physical PNG per issued badge.
# Integrate your site with the Backpack via the Issuer API

''The Issuer API is a script that can be dropped into any badge issuer's website to provide a way for earners to add an issuer's badges to their Backpack or federated backpacks. There's no need to bake the badges independently as the API takes care of this.''

'''''The badge creation flow varies significantly for issuers using [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]. Issuer admins can design and define the data for a badge within the BadgeKit Web app, with BadgeKit handling badge data structuring. Issuers can then present available badges to their earners using the BadgeKit API.'''''

=== Open Badges related Widgets created by the community ===

A number of Open Badges widgets and utilities have been developed for integrating badges with various technologies including WordPress, Drupal, Django, Rails, PHP, Java, Moodle, Mahara, Joomla, Blackboard, Google Sites, Canvas, iOS, Android and AJAX.

See [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets the list] on GitHub (which is regularly updated).

=== BadgeKit ===

[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/badgekit BadgeKit] builds on a range of tools which have been under continual development for some time through projects such as Chicago Summer of Learning. These tools include [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadger/blob/v2.0/docs/api.md Open Badger] and [https://github.com/mozilla/aestimia Aestimia].

== Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack - that lets them manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge Assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== Assertion ==

Badge metadata is defined as an assertion, which contains multiple required and optional fields. The structure has evolved over time - see the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md assertion specification] for complete details.

Issuers can put a reasonable amount of extra material into the badge, but that material must be static - once the badge is issued, any change to that information must not change. This is to prevent someone from issuing one badge, then sneakily changing it later to another badge unbeknownst to the earner.

== Badge Images and Baking ==

* Each badge is a JSON blob of metadata embedded in a PNG file.
* This allows the badge to be more easily portable - an actual collection of information that can be emailed around and portable while still carrying its details with it.
* Ultimately, this is important for decentralization of the system and will allow earners to have more control over where their badges live.

=== Baking Service ===

* To bake a badge, you must host a badge Assertion on your site.
** See the Assertions page for details: https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-specification/blob/master/Assertion/latest.md
** The system is designed to:
*** avoid SPAMing the earner with unwanted badges, and
*** give earners ultimate control over where the badges go.
* Mozilla provides the "tools" for unpacking the PNG file through the OBI.
* PNG files will be unpacked in the Backpack where each earner can view, manage, and organize their badges (and see all the metadata behind each badge).
* PNG files will be unpacked for the Displayer API so that Displayers will just have the raw data to work with on their end.

''If you are building a new system, we strongly recommend using the JavaScript Issuer API or BadgeKit for awarding badges. The tools and APIs take care of the badge baking.''

=== Badge Image Standards ===

* Image must be a PNG.
* Images should be square and not exceed 256kb. They should have dimensions not smaller that 90 x 90.
* Image is provided as a URL to the image on the issuer server in the metadata.
* Mozilla will cache the image in at least two sizes.
* When a badge is displayed, it will be loaded from the Mozilla cache to avoid extra burden on the issuer servers. This also helps if the issuer is not available or the link is broken.
* When using BadgeKit, issuers can design badges inside the Web app using a graphical tool, or can upload images prepared elsewhere.

== Verification ==

* To avoid gaming and duplication, the OBI is built to support badge verification.
* This is essential to allow earners to prove the authenticity and validity of their badges. Badges can also have expiry dates, allowing issuer to implement time-sensitive badges, for example in continuous professional development scenarios.
* The OBI provides the channel for this verification to happen through the Backpack but must communicate with the issuer.
* The issuer must be online to verify badges. (We are exploring a cache to cover verification for a set amount of time).
* Most verification will be done by displayers. Displayers should not display a badge that cannot be verified.

=== Verification Method ===

* The OBI currently supports verification of badges through Hosted Assertions. When an issuer sends a badge using the OBI, metadata is pushed to a unique and persistent URL (the Assertion URL). The issuer maintains the badge Assertion and displayers can ping the assertion URL to verify the badge.
** A displayer puts the earner’s email address through a salted hash function and sees if it matches with the hash value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata. If values match, the badge belongs to the earner and can be claimed.
** There is a drawback of overhead for the issuer to maintain unique and persistent URLs for each badge.
* With the V1.0 release we support Signed Assertions, allowing for signing of a badge assertion with a private key and hosting a public key at a public URL.
** This has the benefit of creating less overhead for the issuer who just need to host the public key.
* Looking forward, we will try to support DNSSEC for public key discovery.
* Unverified Badge handling
** If a badge is passed through by an issuer and the signature is invalid, it is rejected.
** If a badge is verified initially but it becomes unverified in the future, the earner is notified.

=== Functional Flow ===

# Badge (within it, its assertion) exists in the Backpack.
# User attempts to display badge via a display site widget.
# Display site takes the earner’s email and puts it through a salted hash function.
## eg. hash (‘hipjoe@example.com’ + salt)
# Display site compares the resulting value with the value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata.
# If values match, badge is verified and displayer displays the badge. If not, displayer should reject the badge.

== Displayers ==
* Display of badges is where a significant part of the value of this approach lies. Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner will control where badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create collections of badges and share with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public; those badges would be discoverable by displayers if they had the earner’s email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they will be able to query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. They will get back JSON representation of the badges.

== Identity ==

* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they earn badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== Verifying Identity in Backpack ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/Onboarding-Issuer

2014-03-19T16:56:45Z

Suesmith: /* Adding information about BadgeKit */

== A. Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) ==
NOTE: The documentation below is for general on-boarding. If you want the more technical documentation, please see our [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/blob/development/docs/apis/issuer_api.md github pages].

=== I. BACKGROUND ===

==== Why Are We Doing This? ====
Learning happens everywhere. Yet it's often difficult to be recognized for skills and achievements that are gained outside of school. Mozilla's Open Badges project is working to solve that problem by making it easy for anyone anywhere to issue, earn, and display badges. The results: broad recognition of 21st century skills, unlocking of career and educational opportunities, and learners everywhere being able to level up in their lives and work.

==== Goals ====
* Develop badges as a system for alternative accreditation, credentialing, and recognition;
* Help badges expand beyond siloed environments to be broadly shareable;
* Truly support learners learning everywhere;
* Optimize the value of those badges by allowing badges to be remixable and shareable with different audiences;
* Develop a supporting infrastructure to standardize the process and support each learner;
* Create an infrastructure that is open and as decentralized as possible to give learners control and support of the entire ecosystem.

==== Description ====

Enabling learners to earn badges wherever they're learning across the web requires support for multiple individual badge issuers. Empowering learners to use their badges as legitimate credentials requires support for sharing of badges across many display sites. The Open Badges framework is designed to allow any learner to collect badges from multiple sites, tied to a single identity, and then share them out across various sites, including personal blogs to social networking channels. It is critical for this infrastructure to be open to give learners control over their own learning and credentials, allow anyone to issue badges, and for each learner to carry their badges with them across the Web and other contexts.

=== II. TECH SPECS ===
* The OBI is built in node.js using express.
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#C._Badge Badges] are represented by JSON data blobs embedded in PNG files in the [http://beta.openbadges.org/backpack/ Backpack]
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#I._Identity Identity] management is handled by Mozilla’s Persona (fka BrowserID) [link: https://browserid.org/, http://identity.mozilla.com/]

=== III. OPEN BADGES ECOSYSTEM ===

==== Diagram ====

[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]]''' '''

==== Overview ====
* An issuing organization or individual makes a badge or series of badges available on their website and prompts their community to earn them. The earner sends the badge to their Backpack.
** The badge becomes portable through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API] which provides script to present the earner with a modal dialog that requests their consent to add the issuer's badge(s) to their Backpack.
** Issuer can also push badges to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Mozilla Baking Service] where the assertion URL representing JSON blobs is embedded into PNG files
** n.b. This is only necessary if the issuer wants the earner to have the ability to store badges outside of the OBI. Otherwise badge baking is handled through the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API].
* Displayers pull unpacked badges (JSON) out of the Backpack based on earner action and privacy settings.
* Public badges are discoverable based on earner’s email address.
* Earners can share their badges through their Backpack and grant permission for a particular site to display that collection of badges.
* Displayers authenticate badges with the Issuer using the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#G._Verification Verification] check.

''BadgeKit, Mozilla's new set of badging tools, can significantly simplify the issuing process - [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]].''

=== IV. DEFINITIONS/KEY TERMS ===
;Badge
The core currency of exchange. A single signal that demonstrates a skill, achievement, interest, or affiliation.
;Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI)
Open infrastructure technology supports independent badge issuers, display sites, and reference implementation of the badges Backpack. Includes the metadata spec, APIs, verification framework, and badges Backpack.
;[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#D._Mozilla-Backpack Mozilla Backpack]
The core authorized data store and management interface of Mozilla’s reference implementation of the Backpack. Each earner has their own Backpack where their badges data is stored.
;[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer#E._Metadata_Spec Metadata Spec]
The definition of the information behind the badge. Each badge features a set of metadata that describes the badge, including badge name, badge issuer, date of issue, criteria URL, evidence URL, and standards URL.
;[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Badge-Baking Badge Baking]
Embedding the assertion URL (which points to all metadata) into a PNG file to create a fully robust, portable badge.
;[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Issuer-API Issuer API]
Interface specifications for sending badges to the Backpack.
;[https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API]
The interface specifications for expanding badges beyond the Backpack (including display sites and widgets).
;Verification API
Communication channels and framework to support badge verification.
;Endorsement API
Communication channels and framework to support badge endorsement, including focuses on valid signatures.
* n.b. Endorsement employs the same signing mechanism as Badge Verification
;Badge Earner
A learner who stores their badges and engages with the Open Badges Infrastructure. This learner has had interactions with issuers to earn badges and uses their Backpack to manage and share those badges.
;Issuer
Organization or individual who issues Open Badges to their communities.
;Displayer
A website, organization, or person who accesses publicly shared Open Badges and displays them for badge earners.
;Endorser
An organization or individual who “endorses” a badge by signing it with their private encryption key. Trusted third party signers may emerge.
;[[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]
A new set of tools to simplify badging for issuers - provides an interface for creating and managing badges/ assessing badge applications. The BadgeKit API lets issuers control interaction with their own community of badge earners.

== B. Issuer ==

An organization or individual who issues designs and issues badges into the ecosystem. The OBI is open and supports any independent issuer who conforms to the necessary badge and issuing specifications.

=== I. BACKGROUND ===
* Issuers completely determine the content and criteria behind their badge systems. They know their communities best.
* The touchpoint with the OBI occurs when earners send their badges to the designated Backpack.
* Issuers do not need to register with the OBI; they simply send badges to earner's Backpacks utilizing the Issuer Javascript API.

=== II. REQUIREMENTS ===
* Issuers must have web server capable of serving requests to the general Internet.
* Issuers must have hosting ability.
* Issuers must have ability to make a POST request from their server backend and read a JSON response.
* Issuers must have email addresses for earners and must be able to email earners.
* Issuers must have badges (or be able to convert their badges) into the format (metadata spec) that the Assertion expects.
* Earners must be registered with the backpack implementation that the issuer is trying to send their badges to. In the future, the issuer will need to ask the earner which backpack they want to push badges their to and honor that request.
* For verification:
** If doing Hosted Assertions (currently available).
*** Issuers must maintain a server with the Badge Assertion information (at the unique badge URL) to verify each badge.
** If doing Signed Assertions.
*** Issuers must generate public/private key pair and maintain the hosted public key.
*** Issuers must sign the badges themselves, sign the whole package, and push badges to earner backpacks through the Issuer Javascript API.
* Issuers looking to use [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]] have a specific range of options and requirements regarding hosting and technical provision - see the following blog post for more information: [http://openbadges.tumblr.com/post/78764181250/announcing-mozilla-badgekit Announcing Mozilla BadgeKit].

=== III. BADGE CREATION FLOW ===

# Have an email address for the earner.
# Create and host an Assertion on site.
# Create and host the badge PNG; this is a single PNG for all badges, not a single physical PNG per issued badge.
# Integrate your site with the Backpack via the Issuer API

The Issuer API is a script that can be dropped into any badge issuer's website to provide a way for earners to add an issuer's badges to their Backpack or federated backpacks. There's no need to bake the badges independently as the API takes care of this.

''The badge creation flow varies significantly for issuers using [[Badges/badgekit|BadgeKit]]. Issuer admins can design and define the data for a badge within the BadgeKit Web app, with BadgeKit handling badge assertions. Issuers can then present available badges to their earners using the BadgeKit API.''

=== IV. OPEN BADGES Related Widgets created by the community ===
* https://github.com/lmorchard/django-badger -- Issuing app for Django
* https://github.com/PRX/badges_engine -- Rails Engine for issuing.
* https://github.com/openmichigan/open_badges -- Drupal module for managing/issuing badges
n.b. Updated list can be found here: https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Open-Badges-related-widgets

=== V. Open Badger ===
OpenBadger will be a lightweight OBI compliant badge issuing platform. It will soon make creating and issuing badges easy for non-technical users.
We've done some [https://github.com/mozilla/OpenBadger/wiki/Speculation speculation] but more to come on the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadger Open Badger github].

== C. Badge ==

* Representation - Assertion URL representing chunks of JSON data embedded into a PNG file.
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Assertions Badge Assertion aka Badge Manifest] - Earner identity information (<algorithm>$<hash(email + salt)>) plus badge information (JSON metadata).
* Verified Badge - Badges that have an Assertion URL. The OBI currently supports verification of badges through Hosted Assertions. When the issuer sends a badge, metadata is pushed to a unique and persistent URL (the assertion URL). The issuer maintains badge Assertion and displayers can ping the assertion URL to confirm verification.
* Endorsed Badge - Badges that have been signed by a third party or endorser. The Backpack verifies the signature against the signer’s public key, and if confirmed, accepts the badge as an endorsed badge. The endorsement information is represented with the badge as a layer of trust on the badge’s validity.
** n.b. On [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/roadmap development roadmap] for 2013.

== D. Backpack ==

The Mozilla Backpack is an authorized data storage space and management interface for earners of Open Badges. Each earner can access their own Backpack that holds all of their badges and gives them an interface to manage and share their badges.
* The Backpack is open source and federated. Earners or issuers can take the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges code] and fork it.
* Earners may decide to create and host their own Backpack so that they have complete control over their badges.
* Mozilla has built a reference or default Backpack (the "Mozilla Backpack") which holds all of the badge Assertions (hashed user email + badge data) for each earner.

== E. Metadata Spec ==

=== I. OVERVIEW ===
* A badge is an assertion URL representing chunks of JSON data embedded into a PNG file.
* The metadata should carry all the information needed to understand a badge. This ensures that badges can be fully understood and verified no matter where they are shared.
* This is the data presented in the Assertion URL on the issuer's server.

=== II. FIELDS ===
* Required
** recipient: Salted hash of the email address for the earner receiving the badge.
** salt: The salt used in the hash construction of the recipient’s email address.
** badge: The structure describing the badge.
*** version: The version of the badge
*** name: Human-readable name of the badge being issued. Maximum of 128 characters.
*** image: URL for image representing the badge. Should be a square and in PNG format. Maximum size is 256kb.
*** description: Description of the badge being issued. Maximum of 128 characters.
*** criteria: URL describing the badge and criteria for earning the badge (not the specific instance of the badge).
*** issuer: Information about the issuer:
**** origin: Origin of the issuer. This is the <protocol>://<host>:<port>. Must match the origin of the Hosted Assertion (and in the future, the origin of the public key).
**** name : Human-readable name of the issuing agent.
* Optional
** evidence: Earner-specific URL with information about this specific badge instance. Should contain information about how the individual earner earned the badge.
** expires: Date when the badge expires. If omitted, the badge never expires.
*** standard: Information about a governing institution or standard that a badge is related to.
*** The badge is not removed from the earner’s Backpack after the expiration date; there will be some visual/technical indicator that the badge is expired and needs to be re-upped. Must be formatted "YYYY-MM-DD" or a unix timestamp.
** issued_on: Date when badge was issued. If omitted, the issue date will be set to the date the badge was pushed to the Backpack. Must be formatted "YYYY-MM-DD" or a unix timestamp.
** issuer: Information about the Issuer:
*** org: (OPTIONAL) Organization for which the badge is being issued. An example is if a scout badge is being issued, the "name" of the Issuer could be "Boy Scouts" and the "org" could be "Troop #218".
*** contact: (OPTIONAL) A human-monitored email address associated with the Issuer.

Issuers can put a reasonable amount of extra material into the badge, but that material must be static -- once the badge is issued, any change to that information must not change. This is to prevent someone from issuing one badge, then sneakily changing it later to another badge unbeknownst to the earner.

== F. PNG Files / Badge Baking Service ==

=== I. BACKGROUND ===
* Each badge is a JSON blob of metadata embedded in a PNG file.
* This allows the badge to be more easily portable - an actual collection of information that can be emailed around and portable while still carrying its details with it.
* Ultimately, this is important for decentralization of the system and will allow earners to have more control over where their badges live.

=== II. BETA: BAKING SERVICE ===

* REQUIREMENTS: To bake a badge, you must be hosting a badge Assertion on your site.
** See the Assertions page for details: https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Assertions
* Issuers will still send the badge Assertion to Mozilla, but instead of sending it directly to the Backpack, they will now send it to the Mozilla Baking Service. Then Mozilla will package it into a PNG and deliver back to the issuer who can then send to the earner.
** The purpose of this is:
*** A) to avoid SPAMing the Earner with unwanted badges, and
*** B) to give the Earners ultimate control over where the badges go.
** n.b. If you are building a new system, we strongly recommend using the Javascript Issuer API for awarding badges. The API takes care of the badge baking for the Issuer.
* Mozilla provides the "tools" for unpacking the PNG file through the OBI.
* PNG files will be unpacked in the Backpack where each earner can view, manage, and organize their badges (and see all the metadata behind each badge).
* PNG files will be unpacked for the Displayer API so that Displayers will just have the raw data to work with on their end.

=== III. BADGE IMAGE STANDARDS ===
* Image must be a PNG.
* Images should be square and not exceed 256kb. They should have dimensions not smaller that 90 x 90.
* Image is provided as a URL to the image on the issuer server in the metadata.
* Mozilla will cache the image in at least two sizes.
* When a badge is displayed, it will be loaded from the Mozilla cache to avoid extra burden on the issuer servers. This also helps if the issuer is not available or the link is broken.

== G. Verification ==

=== I. OVERVIEW ===
* To avoid gaming and duplication, the OBI is built to support badge verification.
* This helps handle the questions of "Did this Issuer issue this badge to this earner on this date? Is this badge still valid or has it expired?"
* The OBI provides the channel for this verification to happen through the Backpack but must communicate with the Issuer.
* The issuer must be online to verify badges. (We are exploring a cache to cover verification for a set amount of time).
* Most verification will be done by displayers. Displayers should not display a badge that cannot be verified.

=== II. VERIFICATION METHOD ===
* The OBI currently supports verification of badges through Hosted Assertions. When an issuer sends a badge using the OBI, metadata is pushed to a unique and persistent URL (the Assertion URL). The issuer maintains the badge Assertion and displayers can ping the assertion URL to verify the badge.
** A displayer puts the earner’s email address through a salted hash function and sees if it matches with the hash value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata. If values match, the badge belongs to the earner and can be claimed.
** There is a drawback of overhead for the issuer to maintain unique and persistent URLs for each badge.
* With the V1.0 release we support Signed Assertions, allowing for signing of a badge assertion with a private key and hosting a public key at a public URL.
** This has the benefit of creating less overhead for the issuer who just need to host the public key.
* Looking forward, we will try to support DNSSEC for public key discovery.
* Unverified Badge handling
** If a badge is passed through by an issuer and the signature is invalid, it is rejected.
** If a badge is verified initially but it becomes unverified in the future, the earner is notified.

=== III. FUNCTIONAL FLOW ===

# Badge (within it, its assertion) exists in the Backpack.
# User attempts to display badge via a display site widget.
# Display site takes the earner’s email and puts it through a salted hash function.
## eg. hash (‘hipjoe@example.com’ + salt)
# Display site compares the resulting value with the value indicated for the recipient in the badge metadata.
# If values match, badge is verified and displayer displays the badge. If not, displayer should reject the badge.

== H. Displayers ==
* Display of badges is where a significant part of the value of this approach lies. Badges are not siloed or limited to one site but can be combined with badges from multiple issuers and then shared for different audiences and purposes.
* Each earner will control where badges are displayed through the Backpack.
* Each earner can create collections of badges and share with displayers that have connected to the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki/Displayer-API Displayer API].
* Earners can also make badges public; those badges would be discoverable by displayers if they had the earner’s email address.
* If a site has an earner's email address, they will be able to query that person's Backpack for all of that earner's public badges. They will get back JSON representation of the badges.

== I. Identity ==

=== I. OVERVIEW ===
* Identity is a critical component because we need to recognize earners as they earn badges from different issuers.
* It's important to us that identity be open and decentralized.
* We are utilizing verified email as a form of identity through the Mozilla product Persona.
** Additional info: https://browserid.org/, https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity
* Many sites already use email addresses for logins, even those that don't generally collect them.
* We don't need to retain any profile or personal information about the earner; all we need is their email address.

=== II. FUNCTIONAL FLOW FOR VERIFYING IDENTITY IN BACKPACK ===

# User validates identity to Mozilla's Verified Email.
# User creates an account with Mozilla (same as sync account).
# User asserts which email addresses he or she owns.
# User does an SMTP challenge (system emails user a token link they must click) to prove ownership.

Badges/GetStarted

2014-03-19T16:27:57Z

Suesmith: /* The Issuer - adding brief summary and link to BadgeKit page */

__NOTOC__
= Getting started with learning about badges =
Being on the steep side of a learning curve can sometimes seem overwhelming. And jumping into learning about digital badges is no different. If you iterate around three main concepts, and with each iteration deepen your understanding all will be good. If you have landed here without first reading the badges about page, it is suggested you go back and read what badges are all about; [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/About About Badges].
== The Three Main Roles ==
There really is a whole bunch of technology that went into building open badges. Particularly, when you consider that all badges need to be confirmed as genuine and that loads of different organizations will be issuing badges. More on this as you deepen your understanding of badges. The first thing when developing an understanding of badges is to consider the three main roles of; earner, issuer and displayer. And how these three roles work together within the whole [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/infrastructure-tech-docs Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI)].
=== The Earner ===
The earner is anyone who wants to earn a badge. And they are willing to focus their energy and make an effort to acquire the skills and knowledge that demonstrates their mastery represented by the badge. Badges are everywhere, and are particularly present in our youth. Girl Scouts can earn badges, Students in sailing school can earn badges, Swimmers can earn badges. It is these badge systems where people prove skills, knowledge and ability and from this they earn badges. If you want to jump deeper into understanding the technology behind the earner follow this link to [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Earner the technical documentation of onboarding the earner].
==== and their Backpack ====
The earner will store their badges is a digital backpack. The backpack is the online digital place where the earner can store and manage their badges. By managing their badges they can be put into groups or be made private and not be available for display.

=== The Issuer ===
The issuer creates the badge, figures out what skills and knowledge are represented by the badge, and figures out how to assess (or prove) if a person has the skills and knowledge to earn the badge. The issuer has a lot of heavy lifting to do, this is because determining if someone has mastered the skills and knowledge and are deserving of a badge requires work and should be rigorous if the badge is going to hold value.
 
There are many ways to assess peoples' abilities and knowledge. Figuring out effective ways to assess these is also the responsibility of the issuer. The assessment methods used for the badges available in our youth are proven and have considerable rigor. For example, the assessment of the skills and knowledge to get a scouting badge is done with well articulated criteria and assessment forms within a master - apprentice model. Once the badge earner has proven their skills and knowledge against the criteria as assessed by the master, they are issued a badge. ''It should be noted that there are many approaches to assessment and what is described here is only one approach. The important thing is that the issuer needs to figure out how to assess if the earner is deserving of the badge.'' If you want to jump deeper into understanding the technology behind the issuer follow this link to [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer the technical documentation of onboarding the issuer].

'''''Mozilla announced BadgeKit in March 2014 - a set of tools to help issuers implement badging systems. BadgeKit provides much of the back-end processing in an issuing application, with APIs to connect to the issuer's own site.''''' [[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]]

=== The Displayer ===
The displayer provides the ability to display badges. This could be a social media site like Facebook or it could be your own personal WordPress blog. The displayer will retrieve badges from an earner's backpack and display them for all to see. The groupings and permissions around the display of badges will be determined by the settings in the backpack. If you want to jump deeper into understanding the technology behind the displayer follow this link to [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Displayer the technical documentation of onboarding the displayer].
 

== The Technology ==
These three roles can be found in the diagram below. The Issuers and Displayers are obvious as they each have their own box in the diagram. The Earner role isn't so obvious because, as a technology, the earner becomes the backpack. You could say the Earner is holding their backpack. From a technology perspective and an infrastructure view the Issuer is the provider of badges--the backpack stores the badges earned and the displayer shows them to the world.
 
[[Image:Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png|700px|Open Badges -- Tech-diagram-v3 updated.png]] 
With a close inspection of the diagram above there are a number of boxes, lines, images, and text. Each of these represent a piece of the technology that makes up the Open Badges Infrastructure. As you learn more about the badges technology you will become familiar with all the elements found in the diagram. Take the time to review the diagram, reflect upon the Earner, Issuer and Displayer roles and how they would interact to display a badge. 
One question to really get you thinking is, "How do you determine if a badge is genuine?" Don't think about this from an open badges technology perspective, think about it from a real world girl scout badges or sailing school perspective. Think again, think further than if the badge looks official... "how would you really determine if a badge is genuine?"
=== Deeper readings ===
To deepen your technical understanding of the three roles choose any of the links below;
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Issuer Documentation for Issuer onboarding]
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Displayer Documentation for Displayer onboarding]
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Onboarding-Earner Documentation for Earner onboarding]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges Source code]
* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Technology Dive deeper into the Open Badges Infrastructure]

Badges

2014-03-19T15:30:36Z

Suesmith: /* Mozilla BadgeKit - adding link to BadgeKit wiki page */

<section begin=summary />{{RoadmapSummary
|icon=3ea2d817e92ac6e2e4e69bf9e9290d4f bigger.png
|pagelocation=Open Badges
|pagetitle=Mozilla Open Badges
|owner=Erin Knight, Carla Casilli, Sunny Lee, Emily Goligoski, Chris McAvoy, Brian Brennan, Mike Larsson, Jess Klein, Chloe Varelidi, Atul Varma, Meg Cole, Jade Forester
|updated=March 2014
|description=Mozilla's Open Badges make it easy for anyone to issue, earn and display badges across the web through a shared infrastructure that's free and open to all.
}}<section end=summary />

__NOTOC__

== What is a Badge? ==

badge [baj]: a special or distinctive mark, token, or device worn as a sign of
allegiance, membership, authority, achievement, etc. (Source: [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/badge Dictionary.com])

A badge is a symbol or indicator of an accomplishment, skill, quality or interest. From the Boy and Girl Scouts, to PADI diving instruction, to the more recently popular geo-location game, [https://foursquare.com/ Foursquare], badges have been successfully used to set goals, motivate behaviors, represent achievements and communicate success in many contexts. A “digital badge” is an online record of achievements, tracking the recipient’s communities of interaction that issued the badge and the work completed to get it. Digital badges can support connected learning environments by motivating learning and signaling achievement both within particular communities as well as across communities and institutions. (Source: [https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/5/59/OpenBadges-Working-Paper_012312.pdf Erin Knight White Paper])

== Digital Badges vs Open Badges ==

A digital badge is an online representation of a skill you’ve earned. Open Badges take that concept one step further, and allows you to verify your skills, interests and achievements through credible organizations and attaches that information to the badge image file, hard-coding the metadata for future access and review. Because the system is based on an open standard, earners can combine multiple badges from different issuers to tell the complete story of their achievements — both online and off. Badges can be displayed wherever earners want them on the web, and share them for employment, education or lifelong learning.

'''Open Badges are:'''

*'''Free and open:''' Mozilla Open Badges is not proprietary. It’s free software and an open technical standard any organization can use to create, issue and verify digital badges.
*'''Transferable:''' Collect badges from multiple sources, online and off, into a single backpack. Then display your skills and achievements on social networking profiles, job sites, websites and more.
*'''Stackable:''' Whether they’re issued by one organization or many, badges can build upon each other and be stacked to tell the full story of your skills and achievements.
*'''Evidence-based:''' Open Badges are information-rich. Each badge has important metadata which is hard-coded into the badge image file itself that links back to the issuer, criteria and verifying evidence.

'''Open Badges make it easy to:'''

*Get recognition for the things you learn;
*Give recognition for the things you teach;
*Verify skills; and
*Display your verified badges across the web.

== What is Mozilla's Open Badges project? ==

Learning today happens everywhere, not just in the classroom. But it's often difficult to get recognition for skills and achievements that happen outside of school. '''Mozilla's Open Badges project''' is working to solve that problem, making it easy for anyone to issue, earn and display badges across the web through a shared technical infrastructure. '''The result:''' helping people of all ages gain and display 21st century skills and unlock new career and educational opportunities.

Want to know more about Open Badges? [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/About Read about what badges are and how they work] and check out our [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/FAQs Frequently Asked Questions] page to find some answers, or shoot us an email at [mailto:badges@mozillafoundation.org badges@mozillafoundation.org]

== Mozilla BadgeKit ==

Mozilla BadgeKit is a new set of open, foundational tools to make the badging process easy.

'''BadgeKit:'''
*Supports key stages in the badging experience including creating, designing, assessing and issuing.
*Includes remixable templates and milestone badges allowing for easy customization.
*Provides modular and open options (standards) for the community of badge makers to use and build upon within their existing sites or systems.

BadgeKit is now available in private beta for select partner organizations that meet specific technical requirements. Alternatively, anyone can download the code from GitHub and implement it on their own servers.

We will continue to add additional BadgeKit features throughout the coming year, including tools to support collecting, sharing and discovering badges.

You can apply for access to the private beta hosted version of BadgeKit at http://www.badgekit.org, or grab the code for each tool from Github today at https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit

For general information on BadgeKit, and to join our community, check out http://badgekit.openbadges.org

[[Badges/badgekit|Read more about BadgeKit]]

== Get started with Open Badges ==

;Ready? Check out our site and Community page
:*http://openbadges.org
:*http://community.openbadges.org/

;Set? Create your Backpack
:*https://backpack.openbadges.org

;Go! Get some Badges!
:*Take the [http://openbadges.org/earn/ Badges 101 Quiz] and earn your first badge!

Read more about the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges#mozilla-open-badges Technology] behind Open Badges.
 
Find the [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges/wiki Onboarding information for Issuers, Displayers and Earners] and get started!

== Become part of the Community ==

*[https://groups.google.com/d/forum/openbadges '''Open Badges learning group'''] and [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/openbadges-dev '''development group'''] -- Subscribe to these groups to take part in ongoing conversations about badges in the wild.
*[https://openbadges.etherpad.mozilla.org/openbadges-community-2 '''Open Badges Community Calls'''] -- Join our weekly global call every Wednesday at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm GMT. During these hour-long calls we share our progress and encourage you to share your Open Badges work, questions, and comments. They're fun and we encourage you to come along!
*[https://openbadges.etherpad.mozilla.org/research-calls '''Open Badges Research & Design Calls'''] -- If you are interested in Open Badges Research and Badge System Design, join this call, held on Wednesdays in the hour before the Community Calls, at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT.
*[http://openbadges.tumblr.com// '''Open Badges Blog'''] -- Follow our blog for Open Badges news and updates.
*[http://twitter.com/#!/openbadges '''Twitter'''] -- Follow @OpenBadges and use the [https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OpenBadges&src=typd #OpenBadges] hashtag to join the conversation on Twitter.
*[https://www.facebook.com/MozillaOpenBadges '''Facebook'''] -- Like us on Facebook for news and updates you can share with your networks.
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/IRC '''IRC'''] -- Reach us on IRC at irc.mozilla.org, #badges
*[[Media:Open_Badges_Presentation_-_General.pdf‎| '''Open Badges presentation materials''']] -- Want to give an Open Badges presentation? To get you started, here's a PDF. Please note that all of these documents are [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ CC by SA].
*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aTAP04N9dAuSGv71tWOUA1iqYxWWTA4dlQIyP-7WT0E/edit '''Common badges terms and vocabulary'''] -- Help us to build a common lexicon of digital badge terms.

== Who is using Open Badges? ==

*[http://openmatt.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/badges-in-the-real-world/ '''User stories'''] -- Hypothetical examples of how badges can help solve problems in everyday scenarios. 
*[http://www.2mbetterfutures.org/ '''2 Million Better Futures'''] -- This project from [http://www.cgiamerica.org/ CGI America] aims to help 1 million workers and 1 million students succeed using Open Badges by 2016.
*[http://chicagosummeroflearning.org/about '''Chicago Summer of Learning'''] -- The first citywide badging initiative, which was so successful that [http://www.enewspf.com/school-news/45425-mayor-emanuel-announces-nearly-100-000-badges-awarded-through-chicago-summer-of-learning.html '''Mayor Emmanuel committed to continuing the program next year.''']
*[http://www.openbadges.org/participating-issuers/ '''Participating Issuers'''] -- An updated list of badge issuers and designers.
*[http://bit.ly/platform-chart '''General Badge Issuing Platform Chart'''] -- A list of platforms for issuing open badges generated and continuously updated by the community.
*[http://blog.makewav.es/2013/08/05/open-badges-for-schools-what-are-the-options/ '''Badges for School Issuer Platforms'''] -- Badge issuing platforms for schools.
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/Issuers '''Add your organization!'''] -- If you're issuing, designing or exploring open badges with your communities, add your organization to our list of issuers.

== Further Reading ==

*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/File:OpenBadges-Working-Paper_012312.pdf '''White Paper'''] -- An in-depth look at how badges can reinvent 21st century learning 
*[http://bit.ly/badgevalidation '''Open Badges Validation Paper'''] -- An exploration of how to build an open and distributed accreditation system for badges and the organizations that issue them 
*[http://www.scoop.it/t/badges-for-lifelong-learning/?tag=Sheryl+Grant '''Press coverage'''] -- A collection of articles and related items from community member [http://www.hastac.org/users/slgrant Sheryl Grant] (new Press Coverage page coming soon!)
*[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/roadmap '''Open Badges roadmap'''] -- We're continually updating the roadmap with new features.
*[http://dmlcompetition.net '''Digital Media and Learning Competition: Badges for LifeLong Learning'''] (administered by HASTAC and funded by MacArthur) -- click to learn more.

== Press Inquiries ==

Please contact [mailto:press@mozilla.com press@mozilla.com].

== Get involved with Mozilla ==

*[http://join.mozilla.org '''Join Mozilla'''] -- you could get a snazzy t-shirt for joining!
*[http://www.mozilla.org/about/mission.html '''Mozilla's mission'''] -- Read more about our mission to promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web.
*[https://www.facebook.com/mozilla '''Like Mozilla on Facebook'''] and [http://twitter.com/mozilla '''Follow Mozilla on Twitter''']
*[https://donate.mozilla.org/Sign-Up '''Get updates from Mozilla'''] -- Be the first to know what we're doing and how you can get involved.

[[Image:Open_Badges_napkin_sketch.png|800px]]

Badges/badgekit

2014-03-19T11:32:00Z

Suesmith: /* Web Application - adding link to BadgeKit tutorial video */

The Mozilla Open Badges team is developing BadgeKit, a set of tools to make badging easier. With a private beta version launched in March 2014, the BadgeKit project will be expanding throughout the year. BadgeKit is primarily focused on helping organizations to issue badges through a Web application and API for building earner interfaces.

==History==

BadgeKit evolved out of experience with real-world badging systems including Chicago Summer of Learning. Open Badges are being used in an ever-increasing range of contexts, with each community having its own set of unique needs. BadgeKit provides a set of open foundational tools to support various key badging processes, including ''creating'', ''assessing'' and ''issuing''.

Since the BadgeKit tools are free and open, organizations can use them to build the component parts in a badging system quickly, easily and in a way that suits their own community. BadgeKit takes care of the back-end in a badge issuing system using a Web application, with an API to support issuers' own front-end Web interaction with badge earners. This lets issuers retain control over the badge earning experience and over their earners' data.

The BadgeKit Web app includes a series of new utilities to speed up the badge creation process. The tools are modular, so that issuers can implement badging within existing systems. The aim with BadgeKit is to support growth and adoption within the badging ecosystem in a way that reflects Mozilla's values for openness, choice and interoperability.

==Tools==

BadgeKit is composed of two main component parts: a '''Web app''' and an '''API'''. The Web application handles back-end processing and provides a user interface for administrators in a badge issuing system. Issuers can use the BadgeKit API in conjunction with the Web app to interact with badge earners and ultimately support the full badging lifecycle within their own environments.

===Web Application===

The BadgeKit Web application provides badge issuing and assessment admin, within a simple to use interface, which is equipped with a range of utilities to aid common badging processes. Badge issuers can configure a range of user account types in BadgeKit, for badge creators and assessors. Once logged in, a BadgeKit user can access badge templates, draft badges, badge applications and data. The user can carry out a series of actions on badges and applications, including:

* Creating new badges
** badges can be created from ''templates'', a new feature to enable remixing of badge elements
** users can create and save ''draft'' badges, letting them work on badges over a period of time and optionally in collaboration with others
** badge designs and metadata fields can all be defined using the BadgeKit interface, which includes explanatory information to help users complete the data items
** ''milestone'' badges allow issuers to recognize cumulative skills and experiences.
* Managing badge state
** users can publish draft badges, making them available to earners
** badges can also be ''archived'', meaning they can no longer be earned but their data can still be viewed and used
* Assessment and Issuing
** assessors can view badge applications together with supporting information
** badges can be issued from within BadgeKit.

Badge issuers can also manage BadgeKit accounts, defining the actions each user can carry out within the application. The UI provides various ways to view and navigate the badge and application data, making interacting with badge data quick and easy.

You can see a preview of the current BadgeKit app in action now: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?a=&feature=youtu.be&v=uvz-chEpi7Q BadgeKit Tutorial]

The BadgeKit Web application handles the administration part of a badge issuing system, '''but the issuer remains in control over interaction with their community of badge earners''' - BadgeKit supports this part of the process through the API.

===BadgeKit API===

BadgeKit is designed to provide much of the badge issuing processing, while still allowing issuers to fully customize the earner experience. For this reason, BadgeKit supports the front-end functionality in a badging system through '''API webhooks''' issuer sites can use to facilitate badge earning within their own environment.

The BadgeKit API complements badge issuing with the Web app via a series of endpoints to detect events such as changes in state and to access badge data. For example:

* an issuer administrator can create and publish a badge in the BadgeKit app
* the issuer site can retrieve the list of published badges and present them to earners
* earners can apply for the new badge through the issuer site listing (submitting evidence if necessary)
* the pending application appears in the BadgeKit app
* an assessor can view the pending application and make a decision to issue it, optionally providing feedback
* the issuer site can receive information from the API that the issuing decision has been made - it can then communicate with the earner.

This is an example of what an issuer might do with the BadgeKit app and API, but the nature of the tools means that you can configure each of the component parts to customize the functionality. The separation of badge issuing and assessment from interaction with earners lets organizations retain full control over their own badge data (''and over communication with a community of earners which may include children and young people'').

==Using BadgeKit==

In March 2014 BadgeKit was launched in private beta and the tools are still under active development. At the moment there are two options for using BadgeKit: ''signing up for access to the private beta'' and ''installing BadgeKit on your own server''.

The BadgeKit private beta is only available to select partners with specific technical resources, but support for a wider range of badge issuers will be implemented at a future stage. The private beta is intended for organizations looking to play a role in BadgeKit's future, but if your organization doesn't fit that profile you can still get involved with BadgeKit.

To sign up for private beta access, visit [http://badgekit.org/ BadgeKit.org]

To install BadgeKit on your own server, download it from [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit GitHub]

Additional BadgeKit features will be announced through the year, including tools for ''sharing'', ''collecting'' and ''discovering'' badges.

==BadgeKit Resources==

BadgeKit is still in the development stage, so expect lots of news throughout 2014! In the meantime, here are some additional resources for learning about the project:

* [https://badgekit.org/help BadgeKit Help and FAQs]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Tutorial BadgeKit Tutorial]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary BadgeKit Glossary]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-API-Introduction API Intro]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resources]

Badges/badgekit

2014-03-18T17:57:45Z

Suesmith: Initial draft of BadgeKit page.

The Mozilla Open Badges team is developing BadgeKit, a set of tools to make badging easier. With a private beta version launched in March 2014, the BadgeKit project will be expanding throughout the year. BadgeKit is primarily focused on helping organizations to issue badges through a Web application and API for building earner interfaces.

==History==

BadgeKit evolved out of experience with real-world badging systems including Chicago Summer of Learning. Open Badges are being used in an ever-increasing range of contexts, with each community having its own set of unique needs. BadgeKit provides a set of open foundational tools to support various key badging processes, including ''creating'', ''assessing'' and ''issuing''.

Since the BadgeKit tools are free and open, organizations can use them to build the component parts in a badging system quickly, easily and in a way that suits their own community. BadgeKit takes care of the back-end in a badge issuing system using a Web application, with an API to support issuers' own front-end Web interaction with badge earners. This lets issuers retain control over the badge earning experience and over their earners' data.

The BadgeKit Web app includes a series of new utilities to speed up the badge creation process. The tools are modular, so that issuers can implement badging within existing systems. The aim with BadgeKit is to support growth and adoption within the badging ecosystem in a way that reflects Mozilla's values for openness, choice and interoperability.

==Tools==

BadgeKit is composed of two main component parts: a '''Web app''' and an '''API'''. The Web application handles back-end processing and provides a user interface for administrators in a badge issuing system. Issuers can use the BadgeKit API in conjunction with the Web app to interact with badge earners and ultimately support the full badging lifecycle within their own environments.

===Web Application===

The BadgeKit Web application provides badge issuing and assessment admin, within a simple to use interface, which is equipped with a range of utilities to aid common badging processes. Badge issuers can configure a range of user account types in BadgeKit, for badge creators and assessors. Once logged in, a BadgeKit user can access badge templates, draft badges, badge applications and data. The user can carry out a series of actions on badges and applications, including:

* Creating new badges
** badges can be created from ''templates'', a new feature to enable remixing of badge elements
** users can create and save ''draft'' badges, letting them work on badges over a period of time and optionally in collaboration with others
** badge designs and metadata fields can all be defined using the BadgeKit interface, which includes explanatory information to help users complete the data items
** ''milestone'' badges allow issuers to recognize cumulative skills and experiences.
* Managing badge state
** users can publish draft badges, making them available to earners
** badges can also be ''archived'', meaning they can no longer be earned but their data can still be viewed and used
* Assessment and Issuing
** assessors can view badge applications together with supporting information
** badges can be issued from within BadgeKit.

Badge issuers can also manage BadgeKit accounts, defining the actions each user can carry out within the application. The UI provides various ways to view and navigate the badge and application data, making interacting with badge data quick and easy.

The BadgeKit Web application handles the administration part of a badge issuing system, '''but the issuer remains in control over interaction with their community of badge earners''' - BadgeKit supports this part of the process through the API.

===BadgeKit API===

BadgeKit is designed to provide much of the badge issuing processing, while still allowing issuers to fully customize the earner experience. For this reason, BadgeKit supports the front-end functionality in a badging system through '''API webhooks''' issuer sites can use to facilitate badge earning within their own environment.

The BadgeKit API complements badge issuing with the Web app via a series of endpoints to detect events such as changes in state and to access badge data. For example:

* an issuer administrator can create and publish a badge in the BadgeKit app
* the issuer site can retrieve the list of published badges and present them to earners
* earners can apply for the new badge through the issuer site listing (submitting evidence if necessary)
* the pending application appears in the BadgeKit app
* an assessor can view the pending application and make a decision to issue it, optionally providing feedback
* the issuer site can receive information from the API that the issuing decision has been made - it can then communicate with the earner.

This is an example of what an issuer might do with the BadgeKit app and API, but the nature of the tools means that you can configure each of the component parts to customize the functionality. The separation of badge issuing and assessment from interaction with earners lets organizations retain full control over their own badge data (''and over communication with a community of earners which may include children and young people'').

==Using BadgeKit==

In March 2014 BadgeKit was launched in private beta and the tools are still under active development. At the moment there are two options for using BadgeKit: ''signing up for access to the private beta'' and ''installing BadgeKit on your own server''.

The BadgeKit private beta is only available to select partners with specific technical resources, but support for a wider range of badge issuers will be implemented at a future stage. The private beta is intended for organizations looking to play a role in BadgeKit's future, but if your organization doesn't fit that profile you can still get involved with BadgeKit.

To sign up for private beta access, visit [http://badgekit.org/ BadgeKit.org]

To install BadgeKit on your own server, download it from [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit GitHub]

Additional BadgeKit features will be announced through the year, including tools for ''sharing'', ''collecting'' and ''discovering'' badges.

==BadgeKit Resources==

BadgeKit is still in the development stage, so expect lots of news throughout 2014! In the meantime, here are some additional resources for learning about the project:

* [https://badgekit.org/help BadgeKit Help and FAQs]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-Tutorial BadgeKit Tutorial]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/Glossary BadgeKit Glossary]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-API-Introduction API Intro]
* [https://github.com/mozilla/openbadges-badgekit/wiki/BadgeKit-and-Open-Badges-Resources BadgeKit and Open Badges Resources]