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In
the year 1911, the Boy Scouts of America introduced 57 original merit badges in
order to create a system for tracking and displaying the accomplishments of its
members. Today, many of these core badges still exist with a number of
additional badges being put into place in proceeding years (Duersch, F., 2003).
Awarding a badge to recognize an individual for their knowledge, experience or
expertise in a particular subject area is a credible idea, so why not
incorporate this system into the arena of education and training? Some
organizations and institutions such as the Khan Academy as well as The
University of California, Davis are doing just that (“Seven Things You,” 2012).
What is the Badge
System?
With the badge system being a relatively new idea to the
field of training and education, it has not yet been widely embraced. However,
for those organizations, institutions and groups that are choosing to embark
within this new realm of certification they are finding it a very useful method
for signifying an individual's, “… accomplishments such as completion of a
project, mastery of a
skill, or marks of experience” (“Seven Things You,” 2012, p. 1). The badge
system is being recognized as a new trend within the platform of training and
education whereby a student or employee can receive due acknowledgment for more
than just the traditional successful completion of a course or exam.
How does it Work?
There are slight variations in functionality when it comes
to each tracking system, but all revolve around the use of digital tokens that
come in the form of an icon or logo that have important information linked to
each (“Seven Things You,” 2012). Mozilla’s
Open Badge Initiative (OPI) is one such example of an online badge tracking
system that is being utilized by interested stakeholders. An individual can be
awarded a badge for the successful completion of a task as outlined by the user-specific
success criterion that is aligned with learning outcomes or competency based
outcomes. Each badge is connected to information, as mentioned above, including such
things as links to larger skill sets or certificate programs, information about
the badge earner as well as the issuer that verifies the credibility of both and
the evidence that shows what the earner has done and/or completed to be awarded
the badge by the issuer (Johnson, M., 2014). Once a badge is granted, it is
stored in a virtual ‘backpack’ or portfolio where it can be viewed by potential
institutions, organizations or groups as well as shared by the earner amongst
varying social media hubs like LinkedIn or Facebook (“Seven Things You,”
2012). The badge system provides an advantage to the earner whereby networking
and promotion of one's knowledge, experience and expertise is made easy and
accessible.
Training & Higher
Education Arena
Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization
created by Salman Khan
to provide "a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere" (Khan
Academy, n.d). Khan Academy is solely based on online learning, and as such
utilizes the badge system as a means of providing its
users with proof of any learning and experience gained from participation in
online learning forums such as videos, discussion boards and readings.
Likewise, the University of California, Davis has developed the badge system
within their sustainable agriculture and food systems studies program which
allows students to gain badges for participation in such things as internships,
workshops and special projects (“Seven Things You,” 2012). Organizations
are also embracing digital badges through means of measuring an employee’s core
competencies. This can be useful by way of identifying the gaps in knowledge
and expertise within a company or organization, and providing a clear focus for
training needs. Further to that point, it can also help to show where the
company or organization is excelling as a group and on an individual level (Johnson, M.,
2014).
The badge system is far from being considered a norm within
training and higher education settings. That being said, the more it is applied
the more credibility it will gain. In the distant future, the badge system may very well replace the function
of a classic resume, cover letter and/or portfolio with the amount of
information and merit that it has the ability to store and share on the world
wide web.
References:
Duersch, F. (2003). Merit Badge Field Guide (2nd ed., p. 1-11).
Logan, Utah: Fred
Duersch.
Johnson, M. (2014). The Promise of Badges for Learning and Development. Training
Industry Magazine, 30-32.
Khan Academy. (n.d.). Retrieved June 1, 2015, from
https://www.khanacademy.org/about
Mozilla Open Badges. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2015, from
http://openbadges.org/earn/
Seven Things You Should Know About Badges. (2012). 1-2. Retrieved May 31,
2015,
from
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7085.pdf
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