Abstract
Educators worldwide are witnessing a change in thinking concerning digital learning, teaching and assessment resources as well as the theories and practices connected to making claims about learning based on digital evidence. These shifts are occurring as three elements have combined to form new digital pathways for learning: (1) self-organizing learning groups, (2) digital badges, and (3) changing conceptions of higher education. This chapter outlines three primary roles of digital badges for supporting learning journeys in higher education: bringing visibility and transparency to learning, teaching and assessment; revealing meaningful, identifiable and detailed aspects of learning for all stakeholders; and providing a new mechanism to recognize skills, experience and knowledge through an open, transferable, stackable technology framework. The possibilities for these roles are explored via distinct phases of the journey of learning referred to as ‘paths into learning,’ ‘paths during learning’ and ‘lifelong learning pathways.’ The role of badges as competency credentials and as bridges from informal to formal learning processes elevates the potential of digital badges for transforming teaching, learning and assessment in higher education. Team-based development processes and design decisions for creating badge systems for motivating learning are reviewed based on cases stemming from a national study of micro-credentialing in Australia, and the chief instructional approaches and impacts are briefly outlined, with examples from the cases, namely designing badges for learning processes, integrating badges into eportfolio practices, developing autonomy and self-regulation of learners, and utilizing badges for both internal and open external symbols of accomplishment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abeywardena, I. S., & Dhanarajan, G. (2012). OER in Asia Pacific: Trends and issues. Policy Forum for Asia and the Pacific: Open Education Resources organized by UNESCO Bangkok and Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Thailand.
Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2009). Trends in global higher education. Thailand Thailaned by UNESCO Bangkok and Commo. Higher Education. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183219e.pdf
Aquapons. (2015). Aquapons badges. Retrieved from http://aquapons.info/badges/aquapons-badges/
Argyris, C., & Schon, D. (1982). Reasoning, learning, and action. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Bell, P., Lewenstien, B., Shouse, A., & Feder, M. (2009). Learning science in informal environments: People, places and pursuits. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments.
Boud, D., & Associates. (2010). Assessment 2020: Seven propositions for assessment reform in higher education. Sydney: Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
Bull, B. (2014). 5 predictions about educational credentialing in 2024. Etale—Life & Learning in the Digital World. Retrieved January 31, 2015, from http://etale.org/main/2014/07/21/5-predictions-about-educational-credentialing-in-2024/
Bull, B. (2015). Curate, credential and carry forward digital learning evidence: The potential of open badges in higher education. Presentation at University of Wollongong, September 2, 2014.
Carlson, S., & Blumenstyk, G. (2012). For whom is college being reinvented? ‘Disruptions’ have the buzz but may put higher education out of reach for those students likely to benefit the most. The Chronicle for Higher Education, December 17.
Christensen, C., Horn, M. B., & Johnson, C. W. (2010). Disrupting class, expanded edition: How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Coleman, K. (2015). Digital portfolios and open badges: Friends or foes? Presented at Researching and Evaluating Personal Development Planning and e-Portfolio, Centre For Recording Achievement—4th International Seminar. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op_Q2i87ta0
Credly. (2015). Brandman University teams up with Credly to issue digital badges as part of competency-based education degrees. Credly Blog. January 7, 2015. Retrieved from http://blog.credly.com/brandman-cbe-badges/
Curran, T. (2014). How open badges can promote student motivation. TedCurran.net , June 6, 2014. Retrieved from http://tedcurran.net/2014/06/06/open-badges-motivation/
Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and Higher Education. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.06.002.
Davidson, C., & Goldberg, D. (2009). The future of learning institutions in a digital age. Chicago, IL: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Duncan, A. (2011). Digital badges for learning, Remarks by Secretary Duncan at 4th Annual Launch of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition. US Department of Education. September 15, 2011.
Ellison, N., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143–1168.
Finkelstein, J., Knight, E., & Manning, S. (2013). American Institutes for Research. The potential and value of using digital badges for adult learners. Retrieved from https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/AIR_Digital_Badge_Report_508.pdf.
Gee, J. P. (2000). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25, 99–125. American Educational Research Association.
Gee, J. P. (2003). What video game have to teach us about learning and literacy. Computers in Entertainment (ACM), 1(1), 1–4. doi:10.1145/950566.950595.
Gee, J. P. (2008). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. Abingdon: Routledge.
Gee, J. P. (2011). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. New York, NY: Routledge.
Gibson, D., & Knezek, G. (2011). Game changers for teacher education. In P. Mishra & M. Koehler (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2011 (p. 929). Nashville, TN: Society for Information Technology.
Gibson, D., Ostashewski, N., Flintoff, K., Grant, S., & Knight, E. (2013). Digital badges in education. Education and Information Technologies, 20, 403–410.
Grant, S. (2014). What counts as learning: Open digital badges for new opportunities. Irvine, CA. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/8022569/What_Counts_As_Learning_Open_Digital_Badges_for_New_Opportunities
Grush, M. (2015). Showcasing the co-curricular: ePortfolios and digital badges, A Q&A with Alex Ambrose. Strategic directions. Campus Technology, January, 2015. Retrieved from http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/01/27/showcasing-the-co-curricular-with-eportfolios-and-digital-badges.aspx
Hassler, B. (2009). Access to open educational resources: Report of a UNESCO OER Community discussion. Retrieved from http://oerwiki.iiep-unesco.org/images/2/27/Access2OER_final_report.pdf
Hickey, D., Otto, N., Itow, R., Schenke, K., Tran, C., & Chow, C. (2014). Badges design principles documentation project: Interim report January 2014 update. Irvine, CA: Center for Research on Learning and Technology Indiana University.
Hickey, D. T., & Zuiker, S. J. (2012). Multilevel assessment for discourse, understanding, and achievement. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 21(4), 522. doi:10.1080/10508406.2011.652320.
International Standards Organization. (2004). Portable Network Graphics (PNG): Functional specification. ISO/IEC 15948:2004. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=29581
IMS. (2016). Enabling better digital credentialing. IMS Global Learning Consortium. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from https://www.imsglobal.org/initiative/enabling-better-digital-credentialing
Joyce, A. (2007). OECD study of OER: forum report. Retrieved from http://www.schoolforge.net/IIEP_OECD_OER_forum_report.pdf
Kim, J. (2014). A course badging case study, technology and learning, inside higher education. Available from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/course-badging-case-study
Mblem. (2015). Digital badging at the University of Michigan. Available from http://www.mblem.umich.edu/v/overview
Metaliteracies. (2015). Metaliteracy , an OpenSUNY learning experience. Retrieved from http://metaliteracy.learningtimes.net
Mozilla Foundation. (2013). Badges. Mozilla Wiki. The Mozilla Foundation and Peer 2 Peer University, in collaboration with The MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved from https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges
Olneck, M. (2012). Insurgent credentials: A challenge to established institutions of higher education? [Online]. Retrieved from http://hastac.org/blogs/slgrant/2012/08/07/insurgent-credentials-challenge-established-institutions-higher-education
Otto, N., & Ravet, S. (2014). An API of one’s own. Traust Networks with Open Bagdes, Presentation at OpenEd 2014. Available from http://www.slideshare.net/szerge/open-passportwashington-vfinale
Ravet, S. (2014). Open badges for key competencies, a position paper. Available from http://www.learningfutures.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/TRANSIt-keyCompetenciesBadges.pdf
Roome, B., & Willis, J. (2015). Competency-based education, badges, and professional development. Re-Mediating Assessment, May 19, 2015. Retried from http://remediatingassessment.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/competency-based-education-badges-and.html
Surman, M. (2011). Mozilla launches open badges project. commonspace on WordPress.com. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://commonspace.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/openbadges-2/
Tran, C., Schenke, K., & Hickey, D. T. (2014). Design principles for motivating learning with digital badges: Consideration of contextual factors of recognition and assessment. Learning and becoming in practice principles for motivating learning with digital badge (ICLS) 2014 (Vol. 2, pp. 1027).
Trotter, A. (2008). Much of new-media learning said to occur informally: Lessons with friends seen rivaling those in school. Education Week, 28(14), 8.
UNESCO. (2005). Guidelines for quality provision in cross-border higher education. UNESCO, 23. doi:10.1787/9789264065994-ru
University of Central Oklahoma. (2015). Student Transformative Learning Record (STLR). UCO. Retrieved from http://www.uco.edu/central/tl/stlr/index.asp
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Academic degree. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_degree
Acknowledgements
This chapter began as discussions and cross institutional discourse about emerging practice supported by an Office for Learning and Teaching Strategic Commissioned Project led by Professor Beverley Oliver, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Deakin University, Melbourne Australia. The project: Curate, Credential and Carry Forward Digital Learning Evidence partnered Deakin University, Curtin University, HASTAC, AAEEBL, Cisco, CRA, Telstra, Badge Alliance and ESA to provide advice, case studies and good practice guides on the changing landscape of digital credentialing in higher education. Project resources can be found at http://www.assuringgraduatecapabilities.com/credential.html
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix: OBI Metadata Structure
Appendix: OBI Metadata Structure
The structure of the OBI metadata is open to anyone who is interested, and is composed of two essential parts, the experience in h projectcess of ‘baking’ the assertion into the .png file. The assertion (Table 7.4) is in a sense a container with five required elements (uid, recipient, badge, verify, and issuedOn) and three optional elements (image, evidence, expires). The expected data types for all the elements have further specifications, and these are then used in the baking process to ensure a trustworthy exchange of a badge between an issuer, a recipient and the public consumer or reader of the badge.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gibson, D., Coleman, K., Irving, L. (2016). Learning Journeys in Higher Education: Designing Digital Pathways Badges for Learning, Motivation and Assessment. In: Ifenthaler, D., Bellin-Mularski, N., Mah, DK. (eds) Foundation of Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15425-1_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15425-1_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15424-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15425-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)