'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas - College 2.0. By Jeffrey R. Young The spread of a seemingly playful alternative to traditional diplomas, inspired by Boy Scout achievement patches and video-game power-ups, suggests that the standard certification system no longer works in today's fast-changing job market. Educational upstarts across the Web are adopting systems of "badges" to certify skills and abilities. If scouting focuses on outdoorsy skills like tying knots, these badges denote areas employers might look for, like mentorship or digital video editing. Many of the new digital badges are easy to attain—intentionally so—to keep students motivated, while others signal mastery of fine-grained skills that are not formally recognized in a traditional classroom.
At the free online-education provider Khan Academy, for instance, students get a "Great Listener" badge for watching 30 minutes of videos from its collection of thousands of short educational clips. Employers might prefer a world of badges to the current system. 'Digital Badges' Would Represent Students' Skill Acquisition. Open Badges.
Badges What is a badge? A badge is a symbol or indicator of an accomplishment, skill, competency, or interest. Badges can be used to represent achievements, communicate successes, and set goals. They can support learning that happens beyond traditional classrooms. A wide range of organizations and individuals design and issue badges for learners of all ages. By providing a more complete picture of what learners are capable of and passionate about, badges act as signals to potential employers, collaborators, fellow students, and social groups. What can badges do? Badges can: Illustrate wide sets of skills and achievements; Provide concrete evidence and proof of skills, achievements, and interests; Help unlock new career and learning opportunities. Why do we need badges? Learning today happens anywhere and everywhere. What are the benefits of badges?
Signal achievement to peers, potential employers, collaborators, educational institutions, and others. What forms do badges take? Badge Systems.