Lessons learned from open badges systems developed between 2011-2014.

1. Case Studies
Lessons learned in the developing
open badges ecosystem

2. Madison Area Technical College
Kate Radionoff, Dean
Leslie Voight, Instructional Designer
http://madisoncollege.edu/badges

3. Badges for non-credit learning
Goals:
Shifting away from seat time to badged assessments
Credentialing non-formal learning
Status of badge system:
Transitioning to Pearson Acclaim
Developing badges for all PD classes
Expanding system to include other colleges

4. Lessons Learned
• Needed instructional resource:
– to act as a point person within the org to lead project
– to connect with busy instructors
• Know your resources:
– staff
– technical
• Badge business model:
– business plan
– design strategy
– resources
• Know your goals:
– lay out goals from the beginning
– identify steps needed to achieve goals
– define what 'success' means for your system
• Buy-in:
– Faculty: allow time for gaining faculty buy-in and provide training / information
– Employers: look at existing value structures / standards that can add value to badges

5. Penn State
Chris Gamrat, Instructional Designer
Chris Stubbs & Bart Pursel
http://bit.ly/Case_PennState

6. Catalyst for Change
Goals:
recognize personalized learning
support teacher PD and cont’d learning
State of badge system:
currently in pilot phase
planned release: fall 2014

7. Lessons Learned (so far)
• Peer assessment:
– advantages and disadvantages to this method
• Quality of evidence:
– can be difficult to get ‘good’ evidence for badges
• Know your use strategy:
– don’t develop badges if you aren’t sure how you’re going
to use them
– understand your students’ and employers’ needs
• Know your limits:
– understand the time (and price) of building your system
– what barriers are there to learning?
– what about the intangibles?

8. Borders College, Scotland
Suzanne Scott, eLearning Coordinator
http://bit.ly/Case_Borders

9. Replacing Paper Certs. with Badges
Goals:
increase student engagement & retention
build student employability
acknowledge student use of Moodle
recognize staff PD
State of badge system:
currently in pilot phase
ongoing pilots to assess badges’ long term potential

10. Lessons Learned
• Challenges & Concerns:
– overloading lecturing staff
• automated Moodle reports
• staff badges recognizing PD
• ongoing support for staff
– ensuring badge value
• Lessons Learned:
– gaining faculty support beneficial before starting
– allocating more time to educate / inform
– visual design important for overall impact

11. UC Davis SA & FS Major
Joanna Normoyle, Learning Coordinator
Experiential & Digital Media Learning
http://bit.ly/Case_SAFS

12. Capturing Varied Learning Experiences
Goals:
support learning in & out of the classroom
create student-driven, outcomes-based system
improve quality of interactions between students, mentors, faculty
and advisers
help students track progress
promote varied learning models
provide an elegant, achievable, scalable model for implementing
competency-based education using the principles of connected
learning
State of badge system:
initiating student pilot of system
redesigning learning portfolios as road maps

13. Lessons Learned
• Focus on user experience
– it’s about the learning, not the earning
– focus on faculty as well as students
• Faculty buy-in
– faculty adoption is key; don’t overlook their experience
– make the system desirable and rewarding to use
– consider technical / structural barriers
• Strategy & vision:
– create a strong vision and team
– technology, content and design are all important
– find the right technical partner(s)
– start with learning objectives and work from there

14. Providence After School Alliance
Hillary Salmons, Exec. Director
Ann Durham, Director of Quality Improvement
http://bit.ly/Case_pasa

15. Building Learning Pathways
Goals:
recognize, motivate, and validate students’ learning
connect students’ interests and achievements
create seamless learning pathways
connect middle/high school, college & career
State of badge system:
scaled back system from 6-12th grade to HS
slowly expanding system

16. Lessons Learned
• Understand badge concepts
• Tie badges to quality learning experiences:
– badges are more than just ‘trophies’
• Stakeholder buy-in:
– familiarize stakeholders with badges early on
– provide continued support and info
– pull industry leaders into conversation early
– build badge relevance and demand early
• employers & higher ed.
• Challenges:
– integrating badges with existing technological platforms
and systems

17. Young Adult Library Services
Association (YALSA)
Linda Braun, Ed Tech Consultant
Nicole Gibby Munguia, YALSA Program
Officer for Continuing Education
http://bit.ly/CASE_yalsa

18. Recognize Staff Skill Development
Goals:
improve, and enhance library staff skills
recognize skill development based on YALSA’s
‘Competencies for Serving Youth’
State of badge system:
testing phase in progress
full system launch later in 2014

19. Lessons Learned
• Importance of robust LMS:
– badge activities, tasks, artifacts etc. need a place to live
• Know your goals:
– don’t create badges for the sake of badges
– has to be market need
• System development process:
– think about the entire process ahead of time
– badges are ‘at the end’: focus on learning objectives and how to get
people there
• Costs:
– the more complex the system, the more costly
• Partnerships:
– partners can be helpful
– make sure you find the right partners for your organization

20. Common themes
• Identify your goals and ‘success’ first
• Think carefully about partnerships
• Know your resources & limitations
• Start small, think big:
– think about expansion but don’t try to do too much
too fast
– allow [lots of] time for stakeholder buy-in
– find the shortest path to achieving your goals
“It’s about the learning, not the earning”