Badges atPipingDesignU.comWilliam G Beazley, PhD, PE
Information Assets, Inc.Houston, TX08 July 2014
Outline
• Why Badges?• How PDU uses badges and why• How I prepared/modified my course material• How I prepared Moodle courses for badges• Lessons learned• Possible applications for badges in
professional development
Why Badges?• Digital Credentials• Think Boy Scout Merit Badges• Specific, Targeted Skills• Portable (Backpacks)• Relatively Self-Documenting, Self-Verifying
– Badges tells where to verify itself– Contains:
• Skill Description• Evidence
• Owned by the user– Can be sent to employer– Motivates Learning
• Harder to Forge– Baked by Issuer– Issued to Earner– Displayed by Displayer– Confirmed by Issuer (at least in Moodle)
Piping Designers
• About 100,000 worldwide• Highly Paid• Most Knowledge Acquired On The Job (OJT)• Aging Workforce• New Hiring is Incremental: Training is Deferred• Credibility Through Experience
How PDU Uses Badges and Why• Already had the videos and PPT Notes
• 173 total subtopics (following user’s preferences)• PPT Subtopics not with separate objectives
– 15-45 Minutes,– Often used for Lunch and Learn
• PIPINGDESIGNU.COM– Subscription business model– Some video trainers use course business model
• Badges Suited to Subscription Site– Engagement is the key to long subscriptions– Badges are self-rewarding credential– Many subtopics favor mini-credentials– Experience shows users pick topics of immediate interest
Business Model: Course vs Subscription
Course Model• Goal: Completion• Design: Sequential• Good For: Body of Knowledge• Credential: Certifications, Degrees
Subscription Model• Goal: Subscriber Retention• Design: Non-Sequential• Good For: OJT, JIT Skills• Credential: Mini-Credentials
118 Badges Defined (29 May 2014)
How I Prepared My Course Material
• Target: Piper Boot Camp (Legacy Course)– About 2000 plus slides in 20 big topics– Transition slides, videos for 100+subtopics– Topical objectives only
• Preparation– Subdivided into 118 sub topics• Objectives for each subtopics• PDFs
– For each sub topic:• Video Segments re-edited to fit subtopics• Test bank, Quiz, Badge, Certificate
Badge Master Design• 118 Topics• Icons– Too confusing– Not familiar to pipers– Graphic Art Workload
• Chosen Design– Main Topic Below– Sub Topic in Center– Iconic Outline
Extra Data Added for CE Credit• Identified in failed
attempt to get pre-approval from Texas State Professional Engineers (TSPE) for badges
• Also wrote a specification for accepting badges for CE to meet licensing
• Added data to all badges per spec.
CONTINUING EDUCATION DATACOURSE DURATION: 1 Contact HourINSTRUCTOR: William G Beazley, PhD, PELOCATION: http://pipingdesignu.com/TYPE OF ACTIVITY: Online course (Video, Notes, Quiz, Recommended Textbooks, Links)SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: Piping Design UPDU BADGE EVIDENCE POLICY: http://pipingdesignu.com/?page_id=195
Moodle Courses and Badges• One Master enrollment Course
• Subtopic courses take enrollment from master course• Don’t plan to sell by subtopics
• Sub-courses– About 200 planned– Automatically generated from template– Badge for Every Subtopic– Videos Streamed– Notes, files in WebDAV
• Badges– Had to upgrade to avoid emails showing in badge– Public Badge List– No public exposure of Badge Definitions– Published evidence policy: 80% on quiz over all objectives
Site Status(08 July 2014)
• 70/118 test banks defined (enough to open)• All badges defined• All 118 slide sets written with PDFs (handouts)• 98/118 videos ready (re-record rest)• Courses in final QA• Open right after Moodle upgrade on new server (1
week if AOK)• Future– Main Topic Badges, Super Badges – Add animations, etc., if cost effective
Lessons Learned• Badges work great for incremental learning– OJT in downtime and at lunch– JIT learners who learn or relearn just before
execution• Badges Help with Good Structure– Force objectives and assessment– Force pathways in larger BOKs
• Badges Will Get Pushback– Easy is mistaken for trivial– “Cartoon” Icons good for kids– Adults like Logos, too, but have to represent value
Should I Use Badges?• I have to train staff in spare time or at lunch.• I have many chunks of knowledge and skills that
require check-off.• I have to train staff or users at their terminals.• I want to retain staff by rewarding professional
development in increments.• I want more detail about skills than a resume can
provide.• I provide software or hardware that has multiple
procedures, windows, displays, modules, etc., each with separate knowledge needed to operate.
Questions?