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Ildikó Mázár, Deputy Secretary General, EDEN2016 eucen Autumn Seminar, 25 November 2016, Barcelona
Open Badge Network: the use of Open Badges to recognise
non-formal and informal learning
Introducing EDEN
The most comprehensive European association of its kind
Registered in the UK in 1991
Platform for professional co-operation and information
exchange www.eden-online.org
Open for all levels and sectors of education and training
Open for institutions, individuals and networks
Organises annual and thematic conferences
Participates in EU projects (research and practice)
Recognises excellence
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Open Badge Network
www.openbadgenetwork.com
Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme
Supporting the development of an Open Badge ecosystem
Promoting the use of open badges to recognise non-formal
and informal learning
Collecting practical use cases (submit your own)
Discussion papers for individuals and organisations
Discussion paper on open badge policies
Designing a MOOC – please register to get involved
www.openbadgenetwork.com/members/register/3 /21
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What are open badges? Why use open badges?
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Which soft skills
are the most important?
By 2020, 90% of jobs will require digital skills (Cedefop)
McKinsey (2014). ‘Education to Employment, getting
Europe’s youth into work’, ILO Global Employment Trend
74% of universities consider they prepare their graduates well for the
world of work
38% of students believe the are prepared
35% of employers agree with this statement
Tools the eLene4work project offers
Self Assessment of soft skills and digital soft skills
Orientation Guide to help improve skills
Personal Journal to support the students' learning process
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Recognition of soft skills
The design process
Using Digital Me’s badge design canvas
Setting criteria (this is key to quality badges)
Identifying badgeable skills, knowledge and behaviours
Who is the badge for?
Value proposition for earners, issuers, audience, displayers
Learning pathways
Resources and sustainability
Graphical design
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What makes a badge?Open Badges are
Versatile, adaptable, stackable
Standardised, evidence-based, verifiable, portable and shareable
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Badge versatility
11 /21Reviewing the PPT and/or the recording of the webinar will allow you to pause and
spend as much time as you need to fill in the canvas blocks
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What do you want to badge?
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Badge Name: Workshop Participant
Audience and Value
Who is the badge earner?
Professionals who don’t require formal recognition of their learning
Who is the badge issuer
Workshop organiser/endorser/validator, i.e. EDEN
Who is the audience / consumer
Current and prospective employers of badge earners
What opportunities does the badge unlock?
New ways of CPD; identifying skill gaps; a creative means of organising
non-academic and informal achievements; clustering similar achievements
Where does a user find out about the badge?
EDEN website; Partner communications (e.g. EUCEN, OBN); conferences
and formal/informal meetings; open badge databases; endorsers14 /21
Audience and Value
Why bother earning the badge?
Earner: Confidence building; Sense of achievement; Informal but
official recognition of achievement; Point of reference and evidence to
new knowledge, skills, achievements
Issuer: Recognising excellence; Brand awareness; Incentive of
modernisation; Raising interest
Audience/Consumers: Awareness of initiative; identify interest and/or
expertise
Displayer (LinkedIn, Moodle, etc.): Reputation; Community; Loyalty
What is in it for the issuer?
Value recognition (statistical record of acceptance rate)
Widening brand/service recognition15 /21
Strengthened skills, knowledge,
competencies and behaviours
Non-formal learning ability
Professional commitment
Curiosity, openness to innovation
Independence
Collaboration and teamwork
Communication
Critical thinking
Specific knowledge/skill, i.e. ability to design a badge
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Evidence
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Attendance
(Self) assessment
Completion of task
Publishing result
Endorsements
…
Learning pathways
Map your learning offering
Organise your learning offering
Consider your options for improvement and expansion
“Pie”-type badges
”Level-up” badges (bronze, silver, gold)
Connect with parallel, relevant, external learning resources
Allow learners / prospective earners to explore, engage
Be creative and adaptable
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Resources & sustainability Time for concept development
Time to fill in the canvas
Align with curriculum or competency framework (if needed)
Time and skill to design badges (low key) or
Pay professional designer (high profile)
Issue badges manually (low key) or
Issue badges via existing platforms (high profile)
Time to create support material
Time to create and issue, re-issue individual badges
Time to evolve open badge portfolio19 /21
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Report example
Resources www.openbadgenetwork.com
www.badgealliance.org
www.openbadgefactory.com
www.openbadgepassport.com
www.openbadgeacademy.com
www.openbadges.org
www.makewav.es
https://backpack.openbadges.org
http://elene4work.eu
www.eden-online.org/recognition/eden-open-badges21 /21