1Designed for Success:

Professional Development & Digital Badges

ICE 2015

Angela Elkordy

Assistant Professor, Learning Sciences

National College of Education, National Louis University

2/27/2015

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir: Paradise

Follow along: http://goo.gl/toV9Hl

4Quick Check:

• Audience (who’s here?)

• What do you know (if anything) about digital badges?

• What do you want to know?

Already Know

Want to Know

Learned?

Collaborate -- backchannel:https://todaysmeet.com/digitalbadges

6 Big Picture Overview

• What are digital badges?• What are Competency-based models of

professional development• Why digital badges for professional learning? • View examples of badges and badging

systems• How can I leverage digital badges to add

value and transparency in learning environments

• Where to find additional resources

7Why do we need new ways to measure and communicate learning?

Digital age learners….

Socio-cultural contexts …

Educator roles & digital age learners… when learning is continuous, in and out of school

Life-long and life-wide learners

What is valued as “Learning?”

What are digital badges?

11What are digital badges?

• They are images…

• with “metadata” (data about data) attached

• Come in two main flavors: Open & Proprietary

• evidence-based;• acknowledge and communicate

skills;• flexible;• granular;• “common assessments.”

Digital badges “of” learning

Robust digital badge assessments :

• are transparent;

• scaffold learning;

• motivate learners;

• communicate expectations widely;

• reinforce and strengthen important metacognitive skills

• can be used to recognize, assess and communicate a wide variety of skills;

• differentiate.

Digital badges “for” learning

14Why do we need digital badges and micro-credentialing?

What are micro-credentials anyway?

• Source: Building Badges for Informal Learning Environments: http://fastapps.hri.uci.edu/files/2423/files/BADGE-workshopsheets.pdf

Track learning over time

• Establish credentials and skills in learning community for:

• Elementary Teachers • Middle School Teachers• High School Teachers• Specialists• Professional Student Supports• Paraprofessionals• Administrators

Why do we need digital badges?

Image credit: Carlosae: http://carlosae.deviantart.com/art/Flower-Fractal-Kaleidoscope-362698489

• Audiences:

• Administrators• Parents• Students• Community members• Potential employers• Colleagues• Family & friends

Image credit: Carlosae: http://carlosae.deviantart.com/art/Flower-Fractal-Kaleidoscope-362698489

Why do we need digital badges?

18Competency-based Learning

•measures learning and skills acquisition versus seat-time

19Badges & Competency Learning Report by Pearson / Acclaim: http://goo.gl/vGCnbj

• “some significant limitations” to traditional diplomas:

• 1. Diplomas lack transparency and granularity.

• 2. College grades are subjective – and can be a low quality indicator of real competence.

• 3. Competency-based criteria that map learning to job requirements effectively complement the grades on a college transcript and provide better information for employers evaluating candidates.

• 4. For diplomas, institutional reputation drives value, not job relevance.

20Badges & Competency Learning Report by Pearson / Acclaim: http://goo.gl/vGCnbj

• 5. New learning providers challenge the status quo. Today’s students have more learning options than ever before.

• 6. The traditional accreditation processes must evolve.

• 7. Learners are not in control of their own qualifications.

• 8. Learners need to make informed college investment choices.

• 9. Connecting learning and career pathways.

21Digital badges are Competency-based

•What can you *do*?

• Evidence based

• Performance tasks

• Visible learning

22Visible Learning, Competencies, Skills: What do you value?

• Teacher B: “I wish there was some way… I wish that you could quantify students’ feelings in a classroom.”

• Teacher A: “Even us, with our evaluations…‘builds positive relationships with students is a little checkbox. It's yes, you do, or you don't.”

• [ Teacher B: That's a crazy thing to say yes or no to.]

• “So you know to have badges, or have other things that kind of quantify more what actually goes into that. And what having good relationships with your students gets you as a teacher. And for them, in terms of fewer referrals, better grades, and things like that.”

23What do you value? Skill sets?

Specialized content

knowledge?

Competencies? Data Review

Protocols? Intrapersona

l skills?

Snazzy Technology

Skills?

Classroom manageme

nt and organizatio

n

Pedagogical

knowledge? ESL/

Poverty?

Snazzy Technology

Skills?

24What do you value?http://goo.gl/c1Xdz3

25Creating “Professional Presence”

What can I do with my digital badges?

• Link to professional presences

• Blogs• Linked In• Portfolios• Section on Resume /

CV• Keep in Digital

Backpack and share links

• Wikis• Print out• Share on social media• Create digital transcript

26Digital Badges and Professional Credentials

27What types of badges are available for educators?

Aren’t we at the beginning of all this badge business…?

• Achievement (specific criteria)

• Affiliation (belonging)

• Aptitudes or traits

• Demonstration of specific skills (products)

• Incremental (toward a goal)

• Participation (events, classes, meetings)

• Social capital (mentoring, collaborating, team building)

Kinds of badges

29Creating Digital Badge Frameworks

30Top Ten Reasons to Use Digital Badges for Educator P.D. (A. Elkordy aelkordy@nl.edu/K. Fontichiaro, font@umich.edu)

1. Track educators learning over time.

2. Show educators professional growth over time (“constellations”)

3. Create a framework for comprehensive staff development

4. Create a platform for dialogue about knowledge and skills development

5. Targeted skills development

31

6. Create and share digital skills portfolios

7. Establish a culture of accountability with flexibility

8. Motivate adult learners

9. Re-energize attitudes toward professional development

10. Create an eportfolio for exploring career opportunities

11. Foster positive culture and shared vision.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Digital Badges for Educator P.D. (A. Elkordy aelkordy@nl.edu/K. Fontichiaro, font@umich.edu)

32Turn and Talk. What do you think?

33Examples ….. possibilities

Life long and life wide learning

aren’t going away! Neither are alternative credentials!

34Mblem: U of M Digital Badges

35Pearson’s Acclaim:https://www.youracclaim.com/

36Earn Angela’s Action Research badge

37Earn Angela’s Teacher Researcher 1 badge: Proposal

38Great Lakes Science Teacher Badging

39Reconnect Learning

http://www.reconnectlearning.org/summit/

40Competency-based Teacher (Digital Promise)

41Digital Badges: http://goo.gl/sJM89p

42Pilot: Digital Promise

43Teaching Matters: Teacher Leadership Micro-credentials

Badges for Educators

45Earn a badge! aelkordy@nl.edu

1. Design a standards-aligned digital badge (for students) or

2. Design a badge to recognize professional competencies

3. Include 3 badge criteria

4. Include 3 possible kinds of “evidence” of meeting the criteria (e.g. video, document, presentation, digital artifact etc.

46A digital badge template

Design Tools

Resources: Digital Badges Pearltrees (http://goo.gl/0SqVWG)

•Thank you!

• For more information, visit http://www.badgebox.net/

• Or contact Angela Elkordy• aelkordy@nl.edu• call (734) 494-0640 (Google voice)

Questions?