Mozilla Badges #InAfS

Badger , Badger but watch out for any snake-oil


To make my new year's prediction come true - I've been doing a bit of work in the background to get Mozilla Badge Making and Earning  an established part of the Scottish learning firmament.

Think about a different way of credentialing you or your learners skills . A way that is on-line, in the cloud  and portable. You can add a badge to your online identity or resume when you want to, no more hunts in cupboards and attics for paper certificates and you can decide what , when and where you want to share your badges.

The infrastructure can make public,  the learning outcomes you achieved , the awarding agency, the assessors, even the work that was produced for the assessment can be digitally linked to the badge.

Add to this some quite well built out systems in areas like web-design and coding for the web and Mozilla Badges offer a real opportunity to change the way we think about the recognition of achievement.

The system also offers,  the opportunity to bread-crumb learning outcomes towards national qualifications and a mechanism for providing recognition for chunks of learning smaller than would normally be recognised either by formal qualifications or by national credit frameworks like the SCQF ( normally learning of less that 10 hours is not recognised) .The system could allow centres to quickly build customised awards where they want these .

Ideal too for primary and secondary schools and other groups that may want a flexible recognition of achievement system.

Have a look at how the  JISC RSC Scotland have built badges that provide steps towards a range of national recognition and recognition too through professional standards. The Jisc RSC Scotland are making extensive use of the Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI), which enables an open, standards-based way to issue digital recognition and accreditation. 

In areas like web-design centres should be using the well developed on-line resources and badges and offering accreditation of prior learning for relevant badges towards larger national awards.

Mozilla Badges  will become in time the natural adjunct to any e-portfolio .

The Scottish Qualifications Authority is exploring how open badges can be built into the national qualifications system. We are hosting an event next Tuesday in Glasgow to see what else we can do to support and promote the flexibility for centres and learners that Mozilla Badges offer.