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Issue #001 - Welcome!
Friday 6th January 2017
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Welcome to Badge News from We Are Open Co-op! This is a brand new bi-weekly newsletter to keep the Open Badges community informed of what's going on, in-and-around the ecosystem.
Check out the message below from Nate Otto, outgoing Director of the Badge Alliance, and stalwart of the badges community. Further down the newsletter you can read about the work of the Open Recognition Alliance. We're doing our bit to continue the work of the Badge Alliance by salvaging the list of badge issuing platforms and updating it over the coming weeks.
If you have anything you'd like to submit for consideration into a future issue of this newsletter, or any improvements you think we could make, please get in touch by hitting 'reply' or by sending an email to: badgenews@weareopen.coop.
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I'm very excited to have a chance to greet the subscribers of Badge News in its first edition. This is an exciting moment for the digital badges community, and it's a perfect time to make sure we all stay well connected and informed.
I have had the privilege of serving as the Interim Director of the Badge Alliance, working with our contributors and the board to ensure a successful transition of the Open Badges Specification into a globally recognized web standards body, IMS Global Learning Consortium. With support from IMS, Open Badges will be able to grow in usefulness and adoption. This work is funded by companies investing in Open Badges through their memberships.
As part of this transition, the Badge Alliance has merged into IMS. We’re expecting a seamless transition, planning for widespread adoption of the brand new 2.0 Open Badges Specification. This update is easy for issuers to implement, but it contains a whole raft of new features to make Open Badges better, such as:
- embedded criteria and evidence
- endorsement from third parties
- improved security and verifiability.
I'll be collaborating with IMS to help facilitate adoption of 2.0 and future updates, helping badges become more useful through new features like learning pathways, and setting up the Open Recognition Alliance with some well-known names in the badges ecosystem.
I'm looking forward to reading Badge News to stay connected with the rest of you. Keep your eyes out for announcements on how to participate in the next wave of developments around badges, both here and around the web. Check out the #openbadges and #BadgeChatK12 hashtags via Twitter and be sure to join our Open Recognition community calls on Wednesdays at 5pm UTC.
Here’s to a great 2017!
Nate Otto
Director, Open Badges, Concentric Sky
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In this first issue at the start of 2017 we're rounding up news that you might have missed at the end of last year...
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Towards the end of 2016 the Badge Backpack was updated to move away from the 'Persona' login system. The good news is that the whole Backpack has had an overhaul, as detailed in this blog post. You will need to update your details, if you haven't already.
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Along with the transfer of the Open Badges standard to IMS Global Learning Consortium, the badges community has been hard at work. A new group known as the Open Recognition Alliance has been established to ensure the badges community continues to go from strength-to-strength.
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The EU Council of Ministers have called on EU member states for new approaches in youth work. This call specifically mentions Open Badges (PDF) which is a great boost to badge advocates working and/or operating in Europe.
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In her epic Hack Education round-up of 2016, Audrey Watters wrote a long article entitled Education Technology and the History of the Future of Credentialing. It's a critical look at badges, among other things, especially as related to other technologes and movements — including blockchain and the future of work.
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Credential Engine, formerly known as The Credential Transparency Initiative, is in the process of building a (US-focused) Credential Registry. Check out the video on the front page of the website for more details about the project.
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The MIT Media Lab have announced the launch of Blockcerts, "an open infrastructure for academic credentials on the blockchain". The article outlines details of the project, including welcome news that the system is compliant with the Open Badges standard.
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Have you read a great article about badges you'd like us to include in an upcoming issue? Get in touch with a link!
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Innovative uses of badges
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Backed by Intel, Society for Science & the Public have created an online badging system to "recognize high school students' participation and achievement in science fairs and independent student research".
We like the way this badge system not only has great looking badges, backed by a well-known sponsor, but focuses in on the knowledge, behaviour, and skills the Society is trying to encourage. In this case, it's encouraging young people into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) careers.
Seen an innovative use of badges? Let us know!
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- Bryson, D., Hadi, M., & Petronzi, D. (2016, November). Developing badge eco-systems to support engagement in class-based and online learning. In Proceedings of the 9th Annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation. International Academy of Technology, Education and Development. (Link)
- Ifenthaler, D, Gibson, D, Lewis, M, West, D, Beattie, S, Coleman, K, Flintoff, K, Irving, L, Lockley, A and Lodge, J. (2016). Moving Forward with Digital Badges. In S. Barker, S. Dawson, A. Pardo, & C. Colvin (Eds.), Show Me The Learning. Proceedings ASCILITE 2016 Adelaide (pp. 275-277). (Link)
- Rizvi, M. (2016). Been there, done it, badge it! Information literacy and the use of digital badges at Middlesex University. SCONUL Focus, 2016(67), 89-93. (Link)
Did we miss one? Incorrectly cite something? Send in a correction! Note that we only link to open-access publications or articles available on the open web.
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Know about an upcoming event — either online or offline? Get in touch with details!
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Badge News is produced by We Are Open Co-op and available under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA license. You are subscribed as <<Email Address>>. You may update your preferences or unsubscribe. This newsletter has an archive page of past issues.
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