What is an Open Badge?

Content

Futurologists were talking that future of recognition will be much more owned and managed by learners. There will be recognition for even a tiny but important experience gained throughout one's entire life, and it will help paint a better picture of every person.
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Actually, the future has arrived! Open badges can do just that! You can create an open badge for the experience that matters and offer anyone to earn it. Open digital badges is an online standard to recognise learning and achievements. Compared to other traditional credentials, such as certificates, diplomas or degrees, open digital badges introduce new characteristics. 
A digital badge can be earned for participation, for learning, for certain behaviour or for common work in a team.
Watch this video to learn the basics of Open Badges.
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Source: Project 'Digital Generation Youth', Youtube channel of Cities of Learning﻿
Download the video script here. 
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Since 2011, a wide variety of organisations have been using digital open badges across the globe – from NGOs to schools, universities, businesses and institutions. They contribute to better visibility of competencies acquired through a range of educational programmes. Badges lead to new learning pathways, career opportunities or academic degrees.
By 2022, at least 74 million open badges have been issued worldwide! 
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Open badges contribute to better self-knowledge and understanding of one’s own qualities and achievements. Badge earners can look back and view their past accomplishments as well as further pathways of learning. There is an increasing number of tools providing opportunities to manage and share digital credentials in a meaningful way. 
Every open badge shows the issuer and can have links to specific competence frameworks. Open digital badges are easy to share anywhere on the web. Badge earners can share their achievements on social and professional networks, blogs and e-portfolios or simply add badge links to their CV. It gives great visibility to programmes and organisations issuing badges.
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Cool things about Open BadgesYou can dive deeper into the potential and meaning of badges for today's learning and education in the publication "What counts as learning" issued by the Connected Learning Alliance, written by Sheryl Grant. You can download the publication by clicking on this link: WhatCountsAsLearning_Grant.pdf.
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FlexibleOpen digital badges can be used in a variety of learning and working contexts, both online and offline, to motivate, recognise and verify any type of achievements.
GranularOpen digital badges act as micro-credentials. They visualise learning paths, show progress, specify achievements. Badges can be organised in groups according to categories.
Evidence-basedOpen digital badges have a possibility to embed any type of evidence to verify learning and achievements claimed by the badge earner. Badge evidence enables ePortfolio solutions.
VerifiedOpen digital badges may include self-assessment, peer review or issuer assessment options. Badge issuer decides on the type of assessment to verify badge achievement and evidence.
SharableOpen digital badges are easy to share anywhere on the web. Badge earners can share their achievements on social networks, blogs, ePortfolios and add badge links to CV.
TransferableOpen digital badges can be downloaded and imported to other platforms that uses the same Open Badges technical standard. Badge metadata is automatically loaded and displayed.
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What are the differences between Open Badges, digital badges, and micro-credentials?The image below by Don Present, based on an original by Doug Belshaw, gives a good overview of the landscape. Not all badges are credentials, and not all credentials are badges. Crucially, badges which align with the Open Badges standard contain metadata and have all of the advantages listed in the previous section.
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Source: https://badge.wiki/wiki/What_Are_Open_Badges%3F , Don Presant, Learningagents.ca (based on an original by Doug Belshaw)
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Resources
Essential about Open badges at Badge Wiki. 
Badgecraft Blog post "Explore characteristics of Open Badges" 
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Course content is under the CC BY 4.0 Creative commons licence. 
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﻿https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/﻿

Get activity badge

Open Badge Essentials Get this badge

This badge shows my understanding of essential aspects about Open digital badge.
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To earn this badge, I had to provide a personal reflection on skills that I possess, but don’t have a recognition for. And provide a few ideas about what would I wish to get an open badge for.
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This badge is issued as a part of the online course leading to the achievement of the Badge Quality Label.

Tasks

Task no.1

Evidence verified by: one activity organiser

Reflect on what skills you possess that you don’t have recognition for (cooking, building, teaching, using some technology, whatever!). Imagine you have the power to issue an Open badge for yourself - what the badge would be for? 
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Write it down here, there is no right or wrong answer - it’s about your personal reflection. 
The badge will be issued after one of the course facilitators approves the evidence. 

Technology and computers

Added to playlist (1)

Time to complete: 20 minutes

Organisers

Network of Cities and Regions of Learning

Used in playlists

Creating quality Open Badges and badge systems

Network of Cities and Regions of Learning

Created on Quality Label for Badge Recognition

Badgecraft hosts this platform and develops it together with leading educational organisations. The European Union's programme Erasmus+ granted co-funding for building the first version of this platform. Contact support@badgecraft.eu.