#BadgeChat was founded in December, 2014 by a group of educators who are passionate about credentialing learning and achieving. While there are thousands of us around the globe issuing badges to learners, there was not yet a regular twitter chat for those of us in the K-12 space to gather for learning and sharing about badging. After reaching out to leaders in the field (like the good folks at Mozilla and The Badge Alliance) for their thoughts, #BadgeChat was born.
A1: I played around with badges at the end of last year. The Ss seemed to enjoy them. The “why” is hopefully self motivation and friendly competition. #BadgeChat
A1: For me, this is the most important consideration there is. "Because you should be intrinsically motivated to learn" isn't good enough an answer...the best badging I've seen includes some sort of value proposition that creates buy-in for users #badgechat
A1: Ideas for a current project: Because... 1) your learning/progress deserves recognition! 2) In the future, these badges may connect you to other jobs on campus. 3) ...your pay raise is dependent on it. #BadgeChat
The competition piece you bring up is an important one! Seeing my name appear on (and hopefully move up) the leader board can be a good WHY for many! #badgechat
The first one you offer is one we haven't talked much about on this chat...the act of recognition can itself be a currency of sorts, can't it? #badgechat
The notion that Kyle brings up of there being a future opportunity unlocked for Badge earners is one we can see in systems like at @aurorak12https://t.co/0M12HcdLkB#badgechat
That's the idea! Ideally, we are moving towards a society where learner's achievements can speak for themselves in unlocking new opportunities. #badgechat
A2: Asking someone, "What's the best platform?" is misguided. I think it's best to decide on functional requirements and select based on who best meets/promises to meet those reqs... #badgechat
A2: Have others used this platform for a similar project? How do I envision earners applying (or not applying) for badges? Can this issuer integrate with my existing workflow?#badgechat
A2: There are badge options in @Schoology that I would like to explore further. Or I have just used “paper” badges they would put up by their name. Need to figure out a method that is easy to maintain. #BadgeChat
a2: for elementary my 650 students aren’t able to sign up with email and we have to consider distribution, maintenance, supervision for such a large group #Badgechat
A2: Does the platform issue "Open Badges"? Is rostering a seamless process and does it cost extra? Will I get access to data points that I want to assess the work we're doing? #badgechat
A2: Have others used this platform for a similar project? How do I envision earners applying (or not applying) for badges? Can this issuer integrate with my existing workflow?#badgechat
A2: There are badge options in @Schoology that I would like to explore further. Or I have just used “paper” badges they would put up by their name. Need to figure out a method that is easy to maintain. #BadgeChat
A2: Asking someone, "What's the best platform?" is misguided. I think it's best to decide on functional requirements and select based on who best meets/promises to meet those reqs... #badgechat
I agree the platform must be user friendly, easy and quick to keep up with, and seamless or it won’t have wodespread buy in from teachers or students #BadgeChat
A2: There are badge options in @Schoology that I would like to explore further. Or I have just used “paper” badges they would put up by their name. Need to figure out a method that is easy to maintain. #BadgeChat
A2 Ease of use? Flexibility? Connectivity to other systems? Total cost of operating it? Options to scale up? Compliance with Open Badges standard? (if relevant) #BadgeChat
I agree the platform must be user friendly, easy and quick to keep up with, and seamless or it won’t have wodespread buy in from teachers or students #BadgeChat
A2: There are badge options in @Schoology that I would like to explore further. Or I have just used “paper” badges they would put up by their name. Need to figure out a method that is easy to maintain. #BadgeChat
A1. Personal and professional development, shared learning experiences. Networking, I know who to collaborate with and what tools are available #BadgeChat
A3: Peer review systems are a promising way to ensure your program scales with the number of earners, but I haven't seen many successful implementations. Any examples out there?#badgechat
A3: Too much success can be dangerous and kill the joy and create bad user experiences! I try to imagine what maximum buy-in might look like and backwards plan from there to make sure the resources are there...if not, good idea to start smaller #badgechat
Great point! I think the way @badgelist empowers people who've earned a given Badge to then be validators for those that come after them is a promising option... #badgechat
A3 Assuming you mean "blows up" in a good way, I'd say keeping tabs on quality with good reports and user surveys, training others to create and issue, finding ways to delegate/automate assessment and don't forget to tell the good news upstairs. #BadgeChat
A3. Technology is always progressing so there will always be new opportunities, but most importantly listen to the feedback of active participants, allow the user to inform what they want to learn #BadgeChat
A3 Assuming you mean "blows up" in a good way, I'd say keeping tabs on quality with good reports and user surveys, training others to create and issue, finding ways to delegate/automate assessment and don't forget to tell the good news upstairs. #BadgeChat
A4: If I am collaborating with others, we usually do the initial badge design using Google Docs rather than designing within our chosen issuer. Much easier to collaborate and share ideas. #badgechat
A4: avoid biting more than you can chew and making it so complicated and fool proof that teachers not students who might be tech newbies won’t be able to understand or have fun achieving their micros credentials #BadgeChat
Open Badge Factory @OBFactory_ developed a peer review system for Finnish teachers that works well and we have in @CanCredCA . People earn qualifying "reviewer badges" to join a pool of reviewers that "panel-review" submissions; e.g. if 3/5 say yes, badge is awarded #BadgeChat
In reply to
@Kyle_Clements1, @OBFactory_, @CanCredCA
A3: #badgechat keep all content in Google folders. Back-up badges earned in another file. Build a Google site for folks to access challenges to earn badges.
A3&A4: Assume that your badging initiative will “blow up” and start with a proven ‘open’ platform for issuing badges. Use well defined rubrics, so others may follow.
#badgechat
A4: When talking up users, sell the **benefits** not the features...the dandy tech bits can come later, people first need to get on board and that starts with internalizing that this is good for them! #badgechat
A4 #badgechat capacity. Make sure to start with the why clearly defined by everyone. Have reasonable expectations for S badges. Just like any type of learning, badges may not feel engaging to all students.
HUGE point, Randy! Clear expectations are so important, especially bc we have risk factor of being overly protective of Badges and only issuing for A++++ work, as opposed to viewing it as binary case of "you've either earned the Badge or are still working towards it" #badgechat
A4 #badgechat capacity. Make sure to start with the why clearly defined by everyone. Have reasonable expectations for S badges. Just like any type of learning, badges may not feel engaging to all students.
A4 Don't overthink it but start with the end in mind. start small, and use feedback to make it better. Be ready for the next phase. Find support, not just bottom up. Tell your story! #BadgeChat
A1 #BadgeChat Our why is about OWNERSHIP of Learning. We want all learners @CoxAthSchools to be self-directed and be able to take ownership of their learning. Micro-credentials/badging is a process that will allow both Ts and Ss determine what learning they will engage in.
Awesome to reconnect with so many OG #BadgeChat friends and see some new folks jumping. To all the lurkers, know we're here for you and that this community wants to help you succeed!
We had a teacher tell us he’d never be able to use adobe spark, we asked what he uses and said email. So we knew we had to create Items like using chrome and google sheets for beginners
Such an important reminder that all learners (not just kids) bring their own levels of readiness and background knowledge and that supporting them often means being willing to recognize when we've passed them by...have to pump the breaks and meet them where they are #BadgeChat
