Content area
Full Text
Continuing education is a term that covers a broad spectrum of post-secondary learning experiences and programs. For learners, the continuing education experience almost always involves a goal, whether to find a new job or discover a new career, to keep a job, or to get a better job. Whatever the goal, representing continuing education achievements as digital badges can help learners to tell their story more effectively, to demonstrate their qualifications, and to help achieve their career goals.
A badge is merely a digital representation of a learning outcome; it could represent a certification, a professional credential, a competency, or even a soft skill. In this article, the terms "badge," "digital credential," and "open badge" are used interchangeably. All of these terms refer to the same format, "Open Badges," which is the web data specification created by a Mozilla-led community to represent and verify learning achievements in a standardized way. Every open badge is defined with the same metadata fields, each of which is embedded directly into the badge image. Open badge metadata includes:
* The name of the achievement.
* A description of what the achievement involves.
* Background information about the issuer and their authority to confer the badge.
* The criteria defined by the issuer and used as the measuring bar to determine who qualifies for the badge.
* The evidence that the learner provides to demonstrate that s/he qualifies for the badge.
* Links to any external standards to which the achievement is aligned.
* The date the badge was issued, as well as any date that it may expire.
* Keyword tags (related skills, occupations, etc.), to improve search and discovery of the achievement.
Because they are digital, badges are easy to share with social and professional networks, through email or embedded on personal websites. Badged achievements are verifiable and connected, so all of the detailed information in the metadata travels with the badge wherever it's shared online. An increasing number of job search engines and professional networks are enabling Open Badges to be shared as a part of each candidate's online persona, and specialized career development features are being added to badge profiles and backpacks. The Open Badge standard has been applied to many types of achievements, from low...