Linking learning with industry using Open Badges.

1. ALT-C 2015 @dranners #altc Linking learning with industry Mark Dransfield York St John University m.dransfield@yorksj.ac.uk
2. #altc / @dranners Learning context • Digital Business Communication – Blended module – Badging built in from outset – 12 students • Level 3 undergraduate module – Employability
3. #altc / @dranners Badges in society. Creative Commons Creative Commons Creative Commons Aged 0-16 Professional/career Hey Duggee BBC site Gap = UK HE empirical evidence
4. #altc / @dranners Previous work in HE • Two of Glover and Latif’s (2013) key findings – That aligning badges with professional bodies enabled students to see how their studies fit with future career aspirations – That raising the awareness of open badges amongst employers was important to increase badge credibility • Ahn et al (2014) Does the source of a given badge (or issuer) affect users’ motivation to earn that badge?
5. #altc / @dranners Literature Badges • US centric (Purdue) • UK DigitalMe – Badge the UK (5-18) • Glover & Latif (2013) • Ahn et al (2014) 1. Motivational tool 2. Pedagogic tool 3. Signifier or credential Employability • Dearing Review (1994) • The Wilson Review (2012) • ABS, QAA, CMI (2014)
6. Badgearchitecture Integrity Communication Courtesy Responsibility Social skills Positive attitude Professionalism Flexibility Teamwork Work ethic Robles (2012) Module Learning Objective(s) Problem-Based- Learning Online OR Classroom
7. #altc / @dranners Key Findings – Questionnaire (n=6) • 100% aged between 20-22 • 0% of students were familiar with Open/Digital badges before this module • 100% said that badges had a positive impact on engagement and learning • 100% said endorsed badges held more value • 83% felt badges were something employers would value • 0% exported badges to an external system (Backpack, LinkedIn, Personal platform)
8. #altc / @dranners Focus Group (thematic analysis) • Why didn’t they export their badges? – Exporting to external systems - problems – Knowledge - lack of time to explore/investigate – Lack of access to platforms (LinkedIn)
9. #altc / @dranners Conclusions • Still a sceptic – Early adoption phase in HE – In the domain of technophiles & enthusiasts – Must have a good understanding of the OB infrastructure to enable support – Employers largely unaware of badges as a currency in UK HE • Endorsement gives value to informal skills • Further research into employer perceptions of badges
10. #altc / @dranners Thank you! • Questions? • Please feel free to give critical feedback or suggestions for improvements • Contact: m.dransfield@yorksj.ac.uk or @dranners
11. Reading & References • Ahn, J., Pelliscone, A., Butler, S. (2014) Open badges for education: what are the implications at the intersection of open systems and badging? Research in Learning Technology • Albert Laso J., Pernías Peco, P., Luján-Mora, S. (2013) USING OPEN BADGES AS CERTIFICATION IN A MOOC, ICERI2013 Proceedings, pp. 1809-1818. • Association of Business Schools, QAA and Chartered Management Institute. (2014) 21st Century Leaders: Building Practice into the Curriculum to Boost Employability. Available at http://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Files/PDF/21st_Century_Leaders_June2014.ashx [accessed July 2014] • Bedwell, L., Fiore, S., Salas, E. (2014) Developing The Future Workforce: An Approach for Integrating Interpersonal Skills Into the MBA Classroom. Academy of Management Learning & Education, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp 171-186 • CBI and Universities UK (March 2009) Future Fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work, London: CBI, available at: www.cbi.org.uk/pdf/20090326-CBI-FutureFit-Preparing-graduates-for-the-world-ofwork.pdf • Glover, I., Latif, F. (2013) Investigating perceptions and potential of open badges in formal higher education. In: Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hyoermedia and Telecommunications 2013. AACE, Chesapeake, VA, 1398-1402. • Mischra, K. (2014) Employability Skills That Recruiters Demand, The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp 50- 55 • Rughinis. R. (2013) Talkative objects in need of interpretation. re-thinking digital badges in education. In CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '13). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2099-2108. DOI=10.1145/2468356.2468729 http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/2468356.2468729 • Hickey, D.T. (2012) Intended Purposes Versus Actual Functions of Digital Badges. Re-Mediating Assessment, 2012. http://remediatingassessment.blogspot.ro/2012/09/int ended-purposes-versus-actual.html. • Resnick, M (2012) Still a Badge Skeptic. HASTAC, 2012. http://hastac.org/blogs/mres/2012/02/27/still- badgeskeptic. • Tally, S. (2011) Digital badges show students' skills along with degree available at http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2012/Q3/digital-badges-show-students-skills-along- with-degree.html accessed 9th July 2015

Notes de l'éditeur

A newly validated module which ran for the first time in 2014/15 academic year. Therefore there was a blank canvas to play with. Badges were built into the design of the module form the outset.

The module was for level 3 students, so those in their final year of study at undergraduate level. As a lecturer, I was conscious that they needed to start thinking about their future employability. Therefore, I wanted to ensure that I embedded employability skills into the module. However, these were not recognised in the overall module. I worked with 3 businesses to
We’re very familiar with the concept of badges as a form of reward and recognition within our lives and within society. This medium of recognition transcends countries and cultures.

From a young age we are given badges to motivate us –
in school (stickers)
movements such as scouts, cubs and brownies
Personal and professional development, such as ALT’s Open Badges
Professional careers – police, aviation, military etc

In HE, one can experience negative perceptions of badges. Many colleagues see them as being quite puerile. They raise connotations of childish motivation, particularly from other academics and managers. Key questions might be: what is their value, are they worth the effort involved, aren’t they just a gimmick to motivate students whose time is already strained?

My suggestion is that badges within a HE context can become more meaningful if they are designed in the right way AND endorsed by appropriate organisations.
This project built on the work of Glover & Latif and attempted to provide an answer to Ahn et al’s question. It sits within this academic framework and has very close links with the concept of employability.
This research project is split across 2 domains of literature, Open Badges and Employability.

Literature on Open Badges is largely US-centric. Not surprising considering that’s where it originated and that it is supported by the MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla and HASTAC.

In the UK, the not-for-profit organization DigitalMe, through its Badge The UK project, aims to use Open Badges to provide students with a form of digital currency which not only credits them with a range of valuable skills developed, but also works with organisations such as employers in order to encourage greater recognition of these skills and specifically recognition of open badges as a vehicle for evidencing them.

Employability has been part of the HE agenda for some time. The Dearing review helped to establigh various funding bodies to support graduate employability. The Wilson Review highlights the importance of business Schools and HEIs in the supply chain of quality graduates.
This slide explains the architecture for the badges developed on this module.

The outer ring contains the top 10 key skills employers look for in graduates, according to Robles (2012).

The inner ring are made up of 3 core elements
Alignment with module outcomes
Alignment with an external professional organisation called PRiME
Endorsement by an organisation
Key to this slide is that none of the students exported their badges into an external system outside the VLE.
Interoperability was a problem. Students came across the issue that their badges were issued against a different email address than the address they used for their backpack.

They didn’t have the time or motivation to resolve the problem themselves.

Some students didn’t create backpacks and some didn’t have access to external platforms which they could use to display their badges.

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Linking learning with industry using Open Badges.

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