1.
Implementing a
Digital Badge System
in Higher Education
Brett Bixler
Penn State University
NMC 2015 Summer Conference

2.
It’s All About Me
• Lead Instructional Designer
• At PSU since 1984
• Work with educational technology
• Founded the Educational
Gaming Commons –
http://gaming.psu.edu
• Working on bringing best
practices/uses of
educational technology to
Penn State

3.
No – It’s All About YOU!
• Please introduce yourself! (Time permitting.)
• What experience do you have using a Badging
system?
– None
– A little
– A lot
– I am a Badging Master!

4.
What I Promised To Do…
• Introduction to digital badges (5 m).
• Feature set scramble (15 m).
• Feature set discussion (15 m).
• Digital Badge System Exemplar (15 m).
• Q&A (10 m).

5.
Everything About Badges
Known to Peoplekind
A digital badge is a clickable graphic that
contains an online record of:
1. an achievement,
2. the work required for the
achievement,
3. evidence of such work, and
4. information about the organization, individual, or
entity that issued the badge.

6.
Badges – The Visual

7.
How Can Badges Be Used in HE?
• Depict course completion
• Establish micro-credentials
• Represent honors
• Show event participation
• Demonstrate community membership
• Reduce duplicated requirements

8.
The Ideal Badge System?
Sign in
Access Levels
APIs
User Profile Page
Badge Library
Administrator Tools
Badge Image Maker
Badge Org Tools
Criteria Creator
Evidence Creator
Earner Evaluation
Badge Acceptor
Badge Publisher
Related Badges
Badge Tree
Macro-level Features

9.
Feature Set Scramble
• Break into groups of 3-5.
• Name your group.
• Prioritize and pick five cards from the deck
– The critical, “can’t do without” features of a digital
badging system.
• Mark the importance on the card.
• Define the components of the feature.
• Prepare for battle…..

10.
Feature Set Discussion
Refer to the feature set document at
http://tinyurl.com/BadgeIdealFeatureSet .

11.
Do These System Exist?
• Yes, some more so than others.
• Credly is one example (see
https://credly.com/upgrade)

12.
The Future of Badges in HE?
Let’s talk!
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

13.
Thank You!
I will revise the feature set and ensure it is
available via the conference proceedings and
the NMC Web site.
Brett Bixler
Penn State University
bxb11@psu.edu