Presentation Pair: Digital Badges

Tuesday, February 14 | 3:15PM–4:00PM | Houston Ballroom VI
Session Type: Breakout Session
Delivery Format: Short Presentation Pairs
Digital Badges Credential Competencies for Today's Workforce
Digital badges make competencies and skill mastery transparent, enhancing talent management and employ-ability. Colorado Community College System developed a pilot digital badge initiative in advanced manufacturing by collaborating with six CCCS colleges, two independent two-year institutions, one four-year institution, and nine business advisory boards. Colorado employers are now benefiting from the badge initiative with the ability to match an applicant or employee competencies with workforce skills. Our students are benefiting by ensuring their skills are more transparent to employers. Join us to learn about the road to enhance our traditional credentials with workforce-driven digital badges.

Outcomes: Identify ways to develop alternative credentials to enhance educational/career pathways *Suggest where digital badges could be used at your institution *Discuss the challenges and success of introducing badges in a traditional higher ed institution


Unbundling with Digital Badges: A Personalized Approach to Faculty Development
The online program Teaching Well Using Technology helps faculty and graduate students learn to integrate technology in ways that enhance learning. Originally an all-or-nothing certificate that was difficult to earn, the program was unbundled into four modules of open content. The personalized approach lets participants choose content and recognizes module completion with a digital badge. Participants work at their own pace, using an e-portfolio to share material they create for their subject. This session will feature a discussion of the program and preliminary results from a SoTL study.

Outcomes: Explore the benefits of personalizing a training program by increasing learner choice, autonomy, authentic tasks, and customization *Identify roles that digital badging and e-portfolios can play in meeting the goals of a faculty development center *Learn how a large training program can be unbundled into modules where completion is recognized through digital badges

Presenters

  • Alex Ambrose

    Director of Learning Research, University of Notre Dame
  • Chris Clark

  • Brenda Perea

    Program Manager, New America