Getting Started With Open Badges and Open Microcredentials

Authors

  • Kyle Clements Western Governors University
  • Richard Edward West Brigham Young University
  • Enoch Hunsaker Brigham Young University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i1.4529

Keywords:

open badges, alternative credentials, microcredentials, open education, open credentials

Abstract

This article is intended as a practical resource to help interested organizations design and implement an open badging system. Open badges are a type of open credential designed to recognize a variety of skills, knowledge, and experiences, both inside and outside of traditional educational settings. While growing in popularity, common questions asked by those interested in using open badges include: How do I get started? What technologies exist to produce open badges? And what do I need to know? This article seeks to address questions such as these. First, we introduce the reader to key terms in the badging world and explore open badge design precedents, responding to who, what, how, where, and why open badges have been used in the past. Drawing on this research as well as our own personal experience, we then present a possible framework for getting started with open badges and a step-by-step guide for implementing that framework within your organization.

Author Biographies

Kyle Clements, Western Governors University

Kyle Clements is a learning experience designer at Western Governors University. His research interests include lifelong learning, digital credentials, and usability. 

Richard Edward West, Brigham Young University

Richard E. West is an assistant professor in the Instructional Psychology and Technology department at Brigham Young University, where he teaches courses on instructional technology foundations, theories of creativity and innovation, technology integration for preservice teachers, and academic writing and argumentation. He researches the design, support, and evaluation of environments that foster collaborative innovation, as well as online learning communities and K-16 technology integration. His research is available through his profiles on Mendeley, Google Scholar, and his personal website (http://richardewest).

Enoch Hunsaker, Brigham Young University

Enoch Hunsaker is an instructional designer at Brigham Young University, where he specializes is designing blended and fully online university courses in the fields of Education, Computer Science, and the Humanities. He has previously published on topics such as online education, computational thinking, and open badges.

Downloads

Published

2020-01-01

How to Cite

Clements, K., West, R. E., & Hunsaker, E. (2020). Getting Started With Open Badges and Open Microcredentials. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(1), 154–172. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i1.4529

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1 (2020)

Section

Notes From the Field

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. The copyright of all content published in IRRODL is retained by the authors.

This copyright agreement and use license ensures, among other things, that an article will be as widely distributed as possible and that the article can be included in any scientific and/or scholarly archive.

You are free to

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms below:

  • No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.