Posts made by Paddy Fahrni

5. Identify the completion criteria for any badge you have earned (traditional or digital).

My Brownie badge was earned by meeting task-based criteria set by org and described in a manual.  I did the task at home and a parent signed a form.

Several years back, I completed a 'Moodle Course Creator Certificate' (competency-based demo and exam) and thought it cool that I could simply quote the cert and number on resume and it was linked to moodle.org database (verification). Sort of a pre-badge thing - I wonder if they have moved to badges now?

6. Describe a hierarchy or network of badges.

Consider this story from the construction trades:
If you've ever worked in construction you know how the worksite can be crazy with a lot of different crews running around, a lot of noise and action. You also know safety is the top concern - right up there with time and money. SO here's a badge parallel:

The new guy has to wear a green hard hat/ or a green sticker on the hat. After the site safety officer says  (combo of time and competent behaviour), the guy gets another colour sticker. The experienced guys don't have to wear any stickers.

I'm working with construction workers now, and those who don't have jobs would be really happy to have the green sticker hat, because it would show they were accepted onto the crew. Then, they would be happy to get the next colour because it would show others they met expectations. Finally, I'd guess they would be happy not to have to have any sticker on their hat because  it showed they were higher level, experienced guys.

So this is a sequential hierarchy in one domain. And the 'badges' play an important external role (safety risk identification) as well as being intrinsic motivators.

In considering the questions, I come up with different answers depending on whether the badge speaks of external achievement/credential/ participation (probably hierarchical and clustered) or simply of the learning and engagement of the badge holder (networks, micro-badges, design choice). 

3. Identify the digital and internet technologies best suited to create a digital merit badge.

Will have to learn from others here. Something open . . .

4. Describe the technologies that could be used to attach (reference or link) the learning to the digital badge.

A little swamped here - need to learn more about the Mozilla project. Full of questions. How does the badge live on if the badged learning is a long-past event, if the badge granting person/body is long gone? 

I'm interested in badges as motivators that represent aspects of learning valuable to the learner. Looked at a few badge sites - and recalled that years ago my son and friends would huddle for hours examining these small, illustrated POG disk things that they got by either buying or wily trading.

At the time, getting the POG things had value for the little boyos - they created interaction, provided paths for categorizing and organizing, for trading and persuading.  I saw the long forsaken POG things again last week while sorting through old stuff. The value was ephemeral. The things themselves sit unused.

Do badges need to live on?

1. Identify a merit badge you earned during your lifetime.
I was in Brownies - a pre-Girl Guides program. For drawing pictures of different rooms in a house and adding labelled cleaning equipment and products, I received a 'Housekeeping' (?) badge. I remember the mother had to sign off somehow.

2. Describe how you displayed the merit badge(s).

My housekeeping badge was sewn, not on a lovely red sash a la Scouts, but directly onto my uniform, above the breast pocket. There was an established placement for certain types of badges.

I wore my sister's hand-me down uniform, and it was clear from fading and stitch holes left behind from when her many badges had been removed, that a previous wearer had been more proficient than I was.

So it's preferable if storage of badges be unique to the earner.

A question: do badges expire ? Or are they revokable?

Paddy

Hi there - Patricia Fahrni from MOSAIC in Vancouver. I've heard a bit about digital badges used in K12 learning, but am curious about thier use with adult learners. I figure adults participate if the online learning is relevant and useful. Other motivators? Do digital badges fulfil some human yearning ?

Bye for now,
Patricia