The Digital Badges Interest Group's charge is to provide a forum for discussion and the exchange of ideas related to digital badges and micro-credentials, particularly as they relate to libraries (of all types) and information literacy. The interest group’s work may also include: developing new ideas and approaches to using digital badges, sharing information about badging projects, research, and platforms, and providing networking opportunities for members.
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Contact Information
Stay tuned here or via our ALA Connect group for news about our next program!
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Recording of the ACRL Digital Badge Interest Group Spring Workshop, ""Empowering the Career-Readiness of University of Texas System Learners Through Integrating Industry-Recognized Credentials Within the Undergraduate Experience". The session was presented by Dr. Kevin Bentley on February 20, 2024.
Program Description: The modern workplace is a transdisciplinary, information-rich environment, making information literacy skills vital for students. With funding from the Purdue Innovation Hub and the Purdue Libraries, we developed, piloted, assessed, and promoted a suite of instructional digital badging modules for undergraduate students revolving around information literacy topics relevant to the workplace. The topics covered include (1) effective information gathering strategies, (2) competitive analysis, (3) patent information, (4) industry standards, and (5) informed communication. The goal is to provide Purdue students with foundational training relevant to their future careers (as well as transferable credentials that they can share with potential employers and post on badge-compliant platforms such as LinkedIn) and to provide instructors across campus a flexible set of information literacy tools that they can use to improve student outcomes. This presentation will provide an overview of our project development process, which involved getting feedback from stakeholders, such as employers who hire our students, share examples of our learning modules, and give details about how we built our digital badging content into Purdue's learning management system, D2L Brightspace.
Presenter Bios:
ACRL Digital Badge Interest Group (DBIG) Fall Virtual Program
November 30 @ 1 pm ET/12 pm CT/11 am MT/10 am PT
"The Badge Is Half the Battle: Digital Badging as Training Motivation."
Presented by Jennifer Wright
Program Description: This session will focus on the practical side of implementing and assessing two types of badging programs in a public library. While digital badges and microcredentials have generated much discussion, research and practical advice for library training programs remains minimal. This presentation will outline real-world experiences and findings related to staff training motivation and will discuss honestly the challenges and limitations of badging programs for library staff.
Speaker Bio: Jennifer Wright is the Assistant County Librarian of Public Services with the Spartanburg County Public Libraries (SCPL) in South Carolina. She previously held the title of Director of Planning & Training at SCPL and, prior to moving into public libraries, was the director of a small university library. She holds an MLIS from the University of South Carolina and an MS in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Professional Leadership studies at Converse University in Spartanburg, SC.
This program is relevant to library workers from all library types, academic, public, special, etc.
"Micro-credentials in Economic Data Literacy and FRED®: (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
A Professional Development Badge for Librarians”
Presented by Diego Mendez-Carbajo
The Library Services and the Economic Education team at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis have developed a free micro-credential program on economic data literacy for librarians. In this presentation we provide a working definition of economic data literacy, linking it to seven foundational competencies. We describe the structure of the program, showcasing one of its modules to illustrate the workflow of participants. We conclude by summarizing lessons learned and feedback we received.
"Opportunity-Ready: A Micro-credential Pathway for All Learners" on February 2, 2022 from 1-2pm ET. Reach out to the DBIG convenors with any questions.
More about the program: Opportunity-Ready: A Micro-credential Pathway for All Learners
The Opportunity-Ready pathway was developed at the request of the Maine Department of Corrections to provide content for delivery on the Edovo tablets that are implemented across MDOC facilities. The focus skills requested were life skills, education ready skills, and work ready skills. While the pathway was originally developed based on the request from MDOC, it became clear rather quickly that the pathway could also be used to support skill development in a wide variety of audiences. In this panel discussion, attendees will learn about the different components of the Opportunity-Ready experience, and the implementation of the pathway with incarcerated individuals, as well as populations in recovery, those working with adult education, high school and community college students, and rural learners in their communities.
Speaker Bios:
Riverside Adult Education Director Rebecca Cross has a long and varied career in education, ranging from teaching elementary school in Maine to Business English classes in Mexico (with lots of stops along the way!). Rebecca treasures the honor of helping adult learners take the next step in their academic, career and life goals. She loves the unique work of adult education, where students are authors of their academic plans.
Megan London, M.A, M.Ed, is Co-Chair of the Education Department at Eastern Maine Community College. Megan is co-founder of the EMCC Innovation Hub, which houses the Center for Learning Engineering and the Center for Faculty Excellence, where she serves as co-chair and faculty coach. She leads the EMCC core team for the BRIDGES Rural Project with Education Design Lab.
Nick Runco, M.Ed, currently serves as the Director of Learning Engineering at Eastern Maine Community College and is a member of the Maine Community College System digital badge leadership team.
Recording with Chat Transcript
Description: In this Q&A panel session, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a discussion with digital badge experts, Noah Geisel, Microcredentials Program Manager at the University of Colorado Boulder, Justin Mason, Director of eLearning & Academic Technology at the University of Montana Western, and Anne Reed, Director of the Office of Micro-Credentials at the University at Buffalo. Questions will be collected from DBIG members ahead of time and upvoted at the beginning of the meeting. All experience levels are welcome!
Noah Geisel serves as Micro-credentials Program Manager at the University of Colorado Boulder. He founded and coordinates the annual Badge Summit Conference and is a lecturer at the University of Colorado Denver. His background is as a World Languages, EdTech and Digital Badges consultant and teacher passionate about helping educators and students make awesome happen. He has 19 years of experience teaching Spanish, English and Technology and was recognized as the 2013 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year. He is a constant collaborator on Twitter and frequent blogger on Medium.com. As a community organizer and champion of Digital Badge Credentials, he co-founded #BadgeChat and seeks to amplify others’ efforts to change the world.
Justin Mason is Director of eLearning at the University of Montana Western, an instructional designer for conventional and competency-based eLearning, a former librarian, and an open recognition & open education believer/dreamer. Justin’s big goal is to foster ecosystems that empower learners to make all their life-wide learning count, and he wants to collaborate with others who share that goal.
Anne Reed serves as the director of micro-credentials at the University at Buffalo (UB). She developed a process to propose, review, develop, and implement new micro-credentials at the university. Her background is in instructional design, and prior to her current position she has served as lead instructional designer for the Graduate School of Education at UB, and as program manager for Open SUNY. She is also currently a doctoral candidate in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning. Her research is focused on participatory strategies for designing micro-credentials.
Description: Universities across the country are emphasizing transformative learning experiences for students. Conversations are needed to describe how libraries can connect to university initiatives related to experiential learning like undergraduate research. University Libraries at Virginia Tech, an R1 land-grant institution, has developed robust, pedagogically-backed introductory undergraduate research training programs in collaboration with the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR). This presentation will discuss the pedagogical underpinnings of our programs, technical aspects of integrating badging into the programs, and program models and aspirations that helped us answer the question, “What is the carrot” for students completing Library and other types of co-curricular activities. From this session, participants will have a roadmap to planning and piloting badging initiatives that support current or potential library and university programming.
Marc Zaldivar Ph.D. is currently the Director of the Professional Development Network in TLOS (Technology-Enhanced Learning and Online Strategies) at Virginia Tech. He has worked in various departments and programs at Virginia Tech since 1993, primarily with a focus on transformative education, as well as language, student engagement, and critical reading/writing skills.
Amanda B. MacDonald is the Undergraduate Research Services Librarian at Virginia Tech. In her role, she serves as the liaison to the Office of Undergraduate Research, the Honors College, and the departments of Human Development and Biological Sciences. Her work and research focuses on creating openly accessible resources to support students and faculty engaging with formal undergraduate research experiences. She coordinates the Advanced Research Skills Program for University Libraries and is deeply involved in the university’s Undergraduate Research Excellence Program.
Description: Non-degree credentials, including digital badges and micro, are likely to be an important part of the training and education efforts as the country begins the process of recovery from the pandemic created recession. These short-term credentials could be important tools for workers and students, post-secondary education providers and policy makers and states in the process of getting people back to work and responding to the changing nature of the labor market. As a result, systems, and approaches to measuring and ensuring quality of non-degree credentials, are more important now than ever. To guide these efforts, we will share a framework to guide thinking about quality for non-degree credentials.
Michelle Van Noy is the Associate Director of the Education and Employment Research Center at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Michelle Van Noy conducts research on higher education and workforce development. Her research focuses on several key areas: how colleges organize their programs and provide instruction to prepare students for work, how students make choices about majors and careers, and how employers use credentials in the hiring process. She has particular expertise in community college workforce programs, including non-credit programs and technician education. Before joining EERC, Dr. Van Noy conducted research on community college workforce education at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers and the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has experience conducting large-scale national evaluations in education and workforce development from her previous work at Mathematica Policy Research. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology and education from Columbia University, a M.S. in public policy from Rutgers, and a B.A. in psychology and Spanish from Rutgers.
Heather A. McKay is the director of the Education and Employment Research Center at the School of Management and Labor Relations. In this capacity, Heather conducts research and evaluations on community college programs, state and federal workforce development systems and education and workforce policies. Currently she is conducting research on two U.S. Department of Education First in the World Grants. Heather's research interests include state and federal workforce development systems, skills development, college completion, workplace literacy, and innovative and technology-based training programs. Heather completed her bachelor's degree at Bryn Mawr College. She has a master's degree in history as well a master's degree in global affairs from Rutgers University. In addition, she is a Ph.D. candidate in global affairs at Rutgers University.
11/14/19: A Reframing of Value and Trust in the New Learning Economy
Description: Taylor Kendal is an educator, writer, designer, improviser, community developer, techno-philosopher and Chief Strategy Officer at Learning Economy. His work with the U.S. Dept. of Education, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Library of Congress, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver has led to a complex love affair with education, innovation, design, and (de)centralized, future-focused networks. He holds an MA in Information Learning Technologies from CU Denver and has 20 years of experience in project/event management, digital/social strategy, instructional/LX design, culture-crafting, improvising, and systems-level hacking of post-secondary education.
Taylor is currently focused on Web3, privacy/digital ethics, bridging cultures of entrepreneurship and education, infusing agility and intellectual honesty into bureaucracy, learning from/traveling to distant lands (virtually and physically), exploring the future of education on the blockchain, and occasionally writing to help make sense of it all.
taykendesign.com | @taykendesign | taylor@learningeconomy.io
Description: As competencies have increasingly become currency for employment, educational institutions are identifying ways to assist students with communicating their skills and experiences. The Comprehensive Learner Record is a learner-centered verifiable digital record for capturing and communicating a student’s achievements that historically have not been included on a student transcript. In this webinar, learn about current developments with the CLR and discuss the intersection with academic library services.
Jeff Bohrer is the technical program manager for digital credentials at IMS Global Learning Consortium, a nonprofit collaboration of the world's leading universities, school districts, government organizations, content providers, and technology suppliers, cooperating to accelerate learning technology interoperability, adoption, and impact. Prior to his work with IMS, Jeff spent 20 years leading academic technology services in public and private universities and a public school district.
Presentation Slides:
Description: Speakers will share their experiences implementing badge programs in various Learning Management Systems.
Roberta (Robin) Sullivan is an Online Learning & Innovative Instruction Specialist for the Center for Educational Innovation at the University at Buffalo. She leads SUNYs Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success (#EmTechMOOC), a global learning opportunity to create 21st century citizens equipped for today's technology-driven society ( http://suny.edu/emtech ) and the Tools of Engagement Project (TOEP): On-demand Discovery Learning Professional Development. Sullivan has been recognized through a SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT2) Excellence in Instructional Support award, two Open SUNY Effective Practice Awards, and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Additional information can be found on her personal homepage at: http://buffalo.edu/~rrs
Angela Ecklund taught courses in American and British literature at Hunter College for nearly a decade as a PhD candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center and holds a Masters in Information and Library Science from Rutgers University. She has been the names and works authority file editor for the MLA International Bibliography for 6 years and also produces tutorials and other educational materials for users of the database. The latest project, released last May, is an online mini-course on Moodle that issues open badges. She has found digital badges to be a fun and practical way to issue certifications across institutions.
Jared Ward manages the Solutions Engineering Team for Canvas in Asia Pacific and has a background in classroom technology integration, including ePortfolios, blended and flipped learning, 1:1 and mobile learning. Jared has developed training programs for new Canvas users as well as specialized courses on badges (digital credentials), Google Drive integration, and Web 2.0 teaching and learning tools. As a Solutions Engineer, Jared supports the sales team doing onsite training and demonstrations, webinars and online support and help. He also provides workshops for teachers and administrators who are new to Canvas and helps institutions build a vision for blended learning and the role that Canvas plays in that pedagogical shift. Jared will demo using Badgr and Canvas. He’ll show modules and completion requirements in Canvas, as well as features for creating or assigning badges to a module, requiring evidence, using the progress tracker and leaderboard, and what Badgr Pro has to offer.
Description: Join the Digital Badges Interest Group in a discussion about two innovative badging programs that recognize 21st century and information literacy skills. Presenters will share how badges can be used to showcase learning experiences, unlock opportunities, and prepare students for the workplace.
Amanda Rose Fuller has been working in the field of education for the last decade- starting in Tennessee, with a pit stop in Europe and finally landing in the Aurora Public Schools. Three years ago she made the move out of the classroom to join the exciting and innovative Digital Badge team. From planning professional development to coaching teachers to recognize the 21st Century Skill development in their instruction, Amanda Rose is dedicated to helping her district successfully implement the Digital Badge program to ensure all students are given access to credentials which open doors of opportunity.
Megan Heuer is the Head of Information Literacy and the Communication Arts Librarian at Southern Methodist University, where she leads the efforts to build successful information literacy programming for the libraries and serves as liaison to advertising, journalism, communications, and arts management. She developed the Temerlin Information Literacy Certificate Program that teaches information skills to advertising undergraduate students. The program is embedded in multiple courses and bears the name of the department. She also serves on the Communication Studies Committee for the ACRL Education and Behavioral Sciences Section, which is currently developing a discipline-specific version of the ACRL Framework for journalism, as well as on the Instruction Section Communications Committee. Her research interests include the transfer of information literacy skills as well as workplace information literacy.
Description: We're stoked to have Nate Otto, Director of Open Badges at Concentric Sky, as our guest for our spring meeting and hope you can join us! Nate's presentation will discuss how Open Pathways and Open Badges may contribute to informed public understanding of the quality/credibility of information, news, and credentials that circulate online. We also learned that this presentation will include the first live demo of some new features related to Open Badges and Open Pathways.
Nate Otto is Director of Open Badges Projects at Concentric Sky, where he leads development of the Badgr platform for issuing and managing verifiable digital credentials. He is the lead author of the Open Badges Specification within the IMS Global Open Badges workgroup and contributes to technology standardization and coordinated development between companies in the digital credentials and related markets. Nate enjoys world-changing technology, locally-oriented agriculture, systems that promote equity, alternative sports like ultimate and rock climbing, and the natural wonder of the world.
Recording: http://ala.adobeconnect.com/r1auxhvd648/
Materials: You can find the draft guidelines here http://bit.ly/2axJiGB
Digital Badge: a validated indicator of accomplishment, skill, quality, or interest that can be earned in many learning environments (HASTAC)
Microcredential: a credential that recognizes the acquisition of specific skills that is more granular than traditional degrees and other certifications. A digital badge can be a kind of microcredential. (Educause)
Open Badge: a visual symbol of accomplishment with baked in verifiable data and evidence that can be shared across the web (Openbadges.org)
Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI): technical infrastructure established by Mozilla Foundation in 2012 and currently maintained by IMS Global. This standard ensures interoperability across all open badge systems. (Badge Alliance)
We welcome your ideas and suggestions! Contribute your feedback for what you would like to see on this LibGuide and ideas for future meetings on the Discussion page.
