Abstract
In the multitude of available badging platforms, it is not easy to choose the appropriate one to support a particular badging (sub-)system. A list of badging features provided for a certain platform is often not informative enough and might even be misleading. To address this problem, this chapter provides a deeper insight into current features of badging platforms, and thus help one make more informed decision when choosing a platform for a specific application case.
To this end, we first examined relevant academic literature and other relevant resources, and based on the obtained insights, developed several scenarios describing typical forms of interaction with badging systems. Then, we identified functional requirements related to each scenario and established a set of comparison criteria for badging platforms, namely supported scenarios, variety of badging features, and supported badging and teaching/learning practices. Using these criteria, we reviewed, analyzed and compared features of six selected badging platforms.
The study results reveal feature-wise differences as well as differences in supported practices among the platforms, many of which are the result of different origin and focus of the platforms. In addition, the results offer a realistic insight into the capabilities of the selected platforms.
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Notes
- 1.
In this book chapter, the term “badge” denotes an Open Badge (OB), unless stated otherwise, and will be used interchangeably with “OB”.
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Acknowledgements
This publication was partially supported by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Program (LLP), the GRASS project (no.543029-LLP-1-2013-1-RS-KA3-KA3MP). The publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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Dimitrijević, S., Devedzić, V., Jovanović, J., Milikić, N. (2016). Badging Platforms: A Scenario-Based Comparison of Features and Uses. In: Ifenthaler, D., Bellin-Mularski, N., Mah, DK. (eds) Foundation of Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15425-1_8
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