Abstract
This chapter reframes the question “do badges work?” to explore when badges work. It presents three cases studied by the Design Principles Documentation project to demonstrate dynamic uses of digital badges and discuss the myriad issues associated with using digital badges as an assessment tool.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Many of these tensions were captured in a recorded keynote by a skeptical Alphie Kohn and response by the second author at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_98XcxJqkw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IaB8N6P4lc
- 2.
References
Browne, K. (2014, January 30). 4 platforms that will disrupt higher education [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.hastac.org/blogs/kyphilosopher/2014/01/30/4-platforms-will-disrupt-higher-education.
Carey, K. (2015, March 5). Here’s what will truly change higher education: Online degrees that are seen as official. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/upshot/true-reform-in-higher-education-when-online-degrees-are-seen-as-official.html?_r=1&abt=0002&abg=0.
Casilli, C., & Knight, E. (2012). Seven things you should know about digital badges. EduCause. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7085.pdf.
Ian O’Byrne, W., Schenke, K., Willis, J. E., III, & Hickey, D. T. (2015). Digital badges recognizing, assessing, and motivating learners in and out of school contexts. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 58(6), 451–454.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York, NY: New York University Press.
McWilliams, J. (2011). Ok, #DMLdudes: I have something else to say about badges. Retrieved from http://www.jennamcwilliams.com/2011/09/16/ok-dmldudes-i-have-something-else-to-say-about-badges/.
Popham, W. J. (1997). What’s wrong-and what’s right-with rubrics. Educational Leadership, 55, 72–75.
Torrance, H. (2012). Formative assessment at the crossroads: Conformative, deformative and transformative assessment. Oxford Review of Education, 38(3), 323–342. doi:10.1080/03054985.2012.689693.
Acknowledgements
The Design Principles Documentation Project was supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to Indiana University. Additionally, the badging projects referenced in this chapter provided invaluable feedback and insights into their design processes. Kristin M. Kaz aided in the preparation of this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Itow, R.C., Hickey, D.T. (2016). When Digital Badges Work: It’s Not About the Badges, It’s About Learning Ecosystems. 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_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15425-1_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15424-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15425-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)