Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2013 - (Page 40)

They are helping usher in a new era in which employers have more evidence to validate capabilities to assess whether or not applicants’ skills match job requirements, leaving traditional paper resumes — with all their shortcomings — in the filing cabinet where they belong. WHAT ARE BADGES? Digital badges are flexible, open and portable symbols of an accomplishment, skill, competency or interest. Learners earn badges from many different sources — often via blended or fully online courses — when they complete specific criteria designed to show competency in a given area. Badge achievements can be added to online resumes, social media profiles, personal websites and even job sites so that the knowledge learners have acquired can become — literally and visibly — part of their identities. Theoretically, there is no subject too narrow to warrant a badge if competency is demonstrated. Badges can be granted for anything from proficiency in a computer program, to fluency in a language, to soft skills like critical thinking or conflict resolution. To prepare their students for the workforce, higher education institutions are beginning to define and issue badges that represent valuable job skills that are in high demand by employers. Since badges can be granted in specific subjects, employers and other “badge consumers” are recognizing the value of the detailed information and evidence of skills that badges provide. This is in stark contrast to the opaque, rudimentary information provided in resumes and transcripts. Badging is more than just a shiny new tool for recruiters. There is currently a plethora of unfilled high-paying jobs in the U.S., even while unemployment rates remain high. In its 2012 Talent Shortage Survey, the Manpower Group cites “a lack of available skilled talent as a continuing drag on business performance.” To bridge this gap, higher education institutions need to prepare students with in-demand skills, and applicants need to better demonstrate proficiency in these skills to employers. Badges, and the competency-based learning framework they represent, have the potential to solve this dilemma by more TAKEAWAYS • Badges have emerged as a way to bridge the gap between higher education and the workforce. Learning providers define badges that represent specific achievements, often based on industry standard competencies, and issue badges after verifying that learners have mastered the competency defined in the badge. • One of the most prominent badge projects is the Mozilla Open Badges for Lifelong Learning Initiative. • Employers can explore the data and evidence captured in the badges to get a more robust understanding of applicants’ capabilities. A growing number of employers are using badges to define the skills they are looking for. • Companies are endorsing badges created by learning providers to make them even more valuable and reputable. • Badge issuers (learning providers), badge earners (learners), and badge consumers (employers) all benefit from the ability to capture and convey evidence of learning that is far more targeted and concrete. 40 efficiently connecting skilled workers to talent-hungry employers. WHY BADGES, WHY NOW? It’s no secret that education is transforming. Students have more opportunities than ever to acquire knowledge from a variety of sources. They are taking classes from multiple colleges, dabbling in massive open online courses (MOOCs), and polishing their skill sets with professional development courses and workplace training. Badges offer the potential for a “common currency” that transcends multiple learning venues and allows students to display their mastery in skills no matter where they were acquired. Badges also are an important part of an ongoing national discourse on competency-based learning. The Lumina Foundation, one of numerous research and non-profit organizations that have recently argued for fundamental changes in the delivery of education, has a strategy for “new systems of quality credentials and credits defined by learning and competencies rather than time.” Since badges represent mastery of a subject verified by badge providers — not simply showing up for a class and getting credit without any engagement — their role in replacing “seat time” for proven competency can only be expected to grow. GAINING TRACTION Badges are gaining momentum in a number of fields, including computing and robotics. Intel, Microsoft, and Disney-Pixar have all launched badge initiatives, and the Information Technology Industry Council recently announced its commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative badge challenge. Dean Garfield, president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, stated: “Open Badges is a great opportunity for our nation: American workers and businesses alike. Whether self-taught, acquired through work experience, or learned from science, technology, Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2013 / A Training Industry, Inc. magazine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.manpowergroup.us/campaigns/talent-shortage-2012/ http://www.manpowergroup.us/campaigns/talent-shortage-2012/ http://www.luminafoundation.org/newsroom/news_releases/2013-06-13.html http://www.macfound.org/press/press-releases/better-futures-2-million-americans-through-open-badges/ http://www.macfound.org/press/press-releases/better-futures-2-million-americans-through-open-badges/ http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2013

From Where I Sit: The Sustainability of MOOCs
Table of Contents
Ad Index
Guest Editor: Top Five Learning Technologies to Watch
We Need to Support Learning, Not Manage It
Supercharge Your Next Leadership Initiative
Boomers & the Technology Gap
Technologies to Manage Information Overload
It's Time to Invest in the 'Performance Zone'
Inroducing Simulation into Learning Technologies: Examining the Key Considerations
The Evolution of the LMS
Bringing Your Mojo to the Virtual Classroom
Merging Social Learning and Technology to Achieve Business Outcomes
Optimizing Workforce Learning and Performance
Badges: Bridging the Higher Education and Workforce Gap
Integrating Video into Training
Tools for Supporting Sales Coaching
Tweet Suite
Company News

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2013