Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2013 - (Page 41)

engineering, and math classroom programs, Open Badges is a way to demonstrate tangible skills that have direct relevance to careers today and in the years to come.” Badge initiatives are maturing quickly in many arenas: within for-credit and notfor-credit courses (including MOOCs), internships, work experience, military experience and other learning contexts. These initiatives provide a structure where mentors and experts help learners understand and evaluate their progress toward achieving specific badges, creating a “connected learning ecology.” MOZILLA’S FRAMEWORK FOR BADGES While there are numerous types of badging technologies, the Mozilla Open Badges for Lifelong Learning Initiative has established a framework for the scalable, stable, growth of badge ecosystems. In this open framework, learning providers define badges that represent specific achievements, often based on industry standard competencies. The learning providers then issue badges after verifying that learners have mastered the competency defined in the badge. Learners benefit from a more granular understanding of their learning accomplishments and the ability to map their competency badges to the skills required by employers. They can collect badges from multiple sources and organize them to address targeted needs, like a job search. A growing number of employers are also 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. In this ecosystem, 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 than traditional grades on transcripts and lists of skills on resumes. WHAT’S NEXT? Badges have recently received notable recognition: • In June 2013, the Clinton Global Initiative announced a commitment to help 1 million students and 1 million U.S. workers access opportunities through badges. Nonprofit organizations, universities, technology providers, and others are teaming up to meet this challenge. • Blackboard’s recent integration with the Mozilla Open Badges framework enables educators around the world to become badge issuers to millions of students who can use their badge achievements portably in their online identities and resumes. • Mozilla, Blackboard, WCET and Sage Road Solutions recently brought together academic, governmental, civic, and corporate thought leaders to contribute to a MOOC, “Badges: New Currency for Professional Credentials,” that fostered and strengthened emerging badge ecosystems. The badges movement holds tremendous potential to bridge the gap between higher education and the workforce and match job-seekers who have proficiency in the skills employers need with unfilled positions. By embracing badges as more accurate, relevant validators of job candidates’ ability than traditional resumes, employers can save time and money and find the candidates with the skills needed to make the highest impact on the job. Dr. Deborah Everhart is director of integration strategy at Blackboard, where she provides guidance throughout product planning and development processes. Email Deborah. CASE STUDY: MATCHING HIGHLY SKILLED EMPLOYEES WITH MANUFACTURERS BY USING BADGES The Manufacturing Institute has launched a National Manufacturing Badges initiative that defines ways of achieving manufacturing skills that are highly sought by employers. Students complete project-based courses where they can demonstrate their capabilities and earn badges. They then display these badges in their digital resumes and in professional networking contexts. Manufacturing employers identify work-based learning and job opportunities that are mapped to the competencies represented by specific badges. The badge ecosystem provides a method of exchange for students and employers to better define and enable the learning-to-employment pathways that get more students into the right jobs more effectively. The Manufacturing Institute is also teaming up with industry leaders to help veterans translate their military experience into manufacturing careers. Well-defined badges map Military Occupation Codes to civilian jobs such as electronics assemblers and machinists. An online framework makes it easy for civilian employers to understand military competencies and post their jobs to thousands of highly skilled veterans. This initiative aims to advance the careers of 100,000 veterans by 2015. Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2013 / A Training Industry, Inc. magazine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ 41 http://www.blackboard.com/About-Bb/News-Center/Press-Releases.aspx?releaseid=122697 http://badges.coursesites.com/ http://badges.coursesites.com/ http://badges.coursesites.com/ https://wiki.mozilla.org/File:OpenBadges-Working-Paper_012312.pdf http://www.hastac.org/news/president-clinton-announces-commitment-create-new-pathways-college-and-career-success-through-o http://www.hastac.org/news/president-clinton-announces-commitment-create-new-pathways-college-and-career-success-through-o http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/Initiatives/Badges/Badges.aspx http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/Initiatives/Get-Skills-to-Work/Get-Skills-to-Work.aspx 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