Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business model

<p>Digital badging as a trend in education is now recognised. It offers a way to reward and motivate, providing evidence of skills and achievements. Badged Open Courses (BOCs) were piloted by The Open University (OU) in 2013. The project built on research into the motivations and profiles of l...

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Main Author: Patrina Law
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) 2015-10-01
Series:Open Praxis
Subjects:
Online Access:https://openpraxis.org/articles/342
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author Patrina Law
author_facet Patrina Law
author_sort Patrina Law
collection DOAJ
description <p>Digital badging as a trend in education is now recognised. It offers a way to reward and motivate, providing evidence of skills and achievements. Badged Open Courses (BOCs) were piloted by The Open University (OU) in 2013. The project built on research into the motivations and profiles of learners using free educational resources which the OU makes available through its OpenLearn platform (Law, Perryman &amp; Law, 2013). This research found that an increasing proportion of learners are keen to have their informal learning achievements recognised (Law &amp; Law, 2014). Based on these data, a suite of free BOCs, assessed through the deployment of Moodle quizzes, was launched. This paper reports on evaluation of the BOCs and what we now know of the strategic importance of informal learning recognition. The initiative aligns with University strategies to provide accessible routes into formal learning for those who might not otherwise have the opportunity.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-5f9450deee3b47059fc2ec0628d611182023-03-01T21:21:14ZengInternational Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)Open Praxis1369-99972304-070X2015-10-017429931010.5944/openpraxis.7.4.247301Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business modelPatrina Law0The Open University<p>Digital badging as a trend in education is now recognised. It offers a way to reward and motivate, providing evidence of skills and achievements. Badged Open Courses (BOCs) were piloted by The Open University (OU) in 2013. The project built on research into the motivations and profiles of learners using free educational resources which the OU makes available through its OpenLearn platform (Law, Perryman &amp; Law, 2013). This research found that an increasing proportion of learners are keen to have their informal learning achievements recognised (Law &amp; Law, 2014). Based on these data, a suite of free BOCs, assessed through the deployment of Moodle quizzes, was launched. This paper reports on evaluation of the BOCs and what we now know of the strategic importance of informal learning recognition. The initiative aligns with University strategies to provide accessible routes into formal learning for those who might not otherwise have the opportunity.</p>https://openpraxis.org/articles/342open educational resourcesoerdigital badgeselearningmoocs
spellingShingle Patrina Law
Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business model
Open Praxis
open educational resources
oer
digital badges
elearning
moocs
title Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business model
title_full Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business model
title_fullStr Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business model
title_full_unstemmed Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business model
title_short Recognising informal elearning with digital badging: evidence for a sustainable business model
title_sort recognising informal elearning with digital badging evidence for a sustainable business model
topic open educational resources
oer
digital badges
elearning
moocs
url https://openpraxis.org/articles/342
work_keys_str_mv AT patrinalaw recognisinginformalelearningwithdigitalbadgingevidenceforasustainablebusinessmodel