The document discusses the application of open digital badging at The Open University UK and its future in higher education. It provides details on how the university has used badged open courses (BOCs) to provide recognition for informal learning, motivate learners, and support student recruitment and progression. Over 12 months, 3000 badges were issued through BOCs which drove new visitors, enrollments, and qualification sign-ups. The challenges of developing robust assessment for BOCs were addressed. Going forward, the university aims to further integrate digital badges and credentials into areas like student records, induction, and employability to recognize skills and encourage engagement.

1. The application of open
digital badging at the OU
UK and its future in HE
Patrina Law, Head of Free Learning
@HigherEdPatrina

2. Why do we provide free learning?
2
ELIZABETH THE SECOND
by the Grace of God of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland and of
Our other Realms and
Territories Queen, Head of the
Commonwealth, Defender of the
Faith…

3. 3
What this has achieved via OpenLearn
44 million learners
13% make a formal enquiry
www.open.edu/openlearn

4. 4
4
Who are our OpenLearn learners?

5. 5
How do they feel about their learning?
58%
‘A test to give confidence my next
module choice is appropriate for me’
38%
80%
Declare improved
confidence in ability to study.
Are students. 29% of enrolled
are OU students.
Want OU-branded recognition
for informal learning.
More likely to take
another free course.
More likely to
recommend OU
content to others.
80%
80%
‘The free extracts of courses gave me
confidence to enroll in my first module…I
have also been using them to practice
time management.’
‘A good talking point and something
to include on my CV’
‘Fees are now too high for me to
consider continuing my degree’
‘Thank you for providing a resource
for people that cannot get to a facility
due to physical or financial difficulty. ’

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Recognition in an informal / non formal
environment
Cross (2007) describes informal learning as ‘the unofficial,
unscheduled, impromptu way people learn’ but in an
environment where ‘...no one assigns grades…’ and ‘...no one
takes attendance.’
Technology has disrupted informal learning settings and
expectations.
We have moved from Cross’s anonymous world to one of
identified informal learning. There is a growing demand that
learners want recognition for their achievements in the free
learning space that can be acknowledged publicly.

7. 7
OpenLearn learners want OU-branded
recognition for their learning.
80%

8. 8
In support of motivating and rewarding
learners
OpenLearn Badged Open Courses (BOCs):
1. Give informal learners the recognition they’ve
requested.
2. Give prospective students the skills to be
prepared for undergraduate study.
3. Give our current students a means of
developing and displaying skills relevant to
career progression.
 Cheaper to produce than our MOOCs
 No tutoring overhead
 Uses Open Badging Infrastructure

9. 9
Badged Open Courses assessment
framework
• Learners need to achieve 50% to
pass an assessment
• Learners are given three
attempts
• If they fail on the third attempt,
they can retake after 24 hours
• Practice assessment is available
throughout the course
• All pages of the course must
have been ‘read’
• Formal assessment takes place
halfway and at the end
• All BOCs are 24 hours of learning
Two successful assessments = 1 badge

10. 10
Assessments (using Moodle quizzes in BOCs) presented in the
way that Hickey identifies, we are attempting to communicate
feedback and provide motivation to learners in an environment
that cannot provide tutorial support.
o An incentive for learners
o To identify progress
o To signify achievement and learning
On assessment in learning (Abramovich et al., 2013):
“…the potential benefit of an assessment is determined
by its ability to both maintain learning motivation and
accurately communicate a student’s learning.”
On assessment in badges (Hickey (2012):
o Summative functions - assessment of learning
o Formative functions for individuals - assessment for learning
o Transformative functions for systems - assessment as learning
Defining the potential of digital badging

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Badge display
Badge aggregator
My OpenLearn Profile
(an e-portfolio)
Export functionsPDF
OU Student
Record

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BOC impact – first 12 months
• 3000+ badges issued
• The BOCs are generating around
15,000 new visitors a month to
OpenLearn
• They drive a very high proportion of
learners to make a formal enquiry to
study (25% Feb 2015 - May 2016)
• Completion rates of BOCs are higher
than our MOOCs
• 400+ formal module registrations
(mostly entry level)
• 350+ qualification sign-ups (mostly
new students)
• 3,535 prospectus requests
• Satisfaction rates are high (~98%)

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BOCs as a motivator and for recognition
• 71% perceive digital badge and certificate as equally
important
• Responses to ‘What does earning a badge mean to
you?’
Source: SurveyMonkey. End of course survey, Succeed with maths, Part 1.
“The basic
accreditation from
these badges adds
more value to the
work I put in”
“Thank you for giving
me the confidence to
do something I
thought I had no
intellect to actually
do”
BOC impact – data analysis

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BOCs supporting professional development
• 39-57% will show badge to employer
BOCs as preparedness and driver for study
• Promising demographic for undergraduate recruitment
(younger than OpenLearn overall) and existing
qualifications: only 7-17% hold undergraduate degree
compared to 26% on OpenLearn (MOOCs >70%)
• Reasons for studying: Professional development (84%),
personal interest (78%), preparation for study (54%)
• 58% had not taken online course before
BOCs supporting disabled learners
• Between 15% and 37% declare a disability (OpenLearn
overall is 23%; UK adult population is 16%)
“A good talking
point and
something to
include on my
CV”
“Refreshed my
maths skills and
going on to do the
open learn
English course,
will be applying to
do an access
course in March”
BOC impact – data analysis

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Learners are clear about how they like to learn
• Responses to ‘Please rate how you felt about the different ways
of learning on OpenLearn’.
Source: SurveyMonkey. End of course survey, English: skills for learning
BOC impact – data analysis

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Word cloud source: SurveyMonkey. End of course survey, Succeed with maths Part 1
BOC impact – reasons for studying

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BOCs. The challenges…
1. Were we setting the bar too high? Were we going to
deter completion?
2. Are detractors right to question the value of a badge?
3. In 2012, scant research and almost no empirical data.
4. Was using repurposed content going to save on
production costs?
5. Can we convince others of the robustness of the QE?
6. Developing assessment – a challenge for most writers
– 45 questions for Weeks 4 and 8; 15 questions for
remaining weeks. A big ask.

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BOCs. The solutions…
1. Setting the bar too high? Test and see – OpenLearn
is rapid response environment for developing
approaches to elearning.
2. Detractors? The value of badging is still being
debated.
3. Research and empirical data? … now developing.
OpenLearn provided rich and rapid feedback.
4. Mixing new and repurposed content – time/cost
difference negligible.
5. Quality of learning experience assured through
academic authoring and critical readership.
6. Assessment expertise developed, but remains a
challenge.

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To be rolled out in UK no later than 2018.
Based on Gov’t recommendation in 2007 it is to be…
“a single comprehensive record of a learner’s
achievement”
It will enable…
“institutions to provide a detailed picture of student
achievement throughout a students’ time at university,
including academic work, extra-curricular activities,
prizes and employability awards, voluntary work and
offices held in student union clubs and societies that
have been verified by the institution”
The learner record in the wider HE
landscape
Source: http://www.hear.ac.uk/

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Rolled out in UK from 2018
Source: http://www.hear.ac.uk/

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Digital credentials
Bolstering students’ formal qualifications
Creating a mix of skills for students’ own career path
Source: Bryan Mathers, CC-BY-ND

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A ‘comprehensive learner record’
Source: IMS Global Learning Consortium

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Blockchain
Sources: Carla Casilli ‘From Badges to BadgeChain: Part 2; John Domingue, Open blockchain blockchain.open.ac.uk/
“Blockchain technology builds a continuous list of
records or transactions that result in a time-based
ledger.”
“A [dgitial/electronic] list of records that build
upon each other, one after the other in a sequential
fashion.”
“It eliminates the need for a central authority.”
And becomes
“…a publicly shared immutable ledger.”

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Blockchain and open badges
Source: Bryan Mathers, CC-BY-ND

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Blockchain and digital credentials
Source: Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University UK blockchain.open.ac.uk/

26. Open badges: a helpful proposition when
engaging with partners
26

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The landscape of digital badging in HE
Networks tell us that they are being developed:
• as a method of encouraging first year students to complete
• for engaging in skills/employability courses and
• for internal staff development
The awarding of a badge is usually a manual activity.

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The future of digital badging at the OU
Supporting qualifications (promotion/induction)
As a highly impactful outreach mechanism
For student induction, graduate employability/skills
Development of blockchain technology for learning
credentials
BOCs to appear on the Student Record and HEAR
Promoted by tutors and careers advisors
Public info: http://bit.ly/1TH7BlQ
patrina.law@open.ac.uk @HigherEdPatrina #openbadgesHE