What is it? Open badges are a 21st-century solution to the shortcomings
of paper certificates in the age of digital, online identity management.
These small visual signifiers which carry hard-coded meta-data can be issued
by anyone in order to recognise achievement or participation in formal or
informal activities. They link back directly to the issuer, the criteria for
award, and the evidence. The learner can collect and display their open
badges online to reveal their journey and discover new opportunities. Open
badges emerged from the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition in 2011
funded by the MacArthur Foundation and administered by HASTAC in
collaboration with the Mozilla Foundation (MacArthur Foundation, 2012). The
aim was to provide a “powerful new tool for identifying and validating the
rich array of people's skills, knowledge, accomplishments, and competencies
[…to] inspire new pathways to learning and connect learners to
opportunities, resources, and one another” (HASTAC, 2020, n.p.). The open
badge infrastructure is based on an open source set of standards which have
enabled the ‘baking’ of meta-data within a digital image through the use of
an open badge platform. Open badge platforms are free to access, at least
initially, offering educators the opportunity to create visual, shareable
micro-credentials which recognise a learner’s journey.