Open Badges (OBs) are a novel means of recognizing and credentialing knowledge, skills, competences, creativity and achievements in various learning settings (formal or informal, online or traditional classroom). OBs greatly contribute to the general trend of open education by enforcing an open approach to recognition of learning achievements, by providing open evidence of learning accomplishments, by open criteria for credentialing learning no matter where, when, and how it happens, by being based on an open technical standard and free software, as well as by enabling open displaying and sharing of one’s achievements.
This Webinar will be organized and given by representatives of GRASS (Grading Soft Skills), a 3-year research project being developed with the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) of the European Commission, and Open Badge Network, an Erasmus+ strategic partnership, also supported by European Commission. GRASS focuses on how OBs can be used to incite, assess, grade and recognize development of learners’ soft skills – creativity, innovation, critical thinking, decision making, communication, collaboration, etc. – spanning different ages and educational levels. Eight educational institutions from four different European countries are the GRASS project partners. Their starting point is a vision from an EU strategic document: “In the future, creativity, the ability to think laterally, adaptability and other ‘transversal’ skills will be valued more than the specific bodies of knowledge that schools have traditionally taught.” Open Badge Network focuses on building the OB community in Europe and networking of students, teachers, professionals and organizations in the area of education in order to promote the tools, approaches and benefits of Open Badges.
The Webinar will be a great introduction to all of those who want to get involved with the community and culture of recognizing learners’ achievements and skills through Open Badges. It is a forerunner of the workshop Open Badges in Education 2016, to be given at The Open Education Global Conference 2016 (OEG 2016) in Krakow, Poland, April 12-14, 2016. OEG is the annual opportunity for researchers, practitioners, policy makers and educators to deeply explore open education and its impact on global education.
University of Belgrade, Serbia
Serbia, Belgrade
Contributed by: Vladan Devedzic
Language: English