On December 3–9, 2013, LINCS will provide an online public discussion through the Technology and Learning Community in response to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education's call for public comment for its newly released report: The Potential and Value of Using Digital Badges for Adult Learners. This report examines the nature, value, and potential impact of digital badges, an emerging electronic system designed to certify an individual’s knowledge and skills. Badges can represent different levels of work and engagement, including more granular skills or achievements, marking in some cases small and/or very specific abilities. For this reason badges hold particular promise for adult learners in basic education programs, many of whom have few, if any, formal credentials (such as diplomas), but who are obtaining functional skills that would be valued in hiring situations if a mechanism for certifying those skills and knowledge was available.
Please join us for an exciting discussion about digital badges facilitated by Steve Reder (http://www.pdx.edu/profile/meet-professor-steve-reder) and David Wiley (http://davidwiley.org/), two researchers who bring combined knowledge of adult education, technology, and digital badges to our forum. The Potential and Value of Using Digital Badges for Adult Learners was co-authored by Jonathan Finkelstein at Credly, Erin Knight at Mozilla Foundation, and Susan Manning at the University of Wisconsin, under contract to the American Institutes of Research and with funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE).