Will Digital Badges Have Value?

As a member of LinkedIn, a professional social networking site, I receive weekly emails with links to interesting and relevant articles in the business and education sectors. This morning, I was interested by one in particular written in The Chronicle. If you follow any news regarding higher education, you’re likely to have heard of MIT’s most recent open education endeavor, MITx. If not, here is the gist of the initiative: about a month ago MIT launched a free online-course platform made available to students across the globe– whether enrolled in higher education or in a K-12 system. This platform organizes educational material in manner so students can learn it at their own pace. Interactive “online laboratories” with real student-to-student interactions allow students to feel as if they are in a real classroom setting. So the question is, what would encourage students to use a platform such as this?

Well, MIT is actually offering certificates to outside students who complete these courses. After watching videos, asking and answering questions, doing practice exercises, and taking quizzes and tests, students earn shiny virtual badges. Yes, badges– like Boy or Girl Scouts all over again. Teaming with Mozilla, who brought us the trusty Firefox browser, students can receive and organize these online symbols of accomplishments- whether it be in a skill, a quality, or an interest. If the goal here is to get students to take advantage of open education, this idea is genius. As in many smartphone games, seeing an obtainable badge (such as joining the Million Club in Temple Run) will motivate you to play for hours until you improve your skill level and earn that achievement. But I wonder, how well will these merit badges translate to employers?

When you get a job, regardless of the industry, the employers will very likely train you for that specific position; they understand that guidance is an important factor in your success with their company. But what they look for in a potential employee is your ability to think– to ask questions, to stay organized, to give a unified and clear presentation, to make decisions– and that is what they expect when they see a candidate with a college degree, regardless of the concentration.

These badges would be useful in displaying one’s highly specialized skills, such as very specific programming knowledge, or library research skills. They serve as checkpoints of mastery an employer may value in a certain position. However, as I see it, these badges won’t ever truly replace a resume or a transcript, though I think they do have a special role in filling in the gaps regarding your experience. For instance, if an individual has been a teacher for their entire professional career then wants to make a career change, say into digital illustration, they can be more comfortable in applying to such a job when they can show they’ve achieved mastery in the entire Adobe Suite from a credible source. Applying without job experience in that field and with nothing to show for it but some sample pieces and their word does not sound like a recipe for success.

This idea has become especially publicized in the last few months because the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced a $2 million competition to create digital badges that will end this March. Once an infrastructure is created for this new digital education trophy case of sorts, I wouldn’t be surprised if other companies incorporated those badges onto their own users’ profiles (e.g. LinkedIn). I hope these badges become successful and are credible within the job sector; they will serve as a great indicator of one’s formal and informal education.

By: Tanya Rogovyk

(Photo courtesy of openbadges.org)