Badges - Do they stink? Do we need them?

A colleague briefing I gave in 2013 regarding Open Badges to give context to Blackboard's Achievements tool (although I didn't talk about the Bb feature, I was more concerned about explaining the core concept to colleagues)

Transcript

1. Do they stink? Do we need them? Badges
2. It has been said often enough (and people always get the quote wrong) That’s Alfonso Bedoya in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the line is actually "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" not “We don’t need no stinkin’ badges.”
3. an emblem that signifies status badge, n.
4. an insignia or device… to indicate special achievement merit badge, n.
5. web badges (for this conversation) are really merit badges
6. But as web badges track achievements… Note: actual badge really only looks like this but still has only been awarded 132 times(!!!)
7. … like diplomas they’re only worth as much as what they’re for & who issued them (I bet you already have the skills needed to evaluate many of these badges & badge issuers)
8. Best practices are being established http://dmlcentral.net/blog/doug-belshaw/gaining-some-perspective-badges-lifelong-learning
9. rubrics should come to the party
10. What’s the more/most useful gamificationization for higher ed? the classroom? quick thought experiment: COMPLETED A DEGREE PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATED ACHIEVED A GPA OF 3.8 OR HIGHER Perfect Attendance & Class Participation Grade HANDS UP! Has Completed 5 Or More Evening Classes NIGHT OWL ✋ A IS FOR AWESOME OH, THAT KID
11. MY GOD, IT’S FULL OF... BADGES? How to Earn Your Skeptic “Badge” Better Prior Learning Assessment Can Be Higher Education’s Merit Badge How Badges Really Work in Higher Education The Gamification of Eductation Infographic How Gamification Uncovers Nuance In The Learning Process 7 Things You Should Know About Badges Better Futures for 2 Million Americans Through Open Badges further (links) Commercial version of Mozilla OpenBadges that includes issuing & creation tools Wordpress plugin that supports creation and issuing of badges via OpenBadges, Badgestack & Credly ) other players in the badgespace