Competencies vs. Credit Hours in Digital Badges: New Solutions from the Learning Sciences

Daniel T. Hickey
Professor, Learning Sciences Program
Indiana University

This talk will explore an enduring debate that surfaces with each major advance in instructional technology.  Digital badges are “evidence-rich micro-credentials.”  Because they can contain specific claims and detailed evidence and can then circulate in social networks, badges have the potential to transform credentialing and education more broadly. Some argue that badges should only contain claims and evidence concerning specific measurable competencies; others argue that such a focus narrows education and bypasses the most important kinds of learning. The talk will summarize relevant examples and evidence from a two-year study of the 29 projects funded in the 2012 Badges for Lifelong Learning initiative. A promising “participatory” resolution to these tensions will be illustrated using badges issued in “Big Open Online Courses” at Indiana University.