Presented by: Brian Mulligan
The “Open Learning Badges” infrastructure being developed by Mozilla [1] will allow training providers to award accreditation that can be displayed online and includes evidence of achievements that can be viewed by third parties and which can be reliably verified. This infrastructure includes data standards and tools for badge issuers, recipients and displayers. Many believe that these badges will have a significant impact in education by providing an alternative reliable accreditation system and improving motivation in the completion of smaller scale learning activities [2]. This presentation will include a description of how these tools work and how badges can be issued from Moodle. It will also discuss how Open Badges along with Open Courses might be particularly applicable for both Transition Year and the new Junior Cycle.
[1] Mozilla 2012, Open Learning Badges Working Document
https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/b/b1/OpenBadges-Working-Paper_092011.pdf
[2] Emily Goligoski, “Motivating the Learner: Mozilla’s Open Badges Program” , Access to Knowledge, Volume 4, Number 1 (2012). http://emilygoligoski.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/EGoligoski-Mozilla-…“
Presenter Biography:
Brian Mulligan is Programme Manager in the Centre for Online Learning at the Institute of Technology Sligo where he has lectured since 1984. He has been instrumental in the rapid growth in online learning in IT Sligo since 2002 and significantly involved in the growth of e-learning in Ireland since 1999, organising the EdTech series of conferences since 2000 and as a founding member of the Irish Learning Technology Association in 2002. He is the organiser of the IT Sligo/NDLR Teaching and Learning Webinar Series. His website is athttp://brian.mulligan.googlepages.com/