Digital Badges for Professional Development:A Case Study at Madison College

Kathleen Radionoff Dean of Continuing EducationMadison Collegekradionoff@madisoncollege.edu(608) 258-2309

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Overview

• Role of non-credit in professional development

• Why Badges?• Implementation of Badges at

Madison College• Lessons Learned/Recommendations

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Madison College Continuing Education Program

• Madison Area Technical College serves more than 44,000 students at 11 locations in portions of 12 counties

• Continuing Education served 14440 during FY12-13 individuals and year-to-date FY13-14 14265

• Broad programming range

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Lessons Learned from Continuing Education and Why it Matters

• Online programs were first tested in continuing education at many schools.

• Continuing education programs have been serving adult and non-traditional learners long before they became the majority of higher education students.

• The financial model for continuing education forced these programs to be self-sustaining and market-driven well before the current budget/tuition crisis hit the rest of higher education.

(Hampton, 2014 http://higheredmanagement.net/2014/01/25/the-rise-of-alternatives-to-university-continuing-education-part-1 )

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Incumbent Workers and Noncredit Training

• 20.8m students in non-credit programs• Two year schools: 6.5m credit/5m non-

credit• Adult students and informal learning• Lack of evaluation system to link non-

credit coursework to credit credentials

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National Studies on the Importance of Non-credit Training

• The National Council on Continuing Education and Training (2004)

• Ganzglass, Bird and Prince (2011)• Business Roundtable (2009)

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Why Badges?

• Assessment of non-credit learning outcomes

• Employer needs• Non-credit to credit pathway• Major program shift 2008 – 2010

professional development• Competition

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Digital Credentials Defined

Online record of achievements, the work required, and information about the organization, individual or entity that issued the credential.

Digital Credentials or Badges make accomplishments and experiences visible to a wide audience.

Badges can support learning that happens in new ways and new spaces.

These credentials provide a more complete picture of one’s skills, achievements and qualities.

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Digital Credential Eco System

• Issuers: Any individual or institution wanting to give someone a digital badge.

• Digital Badges: Earned for learning, participation and achievements.

• Earners: Individuals or organizations who earn a badge.

• Badge Storage: Digital backpack enables learners to store, organize and manage earned badges.

• Displayers: Digital pages where badges are displayed – can be private or public.

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Audience Poll

• Are you working with industry associations or employers to establish badge standards?• Yes• No• Thinking about it

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2012-13 Badge Pilot

• Program selection• Criteria

• Designing the Badges• Individual topics• Master badges• Program completion

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Badge Pilot: Lessons Learned

• Technology Platform• Marketing• Faculty Support• Student Support• Does this fit with the college’s academic

strategy?

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2013 -14 Academic Plan

• 1200 advisory board members surveyed• 28 industries• 50% response rate• Extensive research on education trends

http://madisoncollege.edu/impact/

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Research Results

• Changing Options in Academic Credentialing

• Workforce Skills• Flexible credentials• Alternatives to degree credit

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Research Results

• Non-credit training viable option• The rise of alternative credentials• 77% of employers said incumbent

employees need additional skill training

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Roll-Out of Badges in CE

• The Business Plan• The Marketing Plan• Instructional Design • Badge ecosystem design

• Faculty Support• Student Support

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The Business Plan

• Staffing• Resources to convert curriculum to badges• Timeline• Scalability• Revenue expectations

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Technology Platform

• Beta site for Pearson’s new Acclaim system

• Cloud based• Not tied to Peoplesoft• Not integrated with Blackboard• Need for a LMS-light system

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1st badge in the series to earn the Food Service Management 1 course completion badge. (This

image is what the issuer would see.)

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The email that the student receives upon earning a badge

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Within the Acclaim system, what the student sees upon clicking “view this and your other accepted

badges” from the previous email

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Sharing Badges Earned

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Marketing Plan

• Competitive advantage strategy• Customer segments• Channel strategy • Creating demand

• Marketing communications• Badge Product Lines

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Channel Strategy

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Communications Campaign

• Email • Earn a free CE Badge Campaign• Employer presentations

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Badge Product Lines

• Professional Development• Contract Training• Technical Assistance to Employers

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Instructional Design Plan

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Instructional Design Plan

• Linking to industry or employer standards• Linking to vendor standards• Okuma• Adobe

• Digital Badge Alliance• Notable badge researchers • Carla Casilli• Dr. Daniel Hickey

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Instructional Design Plan

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Faculty Support

• What is a Digital Badge?• Acclaim - Our Digital Badging Solution• How to Create Learning Objectives

(includes a downloadable document for the instructor to submit to create his/her badges)

• Role of a Digital Badge Instructor (will include the student training module)

• FAQs

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Student Support

• What is a Digital Badge (will be the same as the faculty side)

• Logging Into Acclaim• Viewing Badges• Sharing Badges• FAQs

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Develop Business

Plan

Create Badges

Issue/Earn Badges

Share Badges

Reporting & Accountability

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Questions?

• Thank you!• Contact information:• kradionoff@madisoncollege.edu• (608)258-2309