An Article Review of Digital Badging in K-12 Education

Digital Badging for K-12 Students

This article examines the use of digital badging for K-12 students. It explains that digital badging is evidence of learning and/or skills inside or outside of a traditional learning environment, such as a public school. The article explains that this is a growing interest among the K-12 education community, as it provides an alternative to the traditional college path. Given the struggle most recent college graduates face finding a job, digital badging would allow job candidates to demonstrate specific skill sets that are backed up with tangible evidence as opposed to a general degree in a particular subject area. The article suggests that a potential roadblock might be standardization for badging requirements. Without some kind of standard requirements to earn a badge, the badging system will lack the credibility necessary to give badging a prominent place in the job market.

The idea of digital badging holds interest for me on many levels, but in particular, in teacher professional development. My district has launched a digital badging program that teachers can participate in through our internal professional development classes. I think this will be a successful approach to professional development, as it gives teachers a way to focus in on their own specific areas of interest. It will allow them to become “experts” in that area, and they will then be able to provide support to other teachers who are struggling. I think it will gain more momentum if badging can be aligned with professional licensing renewal requirements. Like badging for students, I see standardization of badge requirements becoming an issue in teacher professional development. A minimum set of requirements will need to be put in place, and there will need to be qualified evaluators to review the portfolios of evidence based activities. There are many details to be worked out, but I do see digital badging having a permanent place in education in one form or another.

Waters, J. K. (2013). Digital Badges. T H E Journal, 40(5), 14.