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Non-Profit Launches MOOC on Digital Badges

The WICHE Cooperative for Education Technologies (WCET) has partnered with Blackboard, Mozilla, and Sage Road Solutions to host a massive open online course (MOOC) examining the use of badges in professional credentialing.

Dubbed "Badges as New Currency for Credentials," the six-week course is designed to "broaden understandings about approaches to earning high value credentials that benefit institutions, content providers, employers, and individuals alike," according to a release from the organizations.

"Digital badges represent an emerging way to demonstrate achievements and certify mastery and competence in a wide variety of professions, across many different sectors," said Ellen Wagner, WCET executive director, in a prepared statement. "I am delighted to collaborate with these industry and practice-leading partners as we work together to get smarter about the opportunities that badges offer higher education decision makers, employers, and learners."

Launching September 9, the course will feature live sessions each Monday featuring "experts and thought leaders coming from across postsecondary education, including competency-based learning and assessment, accreditation and public policy, and workforce skills development in targeted arenas including manufacturing," according to information released by the organizations. "Course topics will include but not be limited to open badges and the Open Badges Initiative (OBI) ecosystem, the role of postsecondary institutions in developing work-force-ready graduates, and the link between competency-based learning and workplace readiness."

For more information, or to register for the course, visit badges.coursesites.com.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

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