Digital badges are beginning to be recognized as the
next "disruptive technology" in education, particularly at the K-12 level. Students earn digital credentials
for showing academic content knowledge in areas that may not be measured by
traditional assessment methods.
“Digital badges are essentially credentials that may be
earned by meeting established performance criteria,” Angela Elkrody, a fellow
at the Eastern Michigan University for Leadership at Counseling, told eSchool
News. “The vision of a digital badging ‘ecosystem,’ that is, a loosely
connected framework of badges designed by various authorizers for different
purposes, is moving forward to realization.”
In such an ecosystem, a school could issue badges to
students for the completion of a series of projects designed by the school or by
a local business that shows competency in a related Advanced Placement subject.
Assessments would be predetermined and a badge presented when the student can demonstrate
the specific competency in the course.
