Ferdig and Pytash (2014) posit that there are three key areas where digital badges can be used for teachers and their continuing education:
- For Professional Development: PD experiences can move from a one-size-fits-all activity to personalized, professional activities. This recognition could become very valuable as an evaluation tool but more importantly could highlight staff members' specific expertise and abilities.
- For Teacher Education: Those teachers graduating from Universities and education programs that embrace Digital Badges as an assessment tool will benefit from their future employers knowledge and support of Digital Badges.
- For Instruction: Teachers can also become producers of badges and use them as an alternative form of assessment and skill analysis.
Critics of Digital Badge use cite financial concerns, institutional issues, motivation questions, and employers' perceptions of badges. How will we fund badges? Will badges positively benefit applicants?
My personal opinion is that Digital Badges would be a great way to personalize and empower educators in continuing their own education and learning more about technology integration. Digital Badges also provide students (and teachers fall into the student category here, too) to receive recognition and celebration of their work that may not necessarily be based on hard skills. Sure, it would be easy to award a badge after someone scores a high grade on a fractions test, but Badges could also be meaningful to award for creative thinking, evaluating effectively, or thinking critically (Randall, J.Buckley, West, 2013).
If we look at Digital Badges from the angle of modern resumé, or more widely shareable business card, or interactive report card of types, we will see that Badges are a 21st Century tool that will be useful to students, teachers, and employers alike.
Ferdig, Richard, and Kristine Pytash. "There's a Badge for That." N.p., 26 Feb. 2014. Web.
Randall, Daniel L., J. Buckley Harrison, and Richard E. West. "Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: Designing Open Badges for a Technology Integration Course." Tech Trends. Brigham Young University, Nov.-Dec. 2013. Web.