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Open Badges Open Badges

Open Badges

Member Resources Public Documents Background

Summary

Open Badges are information-rich visual tokens of verifiable achievements earned by recipients and easily shared on the web and via social media. The Open Badges standard describes a method for packaging information about accomplishments, embedding it into portable image files as digital badges, and includes resources for web-based validation and verification. Open Badges describe who earned it, who issued it, the criteria required, and in many cases, even the evidence and demonstrations of the relevant skills. The data is all inside! If you are new to Open Badges, check out openbadges.org for a complete primer.  
 
1EdTech is responsible for managing and advancing the Open Badges specification—a vital component of the digital credentials ecosystem. Open Badges 2.x and above is designed for compatibility and interoperability with the other 1EdTech standards related to digital credentials: Comprehensive Learner Record and Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange (CASE)®.  
 
Open Badges 2.0 provides powerful new features such as endorsements, internationalization, and multi-lingual capabilities, versioning, improvements for accessibility, and full adoption of JSON-LD. Open Badges 2.0 is in Final status. 
 
Open Badges 2.1 adds a REST-based API to Open Badges 2.0. OB 2.1, often referred to as the BadgeConnect® API, fully inherits the existing OB 2.0 data model. BadgeConnect supports learning mobility by enabling learners to move their credentials between systems. It is an essential element of interoperability and learner sovereignty.  Open Badges 2.1 is now in Candidate Final status and is available for public review, comment, and early adoption.
 
Open Badges 3.0 (OBv3), the latest version of the standard, offers the benefits of OBv2, and includes enhanced features, such as layers of cryptographic proof that can provide security and privacy, alignment with the W3C Verifiable Credential Data standard, aligned with the Comprehensive Learning Record 2.0 standard, and supports a native API to allow for learning mobility.
 

 

    Specification Documents

     

     

     

    Public Documents and Resources

     

    Member Resources (login required)

     

      Additional Background

      Verifiable digital credentials such as Open Badges are an increasingly important means for educational institutions, employers, and other learning organizations to recognize a learner's skills, competencies, and achievements.

      Designed based on learner-agency principles, Open Badges put learners in control of their credentials by enabling them to claim and display the badge on any platform. Open Badges are also portable rather than tied to one specific system (e.g., badging platform, learning management system, social media site). Open Badges contain rich metadata that provides information about the issuing organization, the recipient, and evidence that substantiates the earning of the badge.

      Optional extensions to the standard allow Open Badges to include detailed information about assessments and additional information about an issuer’s accreditations relating to the credential. These elements help validate the rigor of the badge to audiences who review the credential, which may include fellow students, instructors, academic advisors, career center staff, and others within the institution, as well as potential employers and peer networks. In these ways, badge owners can own, display, store, and share their Open Badges across an open digital credentialing ecosystem.

       

      Get Involved

      In January 2017, 1EdTech assumed responsibility to lead the evolution of the Open Badges specification and to ensure the sustainability of the future Open Badges ecosystem. 1EdTech is committed to furthering the adoption, integration, and transferability of learners' digital credentials within and across institutions, non-traditional learning opportunities, and employment centers.

      Contact us to learn more about how you can get involved in the Open Badges Project Group or for more information about the 1EdTech Digital Credentials Initiative.