Open Badges Case Study: Philidelphia After School Program

The Providence After School Alliance's (PASA) badge system is tightly integrated into its mission to expand and improve quality expanded learning opportunities (ELO) for Providence youth by organiz­ing and managing a citywide system that offers multiple pathways for learning. With support from the Providence Public School District and other agencies, PASA's middle school initiative the AfterZone is provided by over 70 community-based organizations

and serves 40% of youth in partic­ipating schools, engaging them in a variety of activi­ties to spark their curiosity, connect them to real world experiences, and allow them to explore their interests. Since its launch, nearly 20 cities have implemented elements of the AfterZone model. Build­ing on the success of the AfterZone, PASA and 10 community partners created The Hub, and Debate. Each ELO is aligned with National Common Core standards and has been approved by the Providence Public School District.

As one of the 30 winners of the The Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition. PASA's Pathways for Learning Badges provided an exciting and forward-thinking opportu­nity to document, track, and validate ELO experiences from middle school through high school graduation. The badge system aims to recognize, motivate, validate, and connect students' learning interests and achievements. By creating a system of connected learning pathways, PASA aims to guide youth through middle school, high school, and onward to college, careers and life. PASA's initial goal for their badges was to create a comprehensive system of dedicat­ed learning pathways for 6th through 12th graders. Badges would be used to connect middle and high school systems, as well track and nurture student learning and professional interests beginning in the 6th grade. While that goal remains intact, PASA has shifted the timeline, focusing their immediate attention instead on ensuring that the high school badges are connected to the relevant and important high quality afterschool experiences. This could create a strong foundation of high quality badges from which pathways can be built in the coming years.

One of the key lessons learned through this process is that educators and indus­tries are more inclined to adopt badges if the badges being developed are tied to quality experiences. Creating badges that more concretely showed what students were learning in real time and connected to the Hub's student outcome goals allowed PASA to roll out badges much more quickly. In this way, PASA's badges were seen as having more value and meaning than mere digital "trophies," which fast-tracked their acceptance by PPSD (the Providence Public School District) and by Rhode Island College, who agreed to accept PASA's badges as part of their application process.

Currently PASA's badges recognize partic­ipation (attendance), skill, and evidence of course credit. Future badges include creation of pathways based on learning "themes" (e.g. STEM, art and design, etc.) .

As part of this long-term plan, PASA is in discussion with local business industry leaders about how to connect workforce skills to future badge pathways designs.

Tell us about your badge system. What were your original goals for your badge system, and how have they changed as you progressed?

The Providence After School Alliance's "Pathways for Lifelong Learning" badge sys­tem aims to recognize, motivate, validate, and connect students' learning interests and achievements, creating a seamless sys­tem of learning pathways that usher youth through middle school, high school, and onward to college, career and life.

PASA is issuing badges to acknowledge 21st century skills such as problem solving, self-efficacy, communication and team building. The badges link after-school learning to career and college readiness by creating pathways that incorporate experi­ential and hands-on learning as well as that which occurs in the classroom.

The badges are leveled, meaning that certain badges unlock access to other opportunities, and allow students to further track and shape their learning. In terms of assess­ment, the badges are primarily evaluated by mentors, community instructors, in­dustry leaders and more, but there are also opportunities for self- and peer-assessment.

PASA's initial goal for the badges was to create a comprehensive system of dedicat­ed learning pathways from 6th-12th grade. Badges were going to be used to connect the middle and high school systems, as well as to track and nurture student learn­ing and professional interests beginning in 6th grade.

While that goal remains intact, PASA shifted the timeline, focusing their immediate attention on ensuring that the high school badges are connected to, support, and publicly showcase the relevance and impor­tance of high quality after-school experi­ences. PASA's goal was therefore to create a strong foundation of high quality badges off of which pathways could be built in the coming years.

volved simply familiarizing stakeholders with badges as a concept and exploring the implications of badging within our work. Additional challenges have been encoun­tered due to the limited scope of badge services and software.

PASA's initial goal for the badges was to create a comprehensive system of seam­less learning pathways for students from 6th through 12th grade. However, during the early stages of the design process, "it became clear that it would be untenable to create a holistic ecosystem of badges that incrementally built learning pathways." So rather than going with their initial "leveling up" approach, the PASA team re-focused on creating badges that more concretely showed what students were learning in real time and that were connected to the Hub's student outcome goals. This allowed them to roll out badges much more quickly, while ensuring that they were intentionally connected to PASA's nationally-recognized, high quality system. In this way, PASA's badges were immediately recognized as having value and meaning, which fast- tracked their acceptance by PPSD (the Providence Public School District), and by Rhode Island College —who began accept­ing PASA's badges as part of their applica­tion process. ÍHASTAC O+AI

To ensure that badges meet their maxi­mum potential, PASA will need to continue to build its technical infrastructure, as well as its partnerships. Additionally, because digital badges are still a largely unknown tool, broader success of the project hinges on educators, policy-makers, and industry leaders understanding what badges are and how they can be used, and adopting them on a large scale. Such understanding will take a considerable amount of cover­age that familiarizes the public with badges as a strategy.

In order for PASA's badge system to suc­ceed, the badges need to be connected to real life benefits and high quality experienc­es. Currently, "students see badges as the icing on the cake of an engaging, hands-on learning system that garners them unique opportunities for credit accumulation." For the badges themselves to be truly suc­cessful as a strategy, they will need to not only be tied to experiences, but to tangible benefits—such as internship and job op­portunities—as well as taken into account by college admissions officers.

As PASA's badge system expands and the number of badges being earned grows, the team will need to ensure the techni­cal infrastructure behind the system can continue to support it through expansion of the high school programs and potential district-wide initiatives.

If you knew then what you know now, what would you have done differently? What advice would you have for someone thinking about implementing Open Badges?

In order for educators and the workforce to begin to adopt badges, the badge system has to be designed so that the badges are tied to quality experiences, not simply used as digital "trophies." If we were to start over, building badge relevance and demand would have begun the design process. PASA would have hosted a "badg­ing summit" to get all stakeholders familiar with and on the same page about the use of badges. Further, we would have pulled industry leaders into the conversation earli­er to ensure the badge design was immedi­ately relevant to their needs.

DMU Timestamp: July 06, 2014 01:49

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