Extending the Credential

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Today’s postsecondary students are learning in ers. Today, we are partnering with innovative more ways than ever before, challenging college institutions and registrars, taking orders for and and university administrators to communicate delivering extended credentials and working to a more complete educative experience. To meet build these extensions into our core service. this need, forward-thinking schools are begin- ning to document leadership experiences and In a knowledge economy, where individuals are competency achievements along with academic defined by their credentials, we are going beyond accomplishments. The official transcript is evolv- courses, grades and credits to show the full im- ing in both form and substance. From paper sent pact of a postsecondary education. through the mail to electronic images or stan- dardized data exchanged online and extended to include: 1 in 4 adult Americans • • Competency-based transcripts that com- have a certificate or municate what was taught and what was license learned • • Experiential transcripts that verify co-cur- ricular experiences and accomplishments Our members are extending digital credentials • • Data-enabled electronic transcripts with and storing them in one place—online—where embedded links to introduce more levels of they can be easily displayed. Allowing learners to detail quickly show what they know.

We live in a “credential society.” In fact, the U.S. As we move forward, we hope these essays will Census Bureau reports that one in two adults has help further illustrate the new generation of some form of postsecondary credential, and one credentialing and that we can work together to in four has a certification or license. This calls for extend the transcript, helping more learners turn a new era of academic credentialing, aligned with more credentials into even more opportunities. our digital and mobile culture, to make student outcomes more easily understood and actionable. MATTHEW PITTINSKY CEO At our core, Parchment understands that creden- Parchment [email protected] tials matter—to learners, educators, and employ- www.parchment.com Extending the Credential

Introduction

College degrees have, for years, been defined by credits earned in courses – with certain combinations of credits necessary (in the major, general education and so forth) to earn a degree. Increasingly though, credentials are being viewed in new and different ways. Some experts say that existing models don’t say enough about the capabilities graduates possess. Some favor enhancing the credential and others would like to eliminate it. Competency-based education is central to this debate, but so are such topics as badging, internships, experiential education, testing and more. The articles in this booklet examine some of these trends, with opinion pieces providing additional perspective. Inside Higher Ed will continue to cover these important topics, and welcomes your reactions to these pieces, and your ideas for future coverage. --The Editors [email protected]

Inside Higher Ed P3 Full Color, High Res PDF. 8.5x 5.5 booklet Content will need to be a work in progress and I will start posting on on Google Drive. I would like to see a layout and design for the 11/4 date with nal details plugged in before. Here is an outline of what I envi- sion for content/layout-- 1- Cover- Conference theme/logo/graphics. Should include date/location/ hashtag 2- Inside Cover - About the conference / goals of the conference #EveryStudent IS MORE THAN HER GRADES 3- page 1-Matt P Welcome Letter/Note 4- page 2- Ad / Promotion Page ( TBD) 5- page 3 - Agenda at a glance 6- page 4-6 - full agenda with session descriptions 7 - page 7 - Opening Keynote picture and Bio 8- page 8 - Ad / Promotion Page ( TBD) 9- page 9- Closing Keynote picture and Bio 10- page 10- PAB recognition page/ organizations/ pictures 11- page 11-  ank you to attendees 12 - pages 12-14 - Notes pages "The education our students receive is more than just credit 13 - Inside back cover - 2015 UC announcement hours. Pairing an Experiential Transcript with an Academic Transcript illustrates the real education 14- backcover - match cover. with perforated ticket to underneath the numbers." University Registrar pull o for evening event —  is is just a rough dra to help focus on the design and layout of these pieces - I am sure as content is created items will shi too. Partnering to make a difference for #EveryStudent.

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News A selection of articles from Inside Higher Ed

and is the program's chair. “We went from pilot to permanent, immediately.” The certificate was part of phase one of an experiment by a handful of Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges. The next phase, which began in January 2015, is the creation of a fully online, competency-based associate Moving Ahead degree in business. The degree will be a transfer With Competency credential, meaning students should be able to move easily to four-year institutions. The courses will feature only free and open content. And Lumen Learning, an Oregon-based company, By Paul Fain is designing the material to be adaptive, meaning it will respond to each student’s prior knowledge. Competency will replace grades in the degree track, with the equivalent of a B being the Eight Washington State community colleges will minimum mark students must offer an online, competency-based business meet. “They keep trying until they’re degree, as emerging form of higher education wins done,” said Connie Broughton, fans -- and some critics -- in the state. who works at the Washington State Board for Technical and he online, competency- Washington State decided to drop Community Colleges and directs T based certificate Bellevue its conventional online version. the project. College offered in 2014 was a hit “The train has left the station at Columbia Basin College, which with students. In fact, the certificate Bellevue,” said Suzanne Marks, is the system’s lead institution for in business software was so a faculty member who teaches the business degree, received popular that the two-year college in business technology systems approval from its regional

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accreditor for the program. It has begun marketing the degree, which, although linked to the credit- hour standard, includes elements of self-pacing. The program will also feature assessments that students can take and pass without completing course material. Seven other two-year colleges in Washington, including Bellevue, plan to sign on and begin offering the competency-based associate degree, according to Broughton. A key reason for the degree’s creation was research showing that there are 1 million people in the state with some college credits and no degree. Broughton Bellevue College said many of those people need a flexible form of higher education to not always acknowledged the The nonprofit university in 2013 go back and earn their degree. new responsibilities competency- began working with 11 community “We saw that we need to serve based credentials create for colleges in 5 states -- including learners who are not with us now,” instructors. She also said faculty the 4 in Washington -- to help she said. “The goal is, eventually, members were concerned about those institutions design their own every college can do this.” how the programs "disaggregate" competency-based credentials in Washington’s two-year colleges the faculty role. They break apart information technology. The Bill & have joined more than 200 other the degree track with a canned Melinda Gates Foundation and the institutions around the country curriculum and modularized course U.S. Department of Labor chipped that are giving competency-based content, she said, which can be in funding for the project. education a whirl. However, some offered by a different college than WGU ran workshops in those faculty groups at the Washington the one where instructors work. five states to expose faculty and colleges have criticized the move. "It's a generic degree from administrators to the emerging form They said the competency-based another college," said Strickland. of higher education. Attendees credentials were created without "What we oppose is corporatization in Washington ranged from vice adequate faculty input, and that of the learning process." presidents to online instructors and the programs will create more work Tapping Expertise registrars. for faculty members. The sessions “started to get Karen Strickland, president The project in Washington the idea of competency-based of the American Federation of began with a hand from Western education into the cultural soup,” Teachers of Washington, a faculty Governors University, a pioneer said Rich Cummins, president of union, said administrators have in competency-based learning. Columbia Basin College.

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Soon four colleges in the laborious, said Marks. But there the general education side of the state began offering short-term, was a payoff for instructors as well degree track. competency-based certificates in as students, she said. “It makes you Cummins said the program will business and I.T. pay more attention to instructional need about 400 students to break As part of those programs, design, your outcomes and your even. Other colleges can then join students take a pretest at the assessments.” by creating their own online portals beginning of each course to identify Other faculty members at for the degree track, which should their strengths and weaknesses. Bellevue were less enthusiastic. be fairly simple. They can use those results to And some have expressed concern “We don’t believe it’s going to move faster through material they about the college’s attempt to join fail,” he said. understand, earning credits when the Columbia Basin pilot group. A key innovation of the program, instructors deem the students Several signed a letter expressing said Cummins and others, is that competent. concern about who is overseeing students will be able to begin The competency-based courses quality control for the degree. when they like during the first feature both course instructors “It will be taught by non-Bellevue three months of each term. They and a navigator for students, College faculty, developed by non- must enroll full-time for the second who serves as a sort of adviser, Bellevue College faculty and with chunk of three months. providing support and helping assessments formulated by a Tuition is a $2,667 flat fee them to select course sequences. third party, Lumen Learning,” the per six-month term. There is Three days into offering the faculty members wrote. “Should a $40 assessment fee. The certificate, Bellevue had enrolled Bellevue College lend its name to program includes 18 courses, all 104 students in the program, said this degree?” competency based and online. Marks. Another 107 or so enrolled Self-Paced Model Students must earn at least 20 during the second quarter. credits per term, but can earn more “Students voted with their feet,” The eight participating colleges at no cost. Cummins called this an she said. In particular, Marks said in the consortium contributed a “all you can eat” model. students like the self-pacing, the total of $1.4 million for the creation Columbia Basin's role is about flexible due dates for work and the of the online transfer degree. The social mobility, he said. And the program’s “high-tech, high-touch” costs went toward the hiring of four competency-based degree will approach. full-time faculty members, who will allow "distant students to move at Faculty members had to do oversee the business core of the their own speed as well as their a lot of work up front to create program. own time and place while ensuring the programs. Mapping course Columbia Basin also hired six a greater level of rigor across competencies in particular is part-time faculty members to run distance learning offerings.” •

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/17/two-year-colleges- view the original article washington-state-expand-competency-based-project-business-degree

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work is objective-based, such as test-taking. The degree is also completely severed from the credit-hour standard. Brandman is one of four institutions to get both the U.S. Department of Education and its regional accreditor to sign off on this type of program, which is called “direct assessment.” That Mobile Bachelor’s approach means students can work at their own pace while also Degrees receiving federal financial aid. Brandman estimates the typical student will be able to complete the degree in 30 months. At $5,400 in tuition and fees per year, that means some students should be able to By Paul Fain earn the bachelor’s degree for $10,000. That amount has become a trendy target price for a four- year degree, particularly among conservative governors. Students who take longer to complete than Brandman University goes all-in with a the expected 30 months will pay competency-based bachelor's degree that is more than $13,500, however. One reason students should online, available on a tablet, and not based on the be able to finish quicker than in a credit hour. Its projected price tag? $10,000. traditional program is that they can work toward the degree during 48 randman University’s new of it required) on their tablets or weeks of a year, rather than on a B competency-based bach- smartphones. semester schedule. They will have elor’s degree gives a glimpse of Content is personalized, and an academic coach and access to where the increasingly popular responds to the 44 currently tutoring faculty throughout. form of higher education might be enrolled students based on their “You can do it in bits and pieces,” headed. progress. About 60 percent of the said Laurie Dodge, Brandman’s The new bachelor of business required 80-plus “competencies” vice chancellor of institutional administration is fully online. There are linked to performance-based assessment and planning and are no textbooks. Students can assessments, like writing a paper, vice provost, adding that students access 30,000 pages of course working on a group project or can “be working on more than one material for the degree (not all creating a portfolio. The rest of the competency at a time.”

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That’s important for the nonprofit be a natural fit for the flexibility of As a result, Brandman’s Brandman, whose students tend to competency-based learning, which foray is “more institutional and be adults with jobs. allows them to move more quickly systemic” than those of most other The university is a subsidiary through material they already know institutions, many of which have of Chapman University, which is or to spend more time on concepts created new competency-based a private, residential institution when needed. programs outside of their core based in Orange County, Calif. Many of the more than 200 bachelor’s degree programs. Brandman, however, offers institutions that are currently adding Business-Friendly blended and online degrees out competency-based degrees are of its almost 30 campus locations focused on working adults. Yet Several outside vendors want in California and Washington experts said Brandman has gone to help colleges give competency- State. About 88 percent of the further than most. based education a whirl. university’s 12,000 students are In addition to its successful College for America, a subsidiary at least 25 years old. Roughly half pursuit of direct assessment, the of Southern New Hampshire (46 percent) are eligible to receive university is “possibly unique” University, recently spun off its Pell Grants, and 43 percent are in having taken an existing competency-based learning members of minority groups. undergraduate major and rebuilt it platform. The nonprofit institution’s Nontraditional students -- as a competency-based program, new offering, Motivis, is now a meaning ones who aren’t 18- said Mike Offerman, a consultant for-profit company that offers its 24 and interested in attending a and president emeritus of Capella services to other colleges. residential campus -- appear to University. Likewise, Fidelis Education’s

Inside Higher Ed P9 Full Color, High Res PDF. 8.5x 5.5 booklet Content will need to be a work in progress and I will start posting on on Google Drive. I would like to see a layout and design for the 11/4 date with nal details plugged in before. Here is an outline of what I envi- sion for content/layout-- 1- Cover- Conference theme/logo/graphics. Should include date/location/ hashtag 2- Inside Cover - About the conference / goals of the conference 3- page 1-Matt P Welcome Letter/Note 4- page 2- Ad / Promotion Page ( TBD) #EveryStudent 5- page 3 - Agenda at a glance DESERVES AN OPPORTUNITY 6- page 4-6 - full agenda with session descriptions 7 - page 7 - Opening Keynote picture and Bio 8- page 8 - Ad / Promotion Page ( TBD) 9- page 9- Closing Keynote picture and Bio 10- page 10- PAB recognition page/ organizations/ pictures 11- page 11-  ank you to attendees 12 - pages 12-14 - Notes pages 13 - Inside back cover - 2015 UC announcement "Sometimes, it just seems like we’re doing 14- backcover - match cover. with perforated ticket to paperwork. But it’s more than that. Sending our pull o for evening event official trascripts is opening doors and making a  is is just a rough dra to help focus on the design real difference to our students lives." — University Registrar and layout of these pieces - I am sure as content is created items will shi too. Partnering to make a difference for #EveryStudent.

exchange.parchment.com Extending the Credential

learning relationship management applied to the workplace. To help elements. The system collects system (LRM) can work for make that happen, the initial group data on student performance and institutions with competency-based of students all came from one of engagement that can help faculty degrees. Gunnar Counselman, the university’s 27 employers it members and student advisers, the company's founder and CEO, had sought out as partners for said Etesse. said one institution is using the the degree program. College for “We built that tracking factor into system this way, and another 20 America also draws its students the software,” he said. plan to create competency-based from employers. The university’s accreditor, the badges to supplement their core “The real entry point for Western Association of Schools curriculums. Educate Online is competency-based education is and Colleges (WASC), in 2013 another player in this new field. businesses,” said Gary Brahm, granted its approval to the direct- For its experimental degree, Brandman’s chancellor and chief assessment program. The Brandman partnered with Flat executive officer. Education Department followed. World Knowledge, a company The university relied on industry Alison Kadlec is a senior vice based in Washington, D.C., which standards to get the knowledge, president for Public Agenda, a got its start as a digital textbook skills and abilities students need New York City-based nonprofit. publisher. Flat World now offers to enter business jobs. It also She is helping lead a Lumina- a competency-based learning drew from federal jobs databases funded group of 18 institutions platform. to learn more about specific and two public systems that are Christopher Etesse, the occupations. experimenting with competency- company’s chief executive officer, On the academic side, Brandman based education. The group, which said demand for competency- leaned heavily on two frameworks is dubbed the Competency-Based based education is “hotter and for the new degree -- the Lumina Education Network (C-BEN), moving faster than the LMS market Foundation’s Degree Qualifications announced in November 2014 that was in 1997.” Profile and the Liberal Education it is seeking new members. Brandman’s faculty members and America’s Promise (LEAP) Brandman is a leader in began designing its bachelor’s from the Association of American competency-based education, degree in 2012, bringing Flat Colleges and Universities. Both Kadlec said, in part because its World in last April. One of the projects seek to better-define first focus was academic rigor. university’s first steps was to poll what students should know and “Institutions that are tempted to 1,000 students to gauge interest in be able to do. They also stress the look for easy answers in the form a competency-based program. importance of academically sound of shiny tech solutions should take They got a positive response, general-education requirements. a page out of Brandman's book,” and moved on to asking employers Flat World helped customize she said via email, “and focus first for guidance. The goal, Brandman a platform for the university that on quality program design and let officials said, was to ensure that included simulations, game-like the technology solutions emerge the program would teach skills that elements and social-learning from that solid grounding.” •

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/26/competency-based- view the original article bachelors-brandman-could-be-glimpse-future

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the Madison campus with the lake and the 80,000-seat Camp Randall Stadium. Even so, several observers said the measured arrivals of Michigan, Purdue and the Wisconsin System will give a boost to competency- based education. They are big- name institutions that are trying a different form of instruction, Big Ten and the Next which remains both promising and controversial. Big Thing “It affirms this new emphasis on student learning outcomes,” said Michelle R. Weise, a senior research fellow with the Clayton Christensen Institute, who recently published a book with Christensen By Paul Fain on the potential for online, competency-based education in workforce development. Weise said other colleges probably are paying attention to Michigan, Purdue and the Wisconsin System give Wisconsin and co., in ways that competency-based education a try, but carefully they might not to lower-profile pioneers in competency-based and with targeted new programs. education, such as Southern New Hampshire and Capella ompetency-based education narrow in scope, experimental and Universities. “The network effect is C is going upmarket. Three not all that sexy. always there in higher education.” brand-name, Big Ten-affiliated The Wisconsin System’s “Flex- A common thread with the three institutions are now offering ible Option” is the most extensive institutions’ experiments, university degrees in this emerging form of and established of the programs. officials said, is that they seek to higher education. Its five competency-based, online focus more on what students know Yet the new programs at the credentials, which range from a and can do rather than how much University of Michigan, Purdue certificate to bachelor’s degrees, time they spend in class. University and the University are designed mostly for adult “They will emerge with proven of Wisconsin System are not students with some college credits competencies,” Mitch Daniels, aimed at the vast numbers of but no degree. And they are Purdue’s president, said in a undergraduates who come to offered by the system’s two-year written statement announcing those campuses for the traditional institutions, its extension program, the university’s transdisciplinary, college experience. They are and the Milwaukee campus -- not competency-based bachelor’s

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degree. “Businesses will not have Michigan’s medical school master’s degree. Vasquez said to guess whether these students submitted an application for the the central challenge was to gear really are ready for the market, degree program to the Higher the program to seasoned medical ready for their business, ready for Learning Commission (HLC), professionals. the world.” said John A. Vasquez, a program “How are we going to get these Michigan joined the party with manager for the degree. The people to come back to school?” an announcement that its regional commission issued a green light. was one key question, he said. accreditor had approved a new Michigan officials now will seek So Michigan brought the master’s of health professions federal-aid eligibility from the U.S. master’s degree to students, with education. The competency-based Department of Education. distance learning that relies on degree, which the medical school A competency-based interaction with mentors via phone, offers, is not based on the credit- education program wasn’t such a email, Skype or in-person for hour standard. It is also a distance- big stretch, said Vasquez. students who are nearby. education degree track and lacks The program “does not have campus-based instruction. classes or courses in the traditional The university began offering sense,” Michigan said in its the degree in 2013. It is application to the HLC. “Rather, designed for practicing the key unit of learning is the physicians, nurses, dentists professional activity, which and others professions in many ways resembles in health fields who a credit of independent have some teaching study.” responsibilities and After enrolling, each want to climb the career student’s experience and ladder. Most students learning is reviewed by a will have terminal degrees “competency assessment and a decade or more of panel,” which assigns credit professional experience. for existing competencies. In a Web video about the Students are then assigned a program, Larry Gruppen, mentor who is their main faculty Michigan’s chair of medical contact. But students also interact education, said the program That’s because medical pro- with faculty assessors and subject- combines practical skills and fessions have long used matter experts. scholarship. competencies and focused on task- “The main role of the mentor 'Professional based learning. Medical residents, is to promote learning through Activities' for example, spend years working professional activities, facilitate to hone their skills in well-defined learner connections with subject “You will learn through doing areas. matter experts and learning relevant, education-related activi- Professors and administrators resources,” according to the ties,” he said, “not by sitting through at the medical school worked for university’s application, as well as a series of lectures.” about three years designing the to “guide the learner in the process

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university said, with one or never finished them. two on the low end. These Competency-based learning competencies in turn “makes sense for the health match up with credit professions,” said Vasquez. “We equivalencies. can say you’re competent because Students you know what you’re doing and must provide why.” documentation That approach, however, might and evidence be trickier for undergraduate or of competency, other programs at Michigan, he which could be acknowledged. Campus-wide a paper, video faculty groups, for example, presentation, might balk at the wide adoption of PowerPoint, grant competency-based curriculums. application, portfolio New Model or some combination of multiple pieces of The Wisconsin System is one of evidence. four institutions to receive approval To successfully earn the from the Education Department degree, students must earn and a regional accreditor for a between 32 and 39 credit direct assessment program. That equivalencies. However, the degree is the Flexible Option’s program is a “direct assessment” associate in arts and science, degree, which means that which is self-paced. of professional and educational competencies rather than credits The system is seeking planning, and advise the learner on are its currency. Another graduation department approval to offer any issues related to the program." requirement is that students pass financial aid for other online To demonstrate competency, a final “summative assessment,” credentials that are free from the students choose from 21 activities which is based on their learning credit-hour standard, said David that are tied to the various health portfolio. Schejbal, dean of continuing professions (see chart), depending The pace throughout is flexible, education, outreach and e-learning on which ones are part of their job. and students could finish more at Wisconsin’s Extension program. These include tasks (see chart) quickly than the typical program Schejbal said faculty members like designing and beginning a length of three years. are also working on two new research study, creating a teaching Vasquez said the university competency-based degrees -- a portfolio and critiquing a curricular created the degree because of bachelor’s degree in professional change. a national shortage of medical studies and a master’s in Activities “map” to the program’s school faculty who can teach geographic information systems. required competencies. More in a comprehensive way. Many The professional studies degree demanding ones might be clinicians, he said, have begun will be aimed at adult degree linked to five competencies, the master’s or doctoral programs but completers, he said, and will be

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Businesses will not“ have to guess whether these students really are ready for the market, ready for their business, ready for the world.

built by combining several new Faculty spent a” year prior to assigned to each student. stackable certificates. that announcement designing the One reason the new programs The system is being intentional in transdisciplinary bachelor’s degree from Purdue, Michigan and the how it creates the new curriculums, program, which accepted an initial Wisconsin System have drawn said Schejbal. That means starting cohort of 36 university students notice is that public universities with top-level competencies and this fall. The students came from face extra layers of bureaucracy then working backward to get more the traditional university. The when creating degree programs granular. university plans to begin admitting that look different. As a result, He said faculty members are students directly to the program private institutions like Western using the Lumina Foundation’s through the Institute. It will be open Governors University and Southern Degree Qualifications Profile and to students in any discipline. New Hampshire have dominated the Liberal Education and America’s Students in the program will the field. Promise (LEAP) project from the graduate with the same degree, Schejbal said the regulatory Association of American Colleges the university said, but with one process has been slow for and Universities as guides as they or more concentrations that Wisconsin's competency- design the programs. reflect their interests. Some of the based degrees. And adjusting Purdue’s competency-based concentrations will link up with administrative procedures at the degree is housed at the Purdue existing Purdue majors, while system has also been a challenge, Polytechnic Institute, which serves others will emerge from the new particularly those around financial as a “transformational engine” in the program. aid and student registration. university’s College of Technology. Purdue’s program features “It’s really rebuilding all of Daniels gave a $500,000 prize concurrent, group-based learning the back-end processes from to the Institute for its proposal sessions, which will touch on scratch,” he said, because to create a competency-based multiple subjects, the university the new degrees “don’t fit the degree. said. And a faculty mentor will be model.” •

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/28/competency-based- view the original article education-arrives-three-major-public-institutions

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which went live with a small pilot group in 2014, is more about competency-based education than alternative credentials. The idea was hatched as the university worked toward the 2011 launch of the sustainable ag major. It’s an ambitious interdisciplinary program, featuring collaboration among eight departments in the university’s College of Agriculture Badging From Within and Environmental Sciences as well as the Agricultural Sustainability Institute. The new curriculum is particularly hands-on, with lots of experiential learning that occurs outside the classroom, such as through By Paul Fain internships and fieldwork. Much of that learning isn’t captured by conventional grading. The university wanted to help students find ways to describe their experiences, in ways that A digital badging project at UC Davis is drawing make sense to faculty, students, notice, but the innovation looks more like employers and themselves. It was a vexing challenge, because competency-based education than a form any solution had to stretch across of alternative credentials. the entire curriculum – not just individual classes. he University of California media learning coordinator Normoyle and her colleagues T at Davis is creating what at the university’s Agricultural settled on badges, with an may be higher education’s most Sustainability Institute. She says undergirding of competencies that promising digital badge system. they allow students to “differentiate describe the learning outcomes But the badges are no threat to the themselves and tell a narrative.” and skills students need to university’s degrees. They’re add- Normoyle has helped lead the successfully complete the major. ons – perhaps valuable ones for effort by faculty and staff members There are seven core students. at UC-Davis to create a badging competencies in the pro- “Badges can tell a different system for a new undergraduate gram. Employers contributed story,” says Joanna Normoyle, major in sustainable agriculture and to the identification of those the experiential and digital food systems. The final product, competencies, which include

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systems thinking, experimentation Normoyle describes the profiles helped lead the way with its open and inquiry, understanding as learner dashboards or “media- badges project. The foundation values, interpersonal commun- rich, tiled portfolios.” created a “backpack” that earners ications, strategic management, For example, students might can use to display badges on a civic engagement and personal earn a badge for collecting soil résumé or social networks. development. samples from the student farm Along the way, badging has For example, competency in to test effects of different mulch earned plenty of powerful systems thinking requires students treatments. They would write up supporters, including Bill Clinton to integrate societal, environmental that learning experience to be and Education Secretary Arne and economic perspectives into eligible for the badge. And the Duncan. their analysis of complex systems. students get to decide which “Badges can help engage Each competency connects to knowledge demonstrates their students in learning, and broaden digital badges students can earn for competency. the avenues for learners of all ages experiences, skills and knowledge. Faculty members and other to acquire and demonstrate – as The badges themselves are students will be able to see the well as document and display – graphical representations of an badges. They can also comment their skills,” Duncan said in 2011. accomplishment – basically the on them. But the students will be Duncan also linked badging to digital version of a felt patch a Boy in charge of how they display their competency-based education, or Girl Scout might earn. portfolio of badges. saying it “can help speed the In the fall of 2013, students “This is all about a self-reporting shift from credentials that simply experimented with the badging system,” Normoyle says. “What do measure seat time, to ones system as part of a senior I think about what I know?” that more accurately measure “capstone” course. Badges are not The goal is for students to competency.” formally awarded at this point, as communicate their skills to others, Not everybody is sold on the system is still in its testing phase. and to learn about what they know badges, however. One reason is But Normoyle says the sustainable in the process. that anyone can award one, raising agriculture programs plans to “Tools like this can complement questions about quality control. expand their use next semester. what happens in in-person Peter Stokes is executive director At some point assessments from learning,” she says. of postsecondary innovation in the faculty members and peers, as Model Could Spread College of Professional Studies well as self-assessments, will be at Northeastern University. He’s part of a final review process for Digital badges are a trendy supportive of the concept behind the awarding of badges. idea. Many predict the nascent badges, and thinks there are no Students create an online form of credentialing could pose real technical obstacles to making profile where they can display a challenge to higher education. them work. But Stokes remains the badges. Each one might Ideally, badges could give skeptical of badges having a major be accompanied by detailed people new ways beyond college impact on higher education, at information, including a description credentials to prove what they least for now. of the student’s experience, what know and can do. “The big challenge with the they learned, photos, diagrams or The Mozilla Foundation, an open- badge is to create currency in the even assessment scores. source technology pioneer, has market,” Stokes says.

Inside Higher Ed P17 Full Color, High Res PDF. 8.5x 5.5 booklet Content will need to be a work in progress and I will start posting on on Google Drive. I would like to see a layout and design for the 11/4 date with nal details plugged in before. Here is an outline of what I envi- sion for content/layout-- 1- Cover- Conference theme/logo/graphics. Should include date/location/ hashtag 2- Inside Cover - About the conference / goals of the conference 3- page 1-Matt P Welcome Letter/Note #EveryStudent 4- page 2- Ad / Promotion Page ( TBD) RELIES ON HER PHONE 5- page 3 - Agenda at a glance 6- page 4-6 - full agenda with session descriptions 7 - page 7 - Opening Keynote picture and Bio 8- page 8 - Ad / Promotion Page ( TBD) 9- page 9- Closing Keynote picture and Bio 10- page 10- PAB recognition page/ organizations/ pictures 11- page 11-  ank you to attendees 12 - pages 12-14 - Notes pages 13 - Inside back cover - 2015 UC announcement 14- backcover - match cover. with perforated ticket to "Students are on their phones. We should be, too. Being able pull o for evening event to place and track their orders on the go is simply expected."  is is just a rough dra to help focus on the design — University Registrar and layout of these pieces - I am sure as content is created items will shi too. Partnering to make a difference for #EveryStudent.

exchange.parchment.com Extending the Credential

UC Davis is one of the first traditional institutions to give badging a whirl. Purdue University has also been a pioneer. Sheryl Grant, an expert on badges who is director of social networking for the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC), said the badging work done by Normoyle and others at UC-Davis is the most interesting she’s seen in higher education. Grant has helped administer 30 badging projects that won a contest and received support from the Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. “going to scale outside “They really are solving for really well.” the class- something that the current The university is room, whether credential system is not doing,” drawing plenty of attention for through e-portfolio