News

• 23. 04. 2017CanCred Factory Upgrade - Endorsement and Alignments

  CanCred Factory was upgraded this morning to add two exciting new features that implement version 2 of the Open Badges standard.

  This upgrade also introduces new onboarding features for users that enable you to earn some cool CanCred badges.

  Endorsement

  A new tab has been set up Admins called Network. Partner networks and badge sharing functions have been moved there, along with the new feature of Endorsement for organizations and badges.

  You can now endorse and seek endorsements from partner organisations for your organisation as a badge issuer or for specific badges that you issue. Links to your endorsements are displayed on hosted badge pages of your earners.

  Well thought out approaches to endorsement are key to building trust networks that add authenticated value to badges that you issue and badges that you recognise.

  

  Alignments

  Admins can now create and manage a list of frameworks and standards that will be available when creating badges. Examples may include skills frameworks and quality standards. These can help identify the meaning of your badges and build their value.

  The format is:

  • Name (mandatory)
  • URL (mandatory)
  • Description (optional)

  
  If you create one or more alignments in Admin tools, an Alignments link appears in the badge creation Content page as an option for your badge Creators.

  

  Onboarding Features - with badges

  CanCred Factory Tour
  A link at the top left of the Dashboard page now prompts you Take a Tour! This tour is a walk-through of the various functions of the system, which provides a great orientation for new users. By completing the CanCred Factory tour, you automatically earn the Explorer badge from CanCred.ca

  New users then earn these other badges:

  Creator
  Create a badge

  Issuer
  Issue a badge - to yourself, even.

  Admin
  Upload an issuer banner in the Branding section of Admin tools.

  MILESTONE: User
  This Milestone badge will be automatically issued when you achieve the previous four.

  

  CanCred Newbies: get your badges here!
  

• 6. 03. 2017New feature in CanCred Passport - Advertise Badge Opportunities

  CanCred Passport has added an exciting new feature! Badge issuing organizations in CanCred Factory can now advertise their badges in Passport’s Gallery section.

  This will provide high visibility to badge earning opportunities so that:

  • badge issuers can boost the profile of their branded learning and recognition and make it more accessible
  • badge earners can browse opportunities to build their own learning pathways with badges

  Method 1: Advertising the badge itself

  This method is suitable for badge opportunities such as events, workshops, or online courses/MOOCs. Badge Creators in issuing organizations can click Advertise in Passport in the Preview area of the badge:

  

  A dialogue box will help you configure your badge opportunity. For example, you can advertise a course and add a registration link:

  

  Method 2: Advertising a badge application

  This method is for those who want to link to a badge application, not the badge itself.

  Badge Creators can click Advertise in Passport in the Settings area of the badge application:

  

  A dialogue box will help you configure the badge opportunity linked to the application:

  

  This method can be used to duplicate Method 1: the link you provide in Method 1 can be to your badge application. If you do this, there will be two badge opportunities published in the Gallery. We advise to to choose only one method, to avoid potential confusion for badge earners.

  Using badge applications is actually a great way to avoid cumbersome LMS course development to issue badges, especially for badge opportunities that are based on personal reflection (perhaps using open resources), classroom workshops and other forms of face to face learning (perhaps using a claim code), or even “lighter touch” badges, such as the CanCred Passport Member badge above.

  Badge earners can now find your earnable badges in Passport → Gallery → Apply for a badge:

  

  Badge issuers: we encourage you to experiment with this new feature. Get your learning out there!

• 27. 02. 2017Waterloo University - Open Badges Keynote Kicks Off Educational Technologies Week

  On February 27, Don Presant of Learning Agents, providers of the CanCred.ca Open Badges service, delivered a keynote presentation entitled Recognizing Knowledge & Skills in a Digital Age.

  The fast-moving presentation framed and explored emerging Open Badge practices worldwide, using emerging research, case studies and innovative practices from innovators such as Open University, Penn State University, Deakin University, UBC, and IBM.

  Slides from the presentation are embedded below:

  Don’s key message:

  Open Badges can engage learners and make learning more visible, transparent, and modular. They have great potential to meet learning and recognition needs not well served by current credentialing systems and are already sparking new delivery models for institutions.

  The presentation made explicit the symbiotic relationship between Open Badges and ePortfolios, an integrative learning strategy already adopted at Waterloo. It also recognized Waterloo’s position as a world leader in co-op education, but warned the university not to rest on its laurels, but to continue to innovate to stay ahead of the pack, taking inspiration from Stanford University’s Stanford 2025 design experiment.

  The video of the presentation is here:

  According to one participant:

  “He was able to pack a lot of info into 90 minutes, and deliver the material in a very relatable way.”

• 20. 02. 2017CanCred.ca hosts BC Open Badges Forum with KPU

  On February 17, CanCred.ca hosted a innovative cross-sectoral workforce design lab in partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Teaching and Learning Commons.

  The BC Open Badges Forum was held at the Melville Centre for Dialogue at KPU’s Richmond Campus. Eighty participants from education, non-profit, private and public sectors came together to learn from each other and from successful experiences in other regions about the power of Open Badges as alternative credentials for skills and knowledge and as currency for open recognition networks.

  

  The interactive Forum applied design practices from similar networks and events, such as the 2016 Digital Badge Summit in Colorado, the 2016 ePortfolio and Identity Conference (ePIC) in Bologna, and London’s 2016 Mozfest. Short case studies and design challenges were followed by active design sessions, using case-hardened tools such as the Badge Design Canvas.

  

  The results were impressive - in addition to the many #BadgeBC tweets, these samples of post-event reflections speak to the dynamism of the day:

  “Was most struck by the energy that badging has taken on - and the diversity of applications.”

  “Messaged my staff to check out sites where we can register and maybe develop a badge for some aspect of our work.”

  “I am going to go back to my workplace and pull a small committee together to begin the process of creating a badging system.”

  “I intend to build a system of badges for our national agency, and begin to offer them to qualified learners, as soon as possible.”

  

  Said Don Presant, President of Learning Agents, the host of CanCred.ca:

  “We plan to convene more events like this, in BC and beyond. I think it’s a powerful thing: getting people together to listen to a focused series of challenges and possible avenues for action, then getting them to to commit themselves in speech and action to courses that makes sense for them and their community.”

  CanCred.ca and KPU are currently working on next steps for building an open recognition network to #BadgeBC. CanCred.ca is also working with new partners to plan for an Ontario Open Badges Forum in late 2017. Contact info@cancred.ca for details.

• 14. 09. 2015Open Badges – Moving from Further Professional Training to Self-directed Competency Development

  Open Badge Factory Academy was launched with this webinar. Eric Rousselle from Discndum welcomed everyone and said a few words about the Academy and its purpose. Omnia’s Esko Lius and Pete Stockley presented a very interesting and successful use case, which sparked a good conversation between the participants.

  Watch the webinar recording here.

  You can find the slides for the presentation here.