WCET to Launch MOOC on “Badges as New Currency for Professional Credentials” with Mozilla, Blackboard Inc. and Sage Road Solutions LLC
Boulder, CO (PRWEB) August 05, 2013 -- The WICHE Cooperative for Education Technologies (WCET) has announced that they will co-host a massive open online course (MOOC) to examine the growing interest in using badges to document knowledge, skills and competencies when working toward attaining high value professional credentials. Sage Road Solutions LLC, Mozilla, Blackboard Inc., and WCET have collaborated to produce a 6-week shared learning experience that will be offered via Blackboard’s MOOC platform. The MOOC will broaden understandings about approaches to earning high value credentials that benefit institutions, content providers, employers and individuals alike.
The “Badges as New Currency for Credentials” MOOC begins on September 9 and concludes October 14, 2013. It will feature a weekly live session Mondays at 2PM ET for the duration of the course. To register for this free, open course, please visit https://badges.coursesites.com/.
“Digital badges represent an emerging way to demonstrate achievements and certify mastery and competence in a wide variety of professions, across many different sectors,” said Ellen Wagner, WCET executive director. “I am delighted to collaborate with these industry and practice-leading partners as we work together to get smarter about the opportunities that badges offer higher education decision makers, employers and learners.”
The MOOC will be led by three noted thought leaders: Anne Derryberry, Analyst with Sage Road Solutions LLC and a Fellow with the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, Erin Knight, Senior Director of Learning and Badges, Mozilla, and Dr. Deborah Everhart, Director of Integration Strategy for Blackboard Inc. Each weekly session will feature experts and thought leaders coming from across postsecondary education, including competency-based learning and assessment, accreditation and public policy, and workforce skills development in targeted arenas including manufacturing. Course topics will include but not be limited to open badges and the Open Badges Initiative (OBI) ecosystem, the role of postsecondary institutions in developing work-force-ready graduates, and the link between competency-based learning and workplace readiness.
“We believe that badges offer a promising approach to addressing a vexing challenge – getting under and un-employed Americans into high-paying, unfilled jobs,” said Anne Derryberry, one of the course designers and facilitators. “We look forward to what is promising to be a lively and thought-provoking discussion.”
To sign up for the course, please visit https://badges.coursesites.com/.
##
About WCET
The WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET) is a cooperative, membership-driven, non-profit exchange of solutions and services that accelerate the adoption of effective practices and policies, advancing excellence in technology-enhanced teaching and learning in higher education. More information about WCET’s institutional membership resources, services and common interest groups can be found on WCET’s website, http://wcet.wiche.edu.
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard’s solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. http://www.blackboard.com.
About Mozilla
Mozilla (mozilla.org) has been a pioneer and advocate for the Web for more than a decade. We create and promote open standards that enable innovation and advance the Web as a platform for all. Today, hundreds of millions of people worldwide use Mozilla Firefox to discover, experience and connect to the Web on computers, tablets and mobile phones. Mozilla's Open Badges Infrastructure is a technical standard that makes it possible for learners everywhere to display their skills, interests and credentials. For more information, please visit https://www.openbadges.org.
About Sage Road Solutions LLC
Sage Road Solutions fosters innovation and success in the learning technologies marketplace. Our clients and partners include emerging technology providers, education institutions and consortia, industry associations, and policy organizations. Sage Road Solutions helps our clients get smarter about how elearning in all of its various forms and formats can have a direct positive impact on results. For more information, please visit http://sageroadsolutions.com.
Cali Morrison, Manager, Communications, WCET, WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, http://wcet.wiche.edu, +1 (303) 541-0234, [email protected]
Share this article