Considering the fact that the link that was facilitated to do this week’s task is not working. Actually, it has not worked for the whole week, plus all the conversation that had happened on the formal forum and the other informal chats, I think it is safe to say, that Open badges are not in their best shape.
Also, reading this week articles didn’t help me make a real picture of what an Open badge, I felt jumping from one site to another without really figuring out what was related to the Ahn et al table. I have the feeling of finding better and clearer information on Wikipedia’s site (the open project par excellence) Reading information there helped me to understand and consider what is a real open initiative or, just mere use of digital badges.
I have to thank my classmates for this week because it is thanks to them that I am able to produce something. Thanks to the conversations and uncomfortable questions I had challenged my opinions and thoughts and I have been motivated to find information.
I think I have been very optimistic about the use of badges. Once again, I think my personal experience and my background in tech have created a biased view when considering the current use/success of open badges. I have to say, that part of my optimistic view has been demolished. I still believe that the use of badging is a tendency and it will increase. However, I wonder if it will be the use of OPEN digital badges or only DIGITAL ones. Like Henry Jenkins (2012), I am a sceptic of open badges, especially for educational purposes, because many people in the field consider they don’t carry the same weight as other qualifications. As I mention, the culture and history of badges and the idiosyncrasy of the educational system is a barrier for the open badges to success. However, I think digital badges will be used as an extra validation, motivation and gamification component.
