ABSTRACT
Open badges have transformative potential in both formal and informal education. Traditional grading, reporting, and certification systems were created in a paper and pencil world, and the “micro-credentialing” potential of badges represents a disruptive technology that will increase the transparency and quality of educational products and services, while transforming communication about what has been learned. Because of their ability to convey more and better information than traditional types of educational records, open badges offer new opportunities to formal and informal educators, as well as to employers who might use them to understand the capabilities of potential employees. It has been predicted that badges will “reinvent the report card” and “transform the transcript” (Peck, 2013), and will “disrupt the diploma” (Hoffman, 2013).
