Recently I read
a blog post written by Doug Belshaw describing a project being completed by Mozilla to create digital badges associated with their
Web Literacy Map.
Although digital badges and the Web Literacy Map are not recent developments, per se, I decided to spend some time examining the project further, which led me to the
Academy Badge Library, a potentially useful tool for helping students (and teachers) demonstrate their competencies for online inquiry.
I think it’s important to begin with some background on the Web Literacy Map and digital badges. The former was originally described in a whitepaper that defined web literacy as skills and competencies required to read, write, and participate effectively on the web. In the original paper, the authors identified four areas of Web literacies: exploring, creating, connecting, and protecting. As often happens with anything related to technology, though, changes in context result in various updates to the map. The most recent version retained the original broad areas of Web literacy (write, read, and participate), yet added depth and detail to each by delineating specific skills for each area and competencies for each skill. The map also incorporated 21st-century skills to offer a comprehensive framework for teaching and learning Web literacy skills.
Digital badges, on the other hand, were characterized in one report as “digital credentials that represent skills, interests, and achievements earned by an individual through specific projects, programs, courses, or other activities.” They are proposed as a mechanism to provide greater understanding of an individual’s skills or accomplishments due to the defined performance criteria associated with each. An inherent benefit of digital badges is they can be embedded within an electronic resource and serve as a form of electronic portfolio. They have also been described as a way to provide students with choice, contributing toward motivation and engagement.
What really captured my interested about the Academy Badge Library—beyond the general benefits of badges—was the alignment between several badges with the skills and competencies associated with the new literacies of online research and comprehension. Specifically, badges used to demonstrate the capability to Search, Navigate, Evaluate, Synthesize, and Compose on the Internet addressed the five primary processes outlined in a recent article by Leu and colleagues, which included
- Reading to define important questions
- Reading to locate online information
- Reading to evaluate online information
- Reading to synthesize online information
- Reading and writing to communicate online information.
I also noted that each of the badges addressed the specific sub-skills Leu et al. described in their work. For example, the Search badge included using and revising keywords, evaluating questions and search terms, and discovering information spread across a website, which were skills also mentioned in the article.
Relating this to the classroom and to research (including my own) has repeatedly shown that students should be explicitly taught processes necessary for effective online inquiry, and I view the Academy Badge Library as a way to supplement this instruction. Earning badges provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge in each of the aforementioned real-world competencies. In addition, accumulating badges allows them to document the skills they have developed and the achievements they have accomplished over time. Finally, as students earn badges, teachers can document skills and competencies related to 21st-century skills that are not often (or easily) assessed, including problem solving and critical thinking, especially if additional badges are earned beyond those directly associated with online research and comprehension.
The Web Literacy Map and Academy Badge Library can be useful to prepare students to be critical, effective seekers of information online. The resources listed below will provide deeper knowledge about digital badges and encourage badge creation, especially in the primary grades. Good luck as you begin this process!
Here are some additional resources if you wish to further explore badges:
These are tools you can use to create your own badges:
S. Michael Putman, PhD, is an associate professor and interim chairperson in the Reading and Elementary Education Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His areas of research include the impact of teacher preparation and professional development on teacher self-efficacy, student dispositions toward online inquiry, and the effective use of technology within teaching practices.
This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association’s Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).