Making competencies visible | Medien-Didaktik 2.0

Our final report on “Making competencies visible with Open Badges” (in German and English) is online and I am happy to share this result of our joint work which we have conducted in 2018-2019 in the HFD Community Working Group “Competence Badges”.

The authors of the report are:

Ilona Buchem, Beuth Hochschule für Technik Berlin
Dominic Orr, Kiron Open Higher Education and FiBS Research
Christine Brunn, Technische Hochschule Lübeck

We also have two reviews with big thanks to your colleagues:

Angeliki Dedopoulou, DG Employment Social Affairs and Inclusion at European Commission & Blockchain Business Consultant
Simone Ravaioli, Digitary

Here is a short excerpt from our reports to give you an idea about what it is about:

“The HFD Community Working Group Competence Badges 2 on digital credentials of competence was established in 2018 to sound out the opportunities and obstacles in the implementation of digital credentials of competence on the basis of open badges.

The group’s work was based on these six key questions:

What knowledge do potential users (including employers) already have of digital credentials of competence based on open badges?

What acceptance is given to this instrument and how is its usefulness assessed as an alternative form of certification or recognition?

What are the common challenges related to the transition from higher education to the labour market?

Can higher education institutions also meet the demand for continuing education among
employees? What role would they have here?

How do potential users (including employers) assess the effectiveness of formal qualifications and the scope for considering alternative or supplementary certificates or competence recognition instruments?

What role can universities play in the implementation and quality assurance of alternative
or supplementary digital credentials of competence?

In order to approach these questions in a constructive and concrete manner, a total of five rounds of talks were held with selected experts and stakeholders in Germany and abroad in 2018. On the basis of the results, three concrete scenarios were developed for the use of digital credentials of competence on the basis of open badges to facilitate transitions from higher education to the world
of work, i.e. a minimum scenario (MinS), a medium scenario (MedS) and a maximum scenario (MaxS).”