I haven’t written about Open Badges for a while, but something struck me on my daily walk this morning.
A lot of what’s holding people and organizations back when it comes to new forms of credentialing is outdated mental models and assumptions. No metaphor will be perfect, but they do allow us to look at things in new ways.
Take 3D printing as a metaphor for Open Badges, for example.
3D printing allows anyone to create things that would previously have been niche, hard to get, or just plain impossible to obtain. It allows for:
- Reduction in costs (you only print what you need)
- Bespoke solutions (you can tailor the 3D printed shape to solve a problem)
- Creativity (you’re not limited to what other people have created)
I think the same is true of Open Badges. You’re not forced to purchase an off-the-shelf credentialing system. You can create something that is tailored to your learners and your context. And you can try things that are truly different when it comes to credentialing.
What do you think? Does 3D printing work as a metaphor for Open Badges and alternative credentialing? I’d be interested in your thoughts!
Image CC BY-NC-SA Craig Kaplan
This weekend I’ve been up in Northumberland National Park learning how to navigate when out and about on hills and moors. It’s the first step towards (hopefully, some day) becoming a Mountain Leader. At the moment, it’s for my own interest and development, but you never know! 🙂
The course is a new one, and this was the first time that Paul Robinson and Mark Clarkson from Rock and Roam had offered the course. We ended up covering a lot more than the limited number of skills included on the official Mountain Training page; it was great that Paul and Mark were so flexible.
There were six trainees and two leaders, which was a great ratio for learning. We were doing resections by the end of the first day, which apparently is pretty unheard of for a ‘basic skills’ course! We each had a turn leading a section of the walk on the second day, having to navigate by feature, bearing, and distance. I learned a lot.
I suppose the main thing that the course has given me is the confidence to go out there by myself. After all, you don’t want to be the person that Mountain Rescue have to come and save because you’ve done something stupid. Given my interest in ancient monuments and settlements (there’s loads in the Ingram area) I feel like there’s no problem with me now going up there by myself and exploring.
The next thing is the Mountain Skills course, which will mean having to travel to the Lake District, Wales, or up to Scotland. I’m not sure exactly when that will be, but I’m already looking forward to it!
You can see the photos I took in this Flickr album. They’re unedited from my phone so not of the best quality, but you can get an idea of the terrain – and the wonderful views.
I returned back to work this Wednesday after spending a couple of weeks on holiday, camping with my family around Europe. You can read about that in this blog post. Just before heading off I presented at SuperMondays on Privacy: getting beyond ‘meh’. The talk itself went reasonably well, and the slide deck ended up being featured as slide deck of the day, which got it some attention. 🙂
Since my return, I’ve been:
Next week I’m at home all week. The week after that my wife and children head to the in-laws for five days, so I’ll be planning what to do with my free time! I might write something – suggestions welcome!
