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Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE)

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Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE)

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JTATE serves as a forum for the exchange of knowledge about the use of information technology in teacher education. Journal content covers preservice and inservice teacher education, graduate programs in areas such as curriculum and instruction, educational administration, staff development instructional technology, and educational computing.

JTATE is the official journal of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE). Members have free, online access to all back issues of JTATE via LearnTechLib-The Learning & Technology Library.

JTATE strives to follow the COPE Codes of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines as a publisher. It also works with its editors to support their adherence to the Code of Conduct for Journal Editors. Both sets of guidelines are available on the COPE Code of Conduct webpage. JTATE encourages all authors to review both sets of policies; it also encourages authors to read the International Standards for Authors from Wager & Kleinert (2010).
Wager, E., & Kleinert, S. (2010). Responsible research publication: international standards for authors. Promoting Research Integrity in a Global Environment. Singapore, 309-16.

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Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE) [ISSN 1059-7069] - SITE

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1 Journal Ranking in "Teacher Education and Technology" (H Index) JTATE serves as a forum for the exchange of knowledge about the use of information technology in teacher education. Journal content covers preservice and inservice teacher education, graduate programs in areas such as curriculum and instruction, educational administration, staff development instructional technology, and educational computing.

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Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education

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Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education

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Established in 2000, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE Journal) is an open-access, peer-reviewed publication of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) and is co-sponsored by four other teacher education associations. It is an interactive electronic journal, capable of incorporating into its articles video, sound, animated images, and simulations, as well as ongoing dialog about issues that advance the field.

The current acceptance rate for CITE Journal is 29%. Although all issues of the journal are available free of charge on the Internet, it is indexed by H.W. Wilson Education Full Text (since 2005, volume 5), EBSCO (since 2006, volume 6), and the LearnTechLib - The Learning and Technology Library (all volumes).

CITE Journal publishes articles in four major categories:

Current Issues

Commentary

Current Practice

Seminal Articles

A Scholarly Adventure

Current Issues

Articles published in Current Issues are more conceptual and theoretical in nature - related either to general technology use or discipline-specific technology use. They may also address significant policy and practice issues. Articles may address any area of technology and teacher education. Articles regarding both preservice and in-service teacher education are welcome. A wide range of formats and approaches to scholarship are accepted, including qualitative research, quantitative studies, conceptual and theoretical pieces, case studies, and professional practice papers. Because the number of articles published in each section of CITE Journal is limited to one or two per quarter, editors are looking for well-written manuscripts describing truly innovative technology uses in teacher preparation.

The respective professional societies for each of following disciplines have sole responsibility for editorial review of Current Issues articles in their discipline:

General - Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE)

Science Education - Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE)

Mathematics Education - Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE)

English Education - Conference on English Education (CEE)

Social Studies Education - National Council for the Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA)

Commentary

Readers may submit critiques/commentaries on Current Issues papers. The responses papers will be peer reviewed and, if accepted, published as a new paper in the journal. These submissions are treated as articles and are refereed in the same way as all other articles. Commentaries of the "I really liked this" sort, or "I don't agree" sort are not acceptable. To be published, a response to a paper (or to other commentaries) should advance the discussion and make a substantial contribution to the conversation.

An alternative format for publishing articles is described in the Current Practice section that follows.

Current Practice

The Current Practice section is also sponsored by SITE. Papers published in this section are generally professional practice articles on innovative approaches to integrating technology into teacher education. The goal of the Current Practice section is to provide rich snapshots of promising work to advance discussion and make available ideas and findings for practitioners in technology and teacher education. Although many types of articles may be appropriate for the Current Practice section, the key is that the study, theory, case, review, research, or education model described be grounded in the literature. The Current Practice section values promising ideas, implementations, and preliminary findings from research studies that may not yet be complete.

Seminal Articles

In this section we reprint classic articles that have advanced the discussion of technology and teacher education. The Editor for this section, Glen Bull, welcomes nominations.

A Scholarly Adventure

In summary, we have embarked on a scholarly adventure that is unusual in three different ways. This journal represents the collaborative efforts of several organizations, each of which has its own publication outlets. It represents the best thinking of these organizations about how to meet the needs of scholars in a field, information technology and teacher education, that cuts across many different disciplines. Second, this is an electronic publication that uses electronic tools to facilitate everything from submission to publication. And it is freely available to anyone who has access to the Internet. Articles are distributed under the terms and conditions of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. Copyright for each article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.

Third, the format of the journal is a departure from the traditional print journal. It is not simply a print journal distributed electronically. The content can be different. A paper can include video, animation, and audio, as well as links to external resources. In addition, the journal serves as a framework for ongoing scholarly discussions. Authors do not publish a paper and then wait three years to see if anyone cites it. Once a paper is published, anyone who reads it can immediately write a response and submit it for publication. Once that conversation has begun, the author, reviewers, and readers can engage in a discussion of the relevant issues for as long as it seems worthwhile and productive.

Editor Contacts

Glen Bull and Lynn Bell, Co-Editors
Curry School of Education
University of Virginia
PO Box 400279
Charlottesville, VA 22904
Email: lynnbell@virginia.edu or gbull@virginia.edu
Fax: (434) 924-4638
Phone: (434) 924-4542

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Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE) - SITE

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Latest Issue Author Guidelines Subscribe to New Issue Announcements (via Contents Alerts) * Established in 2000, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE Journal) is an open-access, peer-reviewed publication of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) and is co-sponsored by four other teacher education associations.

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What's New! Journal of Computers in Education gets Q1-ranking in Scimago Journal Rank 2021 SJR (Scientific Journal Rankings) = 1.039 Q1 in Education, ...

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Journal of Research on Technology in Education

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Journal of Research on Technology in Education

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Explore the horizons of education technology

ISTE journals chronicle the latest peer-reviewed research on effective learning and teaching with technology. Edited by experts in the field and published quarterly, ISTE journals investigate the impact and implications of technology-rich instruction in PK-12 environments and teacher education programs.

Journal of Research on Technology in Education
READ LATEST ISSUE

Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education
READ LATEST ISSUE

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ISTE's research journals chronicle the latest peer-reviewed research on effective learning and teaching with technology. Edited by experts in the field and published quarterly, ISTE journals investigate the impact and implications of technology-rich instruction in PK-12 environments and teacher education programs.

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Journal of Teacher Action Research (JTAR)

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Journal of Teacher Action Research (JTAR)

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​Getting Up Close and Cultural: The Impact of Cultural Simulation on FLES Learner Learner Motivation Lisa Peskar Jeremy W. Bachelor Implementing Writers' Workshop in the Special Education...

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About JOLR

ISSN# 2374-1473

The Journal of Online Learning Research (JOLR) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the theoretical, empirical, and pragmatic understanding of technologies and their impact on pedagogy and policy in primary and secondary (K-12) online and blended environments.

Three issues are published annually. Each submitted manuscript goes through a rigorous blind peer review process. If accepted, article is then published in either the general research or international section. Additional information for each section is found below.

JOLR is Open Access, free-of-charge and distributed by LearnTechLib-The Learning and Technology Library. It is the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). All have free, online access to all back issues via LearnTechLib-The Learning & Technology Library.

Types of Articles

Articles focus on research related to K-12 online and blended learning. Research articles can:

Address online learning, catering particularly to the educators who research, practice, design, and/or administer in primary and secondary schooling in online settings. However, the journal also serves those educators who have chosen to blend online learning tools and strategies in their face-to-face classroom.

Include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research from multiple fields and disciplines that have a shared goal of improving primary and secondary education worldwide.

Research should be both theoretical and practical with implications for research, policy, and practice. Each research article is critically-reviewed by the editors and then undergoes a double blind-peer review process to ensure publication of rigorous and thoughtful research.

International Section

Articles focus on research related to online and blended learning with primary and secondary students in international contexts. Articles can include:

State-of-a-nation reports that shares trends related to policy, growth, pedagogy, promises, and challenges in areas related to primary and secondary (K-12) distance, online and blended environments.

Original, empirical research using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research that features participants from outside the United States.

Research should focus discussion on cross cultural connections and that may have implications for global educational settings. Each article is critically reviewed by the editors. It then undergoes a double blind-peer review process with reviewers who have international experience or background to ensure publication of rigorous and thoughtful research.

Practitioner's personal experiences with teaching and learning can provide valuable information about the contexts to which some researchers expect their findings to apply. Articles in the Practitioner Corner section should present detailed explanations and reflections on educational innovations. Ideally, these articles document problems posed in specific contexts, strategies tried, outcomes, and reflections on learning. Taken together, these articles should reveal trends in educational needs and everyday factors that influence K-12 distance, online, and blended learning. Articles in the Practitioner Corner section should go beyond "Did it work?" to explore how interventions function and the boundaries of their scalability (i.e., how could it be or what is stopping it from being implemented elsewhere?).

Articles in the Practitioner Corner section should contain a structured abstract using the format presented below. The body of the manuscript need not conform to the structure of the abstract.

Context. Briefly summarize the context in which the intervention was implemented.

Problem. Briefly state the practical learning or performance gap addressed by the intervention or other strategy and how the present intervention addresses the problem in a novel way

Intervention. Briefly describe the strategy or intervention, specifying why it addresses the practical problem and was thought to improve upon previous approaches

Outcomes. Briefly describe what happened to BOTH educational process AND outcomes when the intervention was implemented

Lessons Learned. Briefly summarize lessons learned that other educators could use when attempting to address a similar practical problem - note this is not a summary of impact, but a reflection on what was learned about implementing the strategy

Articles in the Practitioner Corner section must be at least 1000 words but should be no more than 3500 words. Articles submitted to the Practitioner Corner section will not be sent through a traditional blind review process but will undergo an editorial review or a review by a topical expert.

Inquiries should be sent to Mary Rice.

JOLR reserves a section for the scholarly review of current books that contribute to the literature related to K-12 online and blended learning. The aim of our Book Reviews is to engage distance educators in sharing their perspectives about new publications that contribute to the field. Book reviews should be composed in the following manner:

Heading and Signature - Book title, author name, location, publisher, date of publication, book edition, number of pages, and ISBN. Ensure that the name of reviewer and their institutional affiliation is included.

Introduction - The review should begin with an introduction to the topic and an overview of the content of the book. Describe the background and qualifications of the author. Who is the author's intended audience? What is the author's purpose and/or main thesis?

Organization/Structure - What is the organization/structure of the book? How accurate and current is the information presented? Does the evidence support the conclusions?

Significance to the Field and Overall Impression - How current is the information presented? How effective is the author's method of developing the information? What is your assessment of the book's major strengths and weaknesses? How does it compare with other works on the same subject? Does the book make a meaningful contribution to the literature? What are your overall comments and conclusions about the book?

Authors should aim for 1000-1500 words.
Indexed in leading indices including: ERIC, LearnTechLib-The Learning and Technology Library , Index Copernicus, GetCited, Google Scholar, and several others.
Call for Special Issue: Exploring (Dis)Engagement in K-12 Online and Blended Learning
Open access, no APC Special Issue Editors
Dr Melissa Bond, University of South Australia
Dr Nina Bergdahl , Stockholm University

On behalf of the Journal of Online Learning Research editorial board, we are privileged to invite you to submit a paper for the upcoming special issue, entitled 'Exploring (dis-)engagement in K-12 online and blended learning', to be published in December 2022.

We are looking to attract approximately 4-6 high quality studies, which could be empirical, methodological or conceptual in nature. Please find the call for papers below, which outlines the issue, including possible topics and estimated timelines for publication.

We welcome you to submit your abstract (100-200 words) via winteredition.jolr@gmail.com by 1st April 2022.
Call for papers
Engaging students in learning is vital, and this multifaceted concept continues to be the subject of increasing interest across disciplines. The purpose of this special issue is to showcase studies that further contribute to insights into student (dis-)engagement in K-12 online and blended learning environments.
The editors are seeking contributions that approach (dis-)engagement from a variety of different methodologies and perspectives, underpinned by theoretical frameworks. While we will not be publishing literature reviews, we will strongly consider theoretical and methodological papers, and we would particularly welcome international research from a range of contexts.
We welcome research in online or blended learning environments. The topics may include, but are not excluded to:

The behavioural, cognitive, affective/emotional and/or social dimensions of student engagement and/or disengagement

Micro, meso, exo and macro levels of student engagement and/or disengagement

The relationship between engagement and disengagement

The role of parent engagement and/or disengagement in student learning

The role that teachers and school leaders play in impacting student engagement

Cross-cultural comparative studies that explore student engagement and/or disengagement in different contexts

Using (dis-)engagement frameworks for evaluation in areas like quality, assessment and interventions

Designing for engagement

Ethical aspects of research on engagement and/or disengagement

Engagement and/or disengagement in learning analytics and data-driven applications

Article length to be no longer than 10,000 words, including tables and references.
Estimated Timeline
1 April, 2022 - Abstracts submitted to editors up to 200 words
20 April, 2022 - Authors invited to submit a full paper
1 July 2022 - Full manuscripts submitted ( http://publish.aace.org/begin/)
1 September, 2022 - Author notifications
1 October, 2022 - Final Revisions due
10 November, 2022 - Final Acceptances and send to copyediting
15 December, 2022 - Issue published

Queries can be directed to the editors via winteredition.jolr@gmail.com.

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Journal of Online Learning Research - SITE

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About JOLR ISSN# 2374-1473 The Journal of Online Learning Research (JOLR) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the theoretical, empirical, and pragmatic understanding of technologies and their impact on pedagogy and policy in primary and secondary (K-12) online and blended environments. Three issues are published annually.

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2021 UCET Conference Registration now open for the 2021 Conference March 20, 2021 (via Online Format) Register Today Get to know UCET UCET is so much more than just a yearly conference. Watch Utah Ed Chat Join us every Wednesday night @ 9pm Join us online this year for the 2021 UCET conference!

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London International Conference on Education

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The LICE attracts experts from all education sectors, schools, Colleges, Universities, vocational education and training, as well as government representatives, Non-governmental Organization staff and private providers to learn about the current trends and to network with other international colleagues.

Why should I attend LICE?

The national and international annual gathering of Undergraduates, Graduates/Postgraduates, Librarians, Study Abroad Advisors, Faculty (Teachers, Lecturers, Researchers, Professors, Head of Department, Deans), Vice-Chancellors, Chancellors, College and University Presidents), Policy Makers and Stakeholders with background or interest Education.

Networking with national and international participants.

Develop new partnerships and associations with key decision makers across all sectors of education.

Learn about the latest research findings and the future impacts by attending the programmed sessions.

Showcase your products and services and promote your brand at one of the world's top international education conferences.

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LICE - 2023 | London International Conference on Education

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LICE-2023 is an international refereed conference dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in education.

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cybersecurity and privacy in higher education

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EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology. We equip our community wit

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Learn Anytime. Anywhere.

The Online Learning Consortium™ (OLC) is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner - anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Learn More

Devoted to Advancing

Quality Digital Learning

Since our founding in 1999, we've become the go-to source for everything related to digital learning. Thousands of educators rely on The Online Learning Consortium for expert guidance, professional development and resources to help them excel in digital learning.

Join the Leading Online Learning Consortium at Our Annual Events

Our well-attended events provide premium opportunities to network, discover and share views on online learning, emerging technologies, and best practices for online, blended, and digital learning. Join thousands of faculty, system administrators, course designers and interested professionals in the pursuit of quality digital learning.

OLC INNOVATE™
Education Reimagined

Nashville, TN: April 18 - 21, 2023

Challenge our teaching and learning paradigms, reimagine the learning experience, and ideate on the innovative classroom of tomorrow.

OLC ACCELERATE™
Accelerating Online Learning Worldwide

Virtual: November 1-3, 2022
Orlando, FL: November 14-17, 2022

Get the latest information of online learning research findings, current practice, emerging trends and promising new technologies.

New Approaches to Enhance Digital Teaching Programs

Hundreds of courses designed to help educators worldwide strengthen teaching strategies, delivery methods and learning activities.

Draw on the Collective Experience of a Global Network

We provide strategically sophisticated yet practical advice to help colleges, universities and educators identify strengths and weaknesses of their e-learning programs.

QUALITY SCORECARD™
BENCHMARKING ONLINE LEARNING STANDARDS
Measure and quantify elements of quality within your digital education programs with our Quality Scorecard methodology. The program offers criteria for excellence in the administration of e-learning programs which includes over 72 quality indicators for higher education. This is an exclusive OLC member benefit.

Join a Visionary Group of e-Learning Leaders

Membership provides you and your faculty with great benefits and privileges - discounted pricing on conferences and workshops, free webinars, peer networking, early access to research and more.

We offer a free community membership, as well as more robust professional and institutional membership. Find which one is right for you.

Learn More

Benefits of Membership

Network

Publish

Research

Advisory

Discounts

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Online Learning Consortium (OLC) - Enhancing Remote Learning

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The Online Learning Consortium™ (OLC) is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner - anyone, anywhere, anytime. Learn More Since our founding in 1999, we've become the go-to source for everything related to digital learning.

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Digital Badges: What They Are, How They Work, And Why You Should Use Them
Before you read all about digital badges, register HERE for the next FREE live session on digital badges and micro-credentials on Thursday, March 23 at 3pm ET
Recognizing professional achievements with digital badges

Credentials matter. To move their careers forward, professionals need ways to differentiate themselves from their competition and ultimately stand out in a crowd. They also need others to understand the rigor, time and effort devoted to developing their professional expertise. Moreover, in today's digitally connected world, professionals share practically everything online in ways that can be publically searched and viewed. As such, they must have ways to communicate their verified advanced skills and expertise on the web beyond just putting a few additional letters after their names or providing a static paper certificate.

Additionally, in order for professional associations and training providers to stay competitive and continue to both retain and grow their membership or participant pools, they too must find innovative ways to extend their reach and further engage their stakeholders by providing them with additional value.

Enter digital badges.

What are digital badges?

Sometimes referred to as digital credentials, digital badges offer associations and trainers a meaningful way to recognize their stakeholders' certifications, awards and other continuing education experiences in a format that can be readily shared online. A digital badge is more than just a visual image or logo. Rather, it is a dynamic portable icon that is embedded with qualifying information such as who issued the credential, where and how it was earned and a detailed description of the competencies met. It can also include expiration dates and continuing education units - if applicable, and links to multimedia artifacts such as pictures, websites, videos, or documents. When the badge icon is clicked, the information is revealed and the accomplishment can be authenticated and verified by the viewer.

Digital badges are gaining significant traction in the credentialing industry because they are secure and verifiable, thus protecting the integrity of the credential. They also deliver significant additional value to certificants because they can be easily shared via email or on email signatures and on social networks, websites or digital resumes. Depending on the vendor, earners can also create an individualized digital badge portfolio to store and manage one or many of their earned badges.

As earners, or certificants, share their digital badges with others, namely employers, colleagues or licensing boards, they essentially act as ambassadors by extending the brand of the issuing organization to a wider network. Once shared, the issuing organization can track the sharing and opening of badges, accruing vital data about the impact of their programs.

How do digital badges work?

Typically, the issuing organization creates a digital badge for each course or credential. This involves designing the front facing image and information associated with the accomplishment. Thereafter, upon completion of the credential, the organization would issue the badge- via a software platform-to earners. Earners receive an email or similar communication informing them of the issued badge and how to access the profile page. Thereafter, depending on the vendor implementation, it can be shared with the earner's social networks or via email.

What value do digital badges bring to earners?

Digital badging offers tremendous value including:

Verified skills and expertise: Digital badges provide an easy path for employers, colleagues and licensing boards to verify an earner's credentials with a single click. They also convey all of the underlying qualifications needed for earning the badge.

Differentiation in the job market: Badges help earners differentiate themselves when looking for jobs by showcasing their validated skills and expertise in a cutting-edge savvy way.

Convenience: Badges offer a convenient way to digitally record, store and share their certifications and experiences online.

What value do digital badges bring to organizations?

Digital badging also offers issuing organizations a number of significant, quantifiable benefits including:

Branding and Marketing: As earners share their badges with others, the issuing organization is able to market its programs virally and build its brand organically.

Risk Mitigation: Unlike paper certificates, digital badges are 100% verified and authenticated, thereby protecting the integrity of each credential. Moreover, some badging platforms, such as , even allow issuers to set expiration dates and business rules that further mitigate the risk of earners sharing credentials that are no longer current.

Analytics: Some platforms offer highly sophisticated data collection tools that allow organizations to analyze market impact by reviewing badge sharing, clicks and views.

Cost mitigation: Digital badges allow organizations to reduce mailing expenses and paper processing labor. Moreover, organizations with international certificants do not need to be concerned that the paper certificates won't (or can't) be delivered properly.

Global: Digital badges can be rendered in multiple languages.

Skills: Along with credentials, organizations can create programs to capture and verify skills, especially for renewal purposes.

Revenue generation: Organizations can upsell digital badges as an additional value for certification and continuing education courses.

Watch industry leaders share their experiences with digital badges and micro-credentials

Digital badges engagement

Digital badges provide secure digital proof that recognizes achievements. They are a verifiable demonstration of competencies and skills and are a component of identity. In addition, badges can be readily shared on digital media such as social networks and allow the earner to publicly demonstrate and advertise their competency. And moreover, they offer the credential issuing organization the ability to gain brand awareness and viral marketing as a result of the earner's desire to promote both the accomplishment and the organization from which it was issued.

Once posted on social media with comments such as "I'm happy to share my achievement," the network is compelled to chime in "congratulations" with waves, thumbs up, and additional commentaries. Each of these represents meaningful engagement for both the earner and the issuer of the credential.

Our study of several recently shared digital badges on social media as shown below showed that on average, a posted badge received 500-1k impressions and 25 interactions, of which, 4-5 were actual comments. We found that the number of connections and days since posted lead to increases in the number of interactions. Engagement seemed to plateau around 4-5 days and those with several hundred to 500+ connections were most likely to receive numerous interactions. Location - whether the US or abroad did not seem to matter, suggesting the power of social media is universal when it comes to engagement.

These observations are strong evidence of engagement via social media using digital badges and represent a meaningful way for organizations to gain recognition and brand awareness via digital badge initiatives. Unlike paper certificates that sit in one's office (or desk drawer), cropped in the corner of our Zoom screen, a digital badge remains an active component of our online identities while driving brand awareness.

What are micro-credentials?

As stated earlier, professionals are eager to find ways to further differentiate themselves in today's competitive job market. They want to be recognized for their areas of expertise, specializations and competencies, which may not be directly represented by their current certifications. As organizations constantly strive to provide additional value to their stakeholders, while also identifying alternative ways to generate revenue, they have begun to develop specialty certificates, or "micro-credentials."

This nomenclature has caused significant confusion within the credentialing industry. To set the record straight, the term "micro-credential" is often associated with the term "digital badge," but they are not the same thing. Digital badges can be used as a tool or currency to represent a micro-credential, but they are not micro-credentials. The confusion may be related to the fact that the concept of micro-credentialing and digital badging emerged around the same time. As organizations began to develop micro-credentials to grow their program offerings and support the needs of their certificants, they also decided to adopt the most current way to represent these smaller, more competency-based certificates.

Digital badging technology also facilitates the ability to automatically "stack" or "level-up" badges to represent the hierarchy of developing skills and knowledge. This ability enables organizations to be quite creative as they consider how to develop new specialty programs and certification offerings. Along this line, one of the newer applications of "stackable" digital badges involves a professional requesting an "endorsement" from a manager who can attest to applied competencies or skills in the workplace. Much like a letter of recommendation, an "endorsement" badge enables a professional to be recognized in a verified manner for their advanced level of expertise.

Micro-credentialing has also been a concept used by training providers and higher education institutions. Instead of issuing a paper certificate for successful completion of continuing education courses and competency- based activities, these organizations use digital badges to represent and validate the accomplishment. As mentioned earlier, when all stakeholders within an ecosystem (i.e. professionals, certification providers, training providers, employers) adopt badging as the common currency, the resulting utility for all parties is significant.

Finally, a recent advancement in recruiting technology has contributed to the movement towards adopting digital badging as a currency and essentially propelled it to the proverbial "tipping point" in the career development space. Many job boards are now making it possible for candidates to include their verified credentials on their profiles, and are also enabling recruiters to search for candidates who have validated or authenticated certifications and skills. Now that digital badging is emerging as a highly valuable currency for key stakeholders in workforce development, what was once a "nice to have" technology is quickly becoming a "must have" strategic tool.

What's the difference between digital badges and digital credentials?

Digital credentials are forms of digital evidence that third parties use to certify the acquisition of a skill or set of skills. Digital badges are visual images that act as vehicles for transmitting that information.

What do organizations need to consider when investing in digital badging?

Digital badging clearly delivers value to both organizations and individuals. However, not all badging platforms are created equal. As such, before choosing and investing in a specific digital badging software platform, an organization needs to consider its overall objectives and goals.

Some questions the organization will want to consider:

Does the platform include a badge creation and authoring tool?

Does the platform include open interfaces that can be readily integrated with existing credentialing processes?

Do the digital badges include underlying data describing the accomplishment, or are they easily reproducible static images?

Can the embedded data fields encapsulate the organization's requirements and can they be customized to meet other objectives?

Does the platform track and communicate expiration as well as cluster continuing education courses that can be leveled-up into a certification?

Does the workflow align with the organization's volume and frequency requirements?

How is the digital badge profile to be shared and communicated to both the issuer and the industry?

Does the platform track badge analytics such as "clicks" and sharing?

Watch industry leaders share their experiences with digital badges and micro-credentials

Platforms for digital badges
BadgeCert
is an enterprise-class platform for creating, issuing, storing and sharing digital badges that verify earners' skills, credentials and continuing education experiences. With its enhanced functionality ensuring 100% real-time authentication for viewers, BadgeCert is the proven credentialing solution for associations, trainers, regulatory agencies and educational institutions.

Founded: 2012

Headquarters: Northbrook, IL
Credly
Credly helps people connect their verified skills to opportunities, and organizations make better and more equitable human capital decisions. Credly is a Pearson company.

Founded: 2012

Headquarters: New York, NY
Accredible
Accredible is a digital credentialing platform that helps organizations securely issue, manage, track, and verify credentials.

Founded: 2013

Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Badgr
Badgr, now part of Instructure, is a digital credentialing platform where anyone can issue unlimited badges. Badgr has been at the forefront of the digital credential space since its origination and continues to be one of the key players in the market.

Founded: 2015

Headquarters: Eugene, OR
Badge List
Badge List helps educators, companies and professional development organizations create Open Badges to guide learning and recognize achievement. Each badge is backed by expert reviews and a portfolio of evidence. Badges are linked together to form pathways guiding learners to their academic and professional goals.

Founded: 2015

Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Badgecraft
Badgecraft offers a multilingual platform and complimentary mobile applications to manage any achievements using Open Badges.

Founded: 2017

Headquarters: Baile Uí Bheoláin, Clare, Ireland
Bestr
Bestr is a digital platform based on Open Badges: the meeting point between learners, employers and trainers.

Founded: 2015

Headquarters: Casalecchio di Reno, Bologna, Italy
Hyland Credentials
Hyland Credentials provides a complete system to issue official records using a blockchain-anchored format. Digital credentials are easily shareable and instantly verifiable anywhere in the world.

Headquarters: Westlake, Ohio
Moodle Badges
Moodle is an ecosystem of learning solutions built around Moodle LMS, the open source learning management system used by hundreds of millions of learners worldwide.

Founded: 2001

Headquarters: West Perth, Western Australia

How do I get a digital badge?

Today, with the advent of blockchain and other verification technologies, it's possible for anyone with sufficient proof and evidence to earn a digital badge that represents their skills and knowledge. There are plenty of ways to get a digital badge in this day and age. Let's go over some of them and how they work.

Typically, when you've completed a certain number of tasks, a badge-issuing organization or person may award you a form of digital proof that you've done the work. For example, if you received passing scores on 20 written exams, you might be awarded a digital badge for 'Outstanding Written Assessments.'

You can also get badges by completing courses or other learning modules. Sometimes these badges are issued by the instructors themselves; other times they're issued by an agency or accrediting body that oversees the course.

In addition, some organizations may require that you perform a project before they will award you a badge. This is often true for coding projects, where your final project is usually used as proof that you know how to code well enough to enter the field as an employee.

How to create and issue digital badges

If you're an accredited institution or organization, you can design and issue digital badges through a platform like or Credly, Accredible, Badgr etc. These platforms allow you to create your course badge so your students can show off your badges (and add additional context about what they learn and where). Let's see the main steps.

Develop test or course criteria/curriculum. Make the curriculum available to individuals (can be free or paid, online, or in person).

Score or evaluate those who enroll in or complete the course, to determine who will receive the badge.

Design and issue the badge via a digital credential platform. These can be integrated in your current CRM or just with a friendly user interface.

Digital badging for certification providers

Many of the largest and most prominent certification providers in the world have decided to adopt digital badging to represent their certifications.

They do so for a variety of reasons including:

1. Mitigate risk: Credentialing organizations need to protect the integrity of their credentials and mitigate the risk of someone tampering with a paper certificate. Digital badge technology provides the security needed to verify the authenticity of credentials.

2. Expiration: Digital badges can be set to expire and this feature insures that only certification holders whose credentials are current and up-to-date can share their badges. The BadgeCert platform also has tools to communicate impending badge expiration to earners.

3. Digital verification: Certificants want the added value of being able to digitally share their credentials with others who can instantly verify them with a single click. This capability also allows certification bodies to reduce the burden of manually validating their stakeholders' credentials for third-parties.

4. Meta-data: Often, third-parties do not understand the nature of an earned credential. Badges are embedded with underlying metadata or information that further describes and qualifies the credential.

5. Marketing: Organizations need to promote their credentials to other potential candidates and maintain their viability within their respective industries. Because digital badges can be shared across social networks, on email signatures and websites, they have become a powerful marketing tool. Several digital badging platforms also allow the issuer to review digital badge sharing data and analytics that helps them to further understand how their brand is being seen in the world.

6. Reduce costs: Digital badging eliminates labor and materials costs associated with issuing paper certificates, thus providing a large cost savings for issuing organizations.

Digital badges for employees

When it comes to upskilling and reskilling, or frankly any L&D program, learner engagement has been an age-old challenge for learning leaders. One great way to address this is through incentivizing learning. And what better way to make learner engagement activities more fun than to implement digital badging in your employee training!

To put it simply, a digital badge is a proof of an accomplishment or skill that a learner can display, access, and verify online. But it's only one kind of digital credential (e.g. digital certificates and test-based digital credentials).

Interestingly, there are a lot of benefits to implementing badging in your L&D strategy aside from boosting learner engagement. Digital badging:

Helps learners see the goals they want to achieve;

Offers learners an avenue where they can showcase their accomplishments for their colleagues and other networks to see;

Provides a tangible "reward", encouraging learners to obtain badges and incentivizing future accomplishments;

Helps learners gauge their performance by seeing how they compare to their peers in a common learning environment.

Digital badges for students

Badges can be used to encourage learning and motivate students, particularly those who may be struggling or remote learners. Students enjoy collecting badges and take pride in their digital portfolios. They also make it easier for students to share their achievements. There are thousands of courses providing digital badges, for example with Coursera and Udemy.

Digital badges for teachers

As the quality of teaching has become recognised as a crucial component of student learning, we've seen an increasing emphasis on teacher professional development. Numerous studies explore the characteristics of effective teacher education programmes in low- and middle-income countries but few pay attention to how teachers' professional learning is evidenced and recognised outside the award of formal qualifications. Most professional development programmes merely distribute certificates of participation or completion. However, capturing and validating improvements in teachers' classroom practice is important. It rewards teachers who engage actively with professional development, supports their planning of future learning and provides evidence for career advancement.

That's why it is so important that schools and colleges invest in global digital badging initiatives to support the recognition of teachers' skills and competencies acquired through their participation in various professional development activities (including online courses). What's more, badges are recognisable images that can be shared across social networks. They allow for the articulation of specific competencies and achievements and can be used to construct identity profiles, highlight skills, build personal reputations and demonstrate one's commitment to lifelong learning.

How to add digital badges on LinkedIn

There are two simple ways to add a digital badge to your LinkedIn profile:
Option 1:
Check if the email you received for your badge has the LinkedIn 'Add to profile' button. If so, click on the "Add to profile" button in the email you received.
Option 2:
Visit badgecert.com or your platform private area and log in with your credentials. Click on the badge -> Click on 'Share' button -> Click on 'Add to Profile' button.

Want to know more? Join a live session!
Register HERE for the next FREE live session on digital badges and micro-credentials on Thursday, March 23 at 3pm ET

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Digital Badges: What They Are, How They Work, And Why You Should Use Them - Badge Certificate

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Learn how to use digital badges, how to issue them within your organization, how to share them on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Discover the value and impact of digital badges, and the most important platforms for digital badging and micro-credentialing.

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Virtual reality, or VR, is a digital world that was developed decades ago but has come into its own in recent years. This is because only now is the technology small enough, powerful enough, and affordable enough to reach the mainstream. For those reasons, virtual reality is now starting to get used in education.

VR represents a new media platform that can allow for a more immersive way for students to learn. But, importantly, it can also be an option to offer greater opportunities and experiences to all students.

For example, students in positions of physical limitations, or schools with limited funding, are now able to experience virtual trips to real places they could not have reached before.

Read on to find out all you need to know about virtual reality in education.

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What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-based system that uses software, screens on each eye, and interactive controls to allow a person to enter a virtual, digital world. It can also be achieved using tablets and smartphones with the screen as the virtual world, but this is a less immersive way and often applies to augmented rather than virtual reality.

By placing the displays close to the eyes, usually in a headset, it allows the person to feel as if they're looking at a giant screen, close-up. The makes for a very immersive view that is coupled with motion sensors so when you move your head the view changes, just as in the physical world.

While virtual reality has been used widely for gaming it's also now being used in work-based training and, more recently, in education. One of the big factors in this relatively recent uptake was Google Cardboard, which used a super affordable cardboard phone holder with lenses built in to create virtual worlds. This works with smartphones, allowing students and teachers to easily and affordably experience VR.

Since then, virtual reality has had lots of funding thrown at it by big name companies, universities, and technology brands. With a global value (opens in new tab) at $6.37 billion back in 2021, which should reach $32.94 billion in 2026, it's clear this is a fast-growing area that's going to mean big changes in education long term.

(Image credit: Viar360)

How can virtual reality be used in education?

One of the most powerful ways to show off virtual reality in schools is to take virtual tours. This can mean visiting a location, anywhere in the world, without the usual issues of cost, transport, waiver forms, and even crowds to worry about. Instead, students and teachers can slip on VR headsets and all go on a tour together. But it goes further as this can also go beyond time, allowing a class to go back and visit an ancient city that's now gone, for example.

The uses for VR extend into a variety of subjects, however, for science, for example, students could visit the stars or carry out virtual lab (opens in new tab) experiments safely using digital versions of the real thing but that react in the same way.

This goes further with some schools actually setting up virtual classrooms that children can visit remotely. The Optima Academy charter school in Florida provides its 1,300 students with Oculus VR headsets (opens in new tab) to participate in virtual lessons. This can include history lessons taught in the Oval Office, virtually, or among the planets for astronomy.

(Image credit: KatarzynaBialasiewicz)

How can schools get virtual reality?

Getting virtual reality into schools consists of two main parts: the access to virtual reality headsets themselves and the software required to run it all. There are now companies that specialize in providing kits with enough headsets for an entire class. Most also now have their own software, compatible with others, which allows teachers to manage the experience of the class and gain access to lots of educational apps and games.

There are also apps that offer virtual reality experiences on phones and tablets without the need for a headset. Think Google Earth, in which you can explore the planet virtually by panning and zooming about. That's not as immersive, but certainly classes as a virtual reality experience.

Since Apple introduced software advances that make building virtual reality easier this has grown massively in education. One leading name is Discovery Education, who offers a good example of augmented reality (opens in new tab) with their new app that was featured at Bett 2022 (opens in new tab).

We've also compiled a list of the best virtual and augmented reality headsets for schools (opens in new tab) , which shows the options out there and can give you an idea of pricing.

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(Image credit: Great.gov.uk) Virtual reality, or VR, is a digital world that was developed decades ago but has come into its own in recent years. This is because only now is the technology small enough, powerful enough, and affordable enough to reach the mainstream.

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During the 2020-21 school year, NYSCATE has seen a significant increase in membership due to the various remote learning professional development options that were offered. NYSCATE is now a proud partner of NYSED as we are offering 40 online courses, and webinar series for parents and teachers at no charge! This is a very exciting time for NYSCATE and we welcome your district to become an annual member.

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During the 2020-21 school year, NYSCATE has seen a significant increase in membership due to the various remote learning professional development options that were offered. NYSCATE is now a proud partner of NYSED as we are offering 40 online courses, and webinar series for parents and teachers at no charge!

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The Office of Educational Design and Technology coordinates programs and initiatives that promote the effective integration of technology in P-12 educational environments throughout New York State in order to improve teaching and learning.

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The Office of Educational Design and Technology coordinates programs and initiatives that promote the effective integration of technology in P-12 educational environments throughout New York State in order to improve teaching and learning.