When we don’t have the time, motivation, or ability to verify a claim about someone, we use credentials to prove that claim. We use the credentials that we collect throughout our lives display our accomplishments to others. Today, schools, colleges, and universities issue credentials and these credentials become our reputation. These institutions decide not only what is valued, taught, and assessed, but more importantly, how to teach.
The Internet is an emerging tool for people to rate each other on a variety of traits, generating reputations for each person.[1] This flexibility is unwelcomed and disruptive to the establishment because badges are unbundling learning into units.
Badges can be transparent and information-rich metadata. Everything is bundled into one click, allowing anyone to see what someone did to earn the badge, including a link to the transaction on the blockchain as evidence behind the learning, maybe a testimonial from the instructor, comments from peers, or even an endorsement from an expert or institution. Badge can represent one learning unit, or a series of successive units to reach a level of competency.
We use badges as a proxy to display our qualities, experiences, abilities, knowledge, skills, and achievements to others. Unlike traditional credentials, badges are metadata, and portable across many different systems and platforms on the web.
[1] Masum and Zhang, “Manifesto for the Reputation Society.” https://firstmonday.org/article/view/1158/1078