BadgeKit Tutorial
BadgeKit supports various parts of the badging process, from creating badges to assessing applications for them and ultimately issuing them. Badge creation is made easy using templates and drafts, so you can work on badges at your own pace and involve colleagues in the process. Assessors can review badge applications and make awarding decisions by referring to badge criteria or rubrics.
This tutorial is aimed at helping people to use the BadgeKit app (using a self-hosted instance or hosted private beta account) - sign up to request access to the private beta at BadgeKit.org. The app provides an admin user interface for badge issuing personnel (i.e. people who create and assess badges).
If you're a developer and want to work with BadgeKit, see the following resources:
The BadgeKit Glossary provides clear definitions of any badging terms you are unsure of. For answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about BadgeKit, visit the BadgeKit Help section.
Login to BadgeKit to begin. When you click Log In you will be prompted to sign in using Mozilla Persona - if you do not have a Persona account, create one now.
Once logged in you will see your BadgeKit directory. Here you can access your badges, including drafts and templates. Initially you will see some sample templates.
Using the menu items, you can manage badges and applications, access help information and administer your account settings.
The Badges menu provides quick links to badge templates and drafts, published badges and archived badges. You can start creating a new draft badge or template straight away. Notice that in each part of the directory, you can sort your badges in various ways to help find what you are looking for.
As you will see throughout this tutorial, BadgeKit models both badge templates and draft badges. We will explore more about these concepts as we go along. The following diagram provides a handy overview of the badging lifecycle - you may wish to refer to this when you start using BadgeKit.
Navigate to your badge Templates.
Templates are among the key features in BadgeKit - check out Templates make Open Badges even more open for an exploration of what templates can bring to badging.
Templates allow you to remix badges, re-using badge elements and speeding up the badge creation process. You can also use templates to work on badges collaboratively. A good way to get started using BadgeKit is to browse some of the templates you see listed. Click View to see the details for a template and Edit to reconfigure these details yourself. When you begin creating your own badges, the templates can provide a helpful starting point. Think of a template as a badge stencil or cookie-cutter - you use it to create a badge.
For example, you might create a template based on the type of skill the badge represents, such as soft-skills or achievements. Or you might create a template for a particular subject, such as art or science. With a template you only need to use those fields you plan on re-using, unlike a finished badge in which your data needs to be complete.
When you approach the task of creating a new badge, you can either base it on an existing template or create a new template by clicking Start. You will then be able to use the template ingredients in future badges. View and edit some of the templates you see now.
To create a new draft badge based on an existing template, click Use. You can then edit the details and save your new draft.
Later we will look at badge editing in more detail.
Now let's look at draft badges - use the Badges menu to browse yours now.
Creating a new badge can take time and, as with templates, you may want to involve your colleagues in the process. Draft badges allow you to work on badges at a pace that suits you, adding and editing elements as you go along. You can share a draft badge for input from other people and don't need to publish it until you're completely happy with it.
The following diagram represents the badge creation process in BadgeKit, from template, to draft and finally published badge:
You do not need to follow this badge creation process - you can alternatively publish a new badge from a template or start a new draft badge without a template.
You will see some initial draft badges in the Drafts section in BadgeKit. Here you can View and Edit draft badges, or create a new draft by clicking Start.
Now browse to Published badges using the menu.
Published badges are available to earners, so in your own site you may present a listing of published badges which earners can apply got. You can use BadgeKit to publish badges and manage them, including reviewing applications for them. Use the links to Edit or View a published badge.
As you can see, you can also carry out various Actions on a published badge.
You can issue the badge, copy its content into a new draft badge or archive it. When a badge is published, you can no longer edit it. BadgeKit will continue to save badges you work on as drafts until you publish, so you can work on them at a pace that suits you. If you want to create a slightly different badge based on a published badge, you can copy it into a new draft and make your changes there, before publishing the new badge.
The share option will provide you with linking or embedding code for the badge. Copying a badge will start a new draft initially populated with the content of the current badge. You can archive a badge if you no longer want it to be issued.
Navigate to your Archived badges.
As time passes, you may wish to archive badges. When you archive a badge, this stops it being issued to future applicants and also removes it from default display by the API. However, previous earners of the badge can continue to display and share it.
When you archive a published badge, you can continue to access the data associated with it using BadgeKit. You can also copy the content of an archived badge into a new draft.
Notice the Create New option in the Badges menu - you can also use this to create a new badge at any time.
Whether you create a new draft badge, edit a draft badge or work on a template, you will see the same broad categories in which you define your badge elements. Let's look at these sections in more detail now.
You may find it easiest to start by editing an existing template, as some of the fields will already be filled in.
You can give a name to each draft badge or template you work on. BadgeKit will save your edits as you work. Once you are happy with the content of a draft badge, you can Publish straight from the editing area.
A badge includes several ingredients. As you can see, BadgeKit divides the parts of any badge you are working on into a few broad sections: Description; Options; Criteria; Milestone; Visual. You can access each of these using the tabs you see while editing.
If you need any additional guidance on any of the badge creation fields, refer to the information displayed and linked to throughout the editing area.
Let's look at each of these in turn, starting with the badge Description.
Description fields provide information about what a badge represents. The Description fields include: the badge issuer; a short tagline-style description; any relevant tags; a description for the badge earner; a description for the badge consumer.
Notes on description fields:
- The description for earners focuses on helping people to decide whether or not they want to apply for the badge.
- The description for consumers focuses on people who may end up viewing a badge when a successful earner displays or shares it.
Next switch to the Options tab.
In the Options section, you can configure various properties and constraints on your badge. You can set time estimates and types for the badge. You can also optionally apply restrictions on your badge. For example, you may wish to limit how many people can earn the badge or how many times the same person can earn it.
Now let's look at the Criteria tab.
The Criteria for a badge define the requirements for earning it. The criteria you enter may be viewed by potential applicants and by reviewers assessing applications for the badge.
You can specify the type of evidence applicants must submit in order to apply for the badge. You can include notes for assessors to help them when they review applications. You can also include links to align with educational standards related to the badge, as well as links to rubric material relevant to the badge's assessment.
Use the drop-down list to configure the number of criteria items you want to define for a badge.
Next switch to the Milestone tab.
You can define milestones for badge earners. When an earner successfully acquires a particular set of badges, they can be automatically issued a milestone badge. This allows you to acknowledge higher-level experiences and skills. Conversely, a milestone badge allows you to create smaller, more granular badges that culminate in this badge.
Last but not least, let's look at designing the Visual aspect of a badge.
BadgeKit includes the tools to design a new badge from scratch by combining various visual elements. You can alternatively upload a design image you prepared outside of BadgeKit, which should be in PNG format, ideally 90 pixels wide.
Choosing the Design from Scratch option will take you to the badge design studio. By configuring the shapes, background, text, icon and colors, you can tailor your design to reflect the nature of the badge as well as any existing visual styling approach you are working with.
Once a badge is published, people will be able to apply for it. You can review badge applications within BadgeKit using the Applications menu.
Badges you publish are made available for listing on your own site via the BadgeKit API. You can then allow earners to apply for a badge through your site, forwarding their application data to the API. At this point the application will appear in the BadgeKit app, in the Applications section.
To access any outstanding badge applications, choose Pending.
Assessors can review badge applications in BadgeKit, viewing evidence and rubrics for the badge, as well as the optional notes you can define when you create a badge. A reviewer can then submit their badge review, at which point your own site can receive notification via the API webhooks. You can then communicate with the earner - hopefully offering them a badge following a successful application!
What a BadgeKit user sees in the Applications section depends on their account settings. Users can see applications for whatever systems, issuers or programs they have permissions for.
The login/account menu lets you configure your account settings and log out of BadgeKit. If you browse to your Settings, you will see that you can manage BadgeKit user accounts.
To manage user accounts, select a System, Issuer and Program (if you are using these admin levels).
Select System Users, Issuer Users or Program Users to manage accounts and permission levels. You can add user's emails to any admin levels they need access to, which will determine what they see when they log into BadgeKit.
Navigate to the Help section in BadgeKit for additional information. Support is available through a variety of channels, just choose the option that suits you best!
- Post general questions in our Community Google Groups and post specific technical questions in our Dev Google Group.
- Reach members of the Open Badges team directly on IRC in the #badges room.
- Watch our BadgeKit webinar trainings for a full walk-through of the tools.
- Email questions directly to [email protected] and a member of the team will follow-up.
- Follow or tweet the Open Badges team @OpenBadges.