Loyalist College
Project Description
Original Goals: This initiative will explore using the CanCred platform to capture competencies and skills that students gain outside of the classroom – through volunteering, workshops, self-study, and workplace experiences — in co-curricular badges that can be used as evidence of employability skills in action. Current students and past graduates will be able to use these badges in existing resumes and/or digital portfolios — and in a centrally developed transcript — to highlight achievements in 6 areas of institutional focus. By aligning initial badge offerings to institutional objectives and engaging with on-campus specialists and community partners, the project will have full institutional support.
The goals and vision of the badge system have not changed from the initial project goals. Yes, we consider our project a success. The project provided structure to establish a project steering group. Accomplishments included conducting research in co-curricular badging with other Post Secondary Education Institutions in Canada and the US, and experiencing the CanCred platform through the creation and testing of badges.
Badging Team Description
The project steering group included Christine Eddy, Manager, Centre for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning; Paul D. Smith, consultant; Lyndsay Kerik, senior career and alumni services officer; and Julie Sullivan, distance education development analyst. The project plan had been presented and approved by the academic leadership team.
The project team created a badging survey and conducted research with other post-secondary education institutions in Canada and the United States on their use of badging, identifying successes and challenges.
Three members of the project team attended and networked with attendees of the eCampusOntario Open Badging Forum on November 22, 2017. Steering group members attended and participated in eCampusOntario badging clinics. Following a clinic we had a subsequent virtual meeting with Jeff King and Brenton Wimmer, University of Central Oklahoma, regarding their Student Transformative Learning Record (STLR) and specifically STLR Employer Advisory Boards.
Members of the project team have met with Brad Labadie from the East Central Ontario Training Board to review the local Employer One Survey and discuss community partnership. Additionally, the Loyalist Career Centre is acting as a consultant, leveraging its partnerships with local employers and feedback collected from graduates entering the workforce to ensure co-curricular badges address in-demand skills, skills gaps, or emerging opportunities.
Badging System Structure
The distance education analyst partnered with the senior career services advisor to draft two co-curricular scenarios, leveraging our Loyalist Shield Health and Wellness initiative and student government scaffolding. The analyst accessed CanCred and created additional sub-organizations and additional badges, and issued badges fo