‘hexadaisy layout’ by Darla available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosz/2040577615 under a Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license

When Open Badges was kicking off ten years ago (see the original white paper), it was conceived to be a recognition infrastructure for skills attained and achievements accomplished anywhere at any time. Badges could assert skills learned informally, formally, really in any aspect of and through life. It was hoped that recruiters, employers, and others could evaluate the badges to find people who had skills that aligned with the opportunities being offered. It was envisioned they could work like other types of credentials such as degrees and certifications, “but with room for much more granular or diverse skill representation” and available opportunities to capture these skills.

The infrastructure for this type of recognition system was a format called a digital badge. More than just a digital sticker, the badges would be filled with metadata properties describing the skills and achievements. Then the badges could convey the metadata both as human readable and machine readable content. By having a standard to describe the metadata and how it would be verified, Open Badges became usable in many technologies and contexts. For the most part, this resulted in badges being shared online on issuing platforms and social media — more as a tool for human understanding than one that took full advantage of the potential for machine readability.

Since then, the ethos of Open Badges, recognizing skills anywhere and anytime, has strengthened. Growth has accelerated, especially in the past few years. IMS Global and Credential Engine’s Badge Count 2020 Report indicated that there’d been an 80% increase in issued badges since 2018. Its use has expanded into more formal institutional contexts, the metadata have evolved, and initiatives have risen around it including the Open Recognition Alliance, Badge Summit, and the Open Skills Network.

Over the years, internet technologies have evolved too and a credential verification model at the W3C called Verifiable Credentials has gained traction. This verification model can be used for any type of credential including passports, drivers licenses, and educational credentials like Open Badges. In fact, members of the Open Badges community helped to write the very first use cases for Verifiable Credentials back in 2018. This was because we knew then that if Open Badges data were to be trusted by apps, they not only needed to be readable by machines, they needed to be verifiable.

The Verifiable Credential model can provide security and privacy enhancements not yet available to Open Badges. This model gives learners persistent access to their badges increasing the longevity and resilience of credentials that were intended to promote and support lifelong learning. A more secure and universally supported verification model such as Verifiable Credentials enables Open Badges to become the personal skills currency it was originally envisioned to be.

Concentric Sky (Badgr) has offered a proposal for a new version of Open Badges that explains what is needed to make it work within the Verifiable Credentials model. The use cases in the proposal provide scenarios where Open Badges are earned and then how they are exchanged. In one use case, a medical professional is able to start her new job sooner because her CME’s can be quickly verified:

Verifying Continuing Ed: Denise was offered a new job at a hospital as a physician assistant. Before starting, her continuing education training and license to practice needed to be verified. The last time she switched hospitals, the verification process took three weeks. This time, she was able to provide her badges to prove her training and license. Within minutes her credentials were verified and she was issued a new digital staff credential

In another use case, a career change is facilitated by using verifiable Open Badges to map skills to jobs:

Mapping Skills: Sid is shifting careers after many years working in construction. In his digital wallet he had several skill badges describing his mastery of several skills in construction but also in teamwork, communication, and organizational skills. Sid also had badges from some courses he’d taken in science and math over the last few years. After he uploaded the skill and course badges from his wallet to a career planning site, he was offered several opportunities to apply for work in software sales and cybersecurity.

Here’s an example of how an Open Badge as a Verifiable Credential (Open Badges 3.0) exchange could work:

1. A learner connects to a badge issuing platform with their digital wallet app on their phone or laptop.
2. Once authenticated, the issuer provides the badge to the learner who puts it in their wallet. The badge data contains cryptographic proof that identifies the issuer and the learner.
3. A job employment app asks for proof that the applicant has experience with a requirement needed for that role.
4. The learner presents the job employment app with the badge using the digital wallet app. The job employment app can then verifya. that the learner providing the badge is the recipient of that badgeb. that the issuer is the identity that issued the badge, andc. that the badge data has not changed since it was issued.
5. The verifier responds that the badge is authentic.

In comparison, here’s an Open Badges 2.0 flow:

1. A learner or an organization provides an issuer app with the learner’s email address
2. The Issuer generates badge data that includes the email address as the recipient identity and sends the earner the badge (typically as a link to a web page)
3. The earner can share the link on social media, or perhaps with a potential employer or a job application app.
4. The badge is verified by eithera. a human looking at the web page where the badge is hosted orb. the application attempts to retrieve the badge data from a url hosted by the issuer.

The Open Badges 2.0 example depends on the issuer hosting the data and relies on an email address for the learner. The Open Badges 3.0 example is self-contained and doesn’t require the issuer to continue to retain a web hosting provider in order for the credential to remain valid. Instead it uses cryptographic proof to authenticate the badge, the issuer, as well as the learner who earned it. With either example, the learner has a way to proudly share their achievement online but the Open Badges 3.0 method doesn’t rely on that online presence for verification. In fact, the original issuer may no longer exist, but the achievements can still be verified.

On Monday July 19, we’ll be reviewing the Open Badges 3.0 proposal and anyone is invited to join us to learn more. Here’s the meeting info:

Monday, July 19, 2021Time: 8am PDT / 11am EDT / 4pm BST, 5pm CESTJitsi Web Conference: https://meet.w3c-ccg.org/educationUS phone: tel:+1.602.932.2243;3

On Thursday, July 22, Concentric Sky will be presenting this proposal to the IMS Global Open Badges working group to seek the members’ go-ahead to move forward on the work to make Open Badges 3.0 a reality. Public comments may be submitted here.

Darla 的“hexadaisy 布局”可在Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) 许可下访问http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosz/2040577615

当 Open Badges 十年前启动时（请参阅原始白皮书），它被认为是一种认可基础设施，可以随时随地获得技能和取得的成就。徽章可以表明在生活的任何方面以非正式、正式、真实的方式学习的技能。希望招聘人员、雇主和其他人能够评估这些徽章，以找到具备与所提供机会相匹配的技能的人。据设想，它们可以像其他类型的证书（如学位和证书）一样工作，“但有更多空间来表现更细化或更多样化的技能”，并提供掌握这些技能的机会。

这种类型的识别系统的基础设施是一种称为数字徽章的格式。徽章不仅仅是一个数字贴纸，还将充满描述技能和成就的元数据属性。然后徽章可以将元数据作为人类可读和机器可读的内容来传达。通过制定描述元数据及其验证方式的标准，Open Badges 在许多技术和环境中变得可用。在大多数情况下，这导致徽章在发行平台和社交媒体上在线共享——更像是一种人类理解的工具，而不是充分利用机器可读性潜力的工具。

从那时起，Open Badges 随时随地识别技能的精神得到了加强。增长速度加快，尤其是在过去几年。IMS Global 和 Credential Engine 的《2020 年徽章计数报告》表明，自 2018 年以来，颁发的徽章数量增加了 80%。它的使用已经扩展到更正式的机构环境中，元数据已经发展，并且围绕它提出了一些倡议，包括Open Recognition Alliance、Badge Summit和Open Skills Network。

多年来，互联网技术也在不断发展，W3C 中称为“可验证凭证”的凭证验证模型获得了广泛关注。此验证模型可用于任何类型的证书，包括护照、驾驶执照和教育证书（如 Open Badges）。事实上，早在 2018 年，Open Badges 社区的成员就帮助编写了可验证凭证的第一个用例。这是因为我们当时就知道，如果 Open Badges 数据要受到应用程序的信任，它们不仅需要可读机器，它们需要是可验证的。

可验证凭证模型可以提供 Open Badges 尚不可用的安全性和隐私增强功能。该模型使学习者能够持久访问他们的徽章，从而增加旨在促进和支持终身学习的证书的寿命和弹性。一种更安全且得到普遍支持的验证模型（例如可验证凭证）使 Open Badges 成为其最初设想的个人技能货币。

Concentric Sky ( Badgr ) 提出了新版 Open Badges 的提案，该提案解释了使其在可验证凭证模型中工作所需的条件。提案中的用例提供了获得开放徽章以及如何交换它们的场景。在一个用例中，一名医疗专业人员能够更快地开始她的新工作，因为她的 CME 可以被快速验证：

***验证继续教育：*丹妮丝在一家医院获得了一份新工作，担任医师助理。在开始之前，需要验证她的继续教育培训和执业执照。上一次她换医院时，验证过程花了三个星期。这一次，她能够提供徽章来证明她的培训和执照。几分钟之内，她的凭据得到验证，并获得了新的数字员工凭据

在另一个用例中，通过使用可验证的开放徽章将技能映射到工作来促进职业转变：

制图技能： Sid 在建筑业工作多年后正在转换职业。在他的数字钱包中，他有几个技能徽章，描述了他掌握的多项建筑技能，以及团队合作、沟通和组织技能。Sid 也有过去几年他参加的一些科学和数学课程的徽章。在他将钱包中的技能和课程徽章上传到职业规划网站后，他获得了几次申请软件销售和网络安全工作的机会。

下面是一个 Open Badge as a Verifiable Credential (Open Badges 3.0) exchange 如何工作的示例：

1. 学习者使用手机或笔记本电脑上的数字钱包应用程序连接到徽章发行平台。

2. 一旦通过身份验证，发行者就会将徽章提供给将徽章放入钱包的学习者。徽章数据包含识别发行者和学习者的密码证明。

3. 求职应用程序要求证明申请人具有满足该职位所需要求的经验。

4. 学习者使用数字钱包应用程序出示带有徽章的工作就业应用程序。然后工作就业应用程序可以验证

   a。提供徽章的学习者是该徽章的接受者

   b．发行者是发行徽章的身份，以及

   c. 徽章数据自发布以来没有改变。

5. 验证者响应徽章是真实的。

相比之下，这是一个 Open Badges 2.0 流程：

1. 学习者或组织向发行人应用程序提供学习者的电子邮件地址

2. 发行人生成徽章数据，其中包括作为收件人身份的电子邮件地址，并将徽章发送给获得者（通常作为网页链接）

3. 赚钱的人可以在社交媒体上分享链接，或者与潜在雇主或工作申请应用程序分享。

4. 徽章由

   a验证。查看托管徽章的网页的人或

   b。该应用程序尝试从发行者托管的 URL 中检索徽章数据。

Open Badges 2.0 示例依赖于托管数据的发行者并依赖于学习者的电子邮件地址。Open Badges 3.0 示例是独立的，不需要颁发者继续保留 Web 托管提供商以使凭证保持有效。相反，它使用加密证明来验证徽章、颁发者以及获得徽章的学习者。对于任一示例，学习者都可以自豪地在线分享他们的成就，但 Open Badges 3.0 方法不依赖在线状态进行验证。事实上，原来的发行人可能已经不存在了，但成绩还是可以考证的。

7 月 19 日星期一，我们将审查Open Badges 3.0 提案，欢迎任何人加入我们以了解更多信息。以下是会议信息：

2021 年 7 月 19 日，星期一时间：太平洋夏令时间上午 8 点/美国东部时间上午 11 点/英国夏令时下午 4 点，中欧夏令时下午 5 点Jitsi 网络会议：https://meet.w3c-ccg.org/education 美国电话：电话：+1.602.932.2243;3

7 月 22 日星期四，Concentric Sky 将向 IMS Global Open Badges 工作组提交此提案，以寻求成员的批准，以推进使 Open Badges 3.0 成为现实的工作。可在此处提交公众意见。