OpenBadges

[fortean]

Badges

Wat they are

A badge is an online, verifiable proof of capabilities or association. Our Chapter issues badges to allow members to prove they registered with us.

Things have changed a lot in the world of education. In olden days one was educated at institutions where one went and then was taught by wise (mostly) men. If you passed the exams you got handed over a nice piece of paper that stated what you had learned and how well you had learned it.

Not anymore. These days you can be taught by many totally different people. For example, a barista may teach you how to make a good cup of coffee. My millers foundation can teach you how to predict the weather. A car club may teach you how to repair your car. And our Chapter may teach you how to handle information in a safe and secure way  Neither of these people or organisations will issue a formal diploma or certificate. But you did learn something from them and perhaps you would like to be able to prove that. 

Badges do just that: they allow you to prove your capabilities and associations. They are a kind of online electronic diploma or certificate. They can also be proof of membership. They look like regular images but there is some smart technology used which allows you to verify them online.

The idea behind badges is that everbody can issue them. Therefore the value of a badge varies widely and depends on what it is for, who has issued the badge and who is interested in what it proves.  Badges might be issued by your Quilt Club as a reward for a particularly nice quilt you made. But CompTIA also issues badges if you passed one or more of their exams.  And (ISC)² also issues badges for getting certified. Universities issue badges which you can use to prove that you attended a course. And footballclubs may issue them to allow you to show that you are a fan. 

Apart from the badge that our Chapter issues to our registrees, we also can issue badges to people that were present at one of our events. Or that have completed one of our courses or seminars. That badge can be used on social media, websites and in e-mail. They allow you to prove your capabilities or association with a group.

Badges are versatile and can be used in many ways.

Badge tech talk

On first sight a badge is just a computer image. But its appearance is deceptive: a badge contains references that allow you to verify it on line.  Our Chapter uses PNG images (Portable Network Graphics, a W3C standard). PNG images consist of a set of datablocks that contain image data. But with PNG and SVG images it is possible to insert datablocks that contain text. These blocks were originally intended for comments, geographic data et cetera, but they can be used for any data you like.

When we "bake" (make) a badge, we insert a text block before the image data. It contains text in a standardized JSON data format that holds information about the badge. The issuer, its purpose, the achievement, who owns the badge, date issued, date until it is valid and more.  The exact same data is also available on our Chapter registry webserver. When a badge is checked, the data in the badge and on our website is checked and should match. If it does, the badge is valid. 

Using a badge

When you register with us, a badge is created and mailed to you. That badge allows you access to our events. But it may also be used to get a discount on services and goods. You can also display the badge on social media to show that you registered with us.

During a life long of learning people can obtain many badges. Most people use a badges management platform to store their badges in and display them. You don't have to, but its convenient to have all your badges in one place, no matter who(m) issued them. When you upload a new badge into such a service (called a 'backpack') the badge will be verified. The backpack service will open the badges, read the data in it and will check if it matches the data on the server of the issuer.  They must match, and the identifier in the badge (mostly your mail address is used) should be registered as yours too. Only if it all checks out, the backpack service will accept your badge.

A backpack service can check your badges for you, but you can also check badges using independent online services, which are free of charge. You therefore do not need to be subscribed to a backpack service (e.g. Acclaim, Credly etc.) to verify badges. On a sidenote: there are some  pretty good free backpack providers too.

Now you try it!

I have attached my Chapter membership badge to this post. You can verify it's validity in a number of ways:

Method 1

Can be used when you were mailed a badge or when you found it online as an image.

Method 1a - download

1. download the image (right mouse click) and save it on your PC
2. visit badgecheck.io (opens in a new window). In the center of the screen you will find a large "browse" button.
3. click the button and select the file you just saved. The file will be transferred. After a while the filename appears to the right of the 'browse' button.
4. The badge contains my mail address. For privacy reasons I will not post it here, but if you meet me in person I can give you that address and you can use it to ensure it is really my badge. You need to fill in that address in the input field below ‘verify recipient’.  You can complete the process without my mail address, and the badge will be verified but a warning will be shown that the recipient could not be verified.
5. Click the big red button marked ‘[VERIFY]’ in the lower right corner of your screen.

Method 1b - use a link

1. obtain the web address of the online image (right mouse click) and copy it.
2. visit badgecheck.io (opens in a new window).
3. paste the web address into the field under "What would you like to validate?"
4. The badge contains my mail address. For privacy reasons I will not post it here, but if you meet me in person I can give you that address and you can use it to ensure it is really my badge. You need to fill in that address in the input field below ‘verify recipient’.  You can complete the process without my mail address, and the badge will be verified but a warning will be shown that the recipient could not be verified.
5. Click the big red button marked ‘[VERIFY]’ in the lower right corner of your screen.

Caveat: if you try to use the link to the image that I attached here, it will not work. For a simple reason: the verification site does not have access to this forum. But you can still try it if you want to, as I also have published my badge on this site: http://www.imagineers.nl/images/BAKED.HWK.png

Method 2

Using a backpack (badge administration service)

Our Chapter is an OpenBadge Issuer. We adhere to the OpenBadge 2.0 standard. Therefore our badges can also be read by all badge backpacks, as they all support this standard. Once you have uploaded a badge into a backpack it becomes even simpler to verify it, as the backpack service will do the validation for you.  I manage my badges in badgr.io – and I have uploaded my Chapter membership badge there. Verification now just is a click away - and it even looks pretty. Click this link to check my badge in my backpack. (opens in new window)

Recap

Why does our Chapter issue Open Badges?

1. Easy to verify.  Much easier than a paper certificate. Verifying a paper certificate is not easy at all, not even if they were issued by the same institution. During the years they change in format and colour and sometimes even in the same year for various courses. Sometimes they have watermarks, microtext, irisprints or contain print that is only visible under UV light. But such techniques are costly and overkill for a simple certificate to prove that you attended an event.  And not that many people know what to check for and how to do it
2. Can be used online. Pieces of paper can't be put online. You could scan them and put the scan online. But anybody might copy that and make changes to it. And because they are so easy to fake, such scans are not trusted by most people. And you're back at point 1.
3. Can be changed if need be. If you get a new mail address, for example, it is easy to generate a new badge. The old badges will automatically be invalidated.  If you decide to leave the Chapter your badges are automatically invalidated and can't be used to access our events and discounts.
4. Safe. Badges themselves are quite easy to forge: you can change the data in a badge if you want to (tools are readily available to do that) and you could even change the picture, or both. But such a fake badge can't be verified online, as we, the Chapter, do not publish any matching data for it. So, if you verify such a fake badge, it fails.  We also do not publish your mail address in the badge. It remains a secret, unless you yourself provide a verifyer with it.
5. Open specifications. We comply with the OpenBadge 2.0 standard, which is publicly available. Our badges can be used on any platform that supports this standard, for example with Acclaim, Bagr, Credly en Accredible – and many more. So, as as badge owner ('Earner') you are free to use your badge on any platform you choose.