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Mozilla Open Badges are not proprietary - they use free software and an open technical standard. That means that any organization can create, issue and verify digital badges, and any user can earn, manage and display these badges all across the web.

Digital badges are an assessment and credentialing mechanism that is housed and managed online. Badges are designed to make visible and validate learning in both formal and informal settings, and hold the potential to help transform where and how learning is valued.

"Digital badges are a 21st century credential. Why, in today's hyperlinked, online world, would we depend on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper to carry all the significance of our learning? We've self-reported experience and KSAs for years on paper resumes; 21st century resumes need to be hyperlinked and connected, too.

Digital badges have the capacity to transform the way students share their academic accomplishments. Right now, students rely upon paper degrees, transcripts and certificates to prove to employers that they have the skills and abilities they need to succeed in a given job. These are challenging to understand, challenging to verify and, ultimately, don't do [...]

Published by the American Institutes for Research early in the trend (2013), this report takes a look at the nature, value, and potential impact of digital badges, an emerging electronic form of recognition of an individual's knowledge and skills.

Although colleges and universities are the beneficiaries of a growing credential society, they communicate only a fraction of the educational experience that happens on their campuses. Higher education must find ways to credential better-with more information and in more accessible ways-using the transformative technology we now have available.