Abstract:

This paper describes a methodology to define micro-credentials based on open badges in the context of the iCOINs vocational education and training (VET) project. This Erasmus+ project aims to increase awareness about Industry 4.0 through a training course for SMEs based on common EU competences and a standard methodology for training and certification (https://icoinsproject.net).
One of the key issues within the project is the design of ECVET-based open badges for the recognition of newly reached learning outcomes.
Micro-credential badges represent a form of certification that recognize specific skills and competencies in a non-formal setting and with fine granularity, that is very appropriate for competency recognition in VET training.

The methodology followed in the iCOINS project basically consists of three steps:
1. Developing the training programme and content:
The course is firstly organized in modules, modules are structured in units of learning outcomes, and for each unit a set of learning outcomes is defined. According to the EQF standard, learning outcomes are “statements of what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on completion of a learning process, defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence”. The result of this activity is a sort of competence map that is the basis for creating the training content; for each content a declaration of the covered learning outcomes is required at the beginning to connect the educational material to the training programme.
Training contents are organized and stored within the Moodle course management platform (CMS) together with specific assessing activities used to verify learning outcomes acquisition.

2. Designing badges:
Another step is the design of badges corresponding to the learning outcomes of the specific training, which involves the definition of the graphic design and a number of metadata, including name, description, criteria, issuer information, date, etc. Within the iCOINS project the chosen approach is to define a badge for each unit of learning to be certified, implicitly associating the badge with all the related learning outcomes. In general, the granularity level of the micro-credentials can be set according to the needs and can vary from very low on single activities to very high on whole modules or a set of modules, i.e. a course.

3. Implementing badges in the Moodle cms:
The final step consists in defining completion criteria for the Moodle activities used for the assessment and the integration of the open badges in Moodle. By setting these criteria on all the Moodle activities that contribute to the acquisition/recognition of a badge, thanks to a plugin of the Moodle platform the badge can be released to the learner.

These steps have been tested in a previous Erasmus+ project and are now applied to the iCOINS project, which is currently in progress: partners have completed the competence map definition and created a first version of the training content; they are working now on badges design and implementation. A pilot course will be run in Summer 2020 and the badges released to real learners. Preliminary feedbacks indicate that the followed approach is promising and can be generalized in other contexts.

Keywords:

Open Badges, VET, Moodle, EQF.