Holistic Learning Recognition Networks Among First Digital Credentialing Solutions to Create and Support Open Badges Ecosystem
Ridgeway, Ontario – February 27, 2018 – Following its general availability announcement of Learning Recognition Network MyMantl, Chalk & Wire, the most trusted higher education assessment technology platform, announced today that MyMantl has achieved IMS certification for the Open Badges 2.0 standard. MyMantl is currently one of two platforms that addresses the full spectrum of Open Badges 2.0 services. The certification furthers a digital badging ecosystem that gives learners, as early as high school, a forum to chronicle their skill development and demonstrate verified credentials.
“The MyMantl team is thrilled to be part of an amazing ecosystem of innovators trying to shape credentialing for the 21st century,” said Justin Pitcher, Director of Product Development, Chalk & Wire. “Version 2.0 of the Open Badges standard empowers all of our users to better recognize learning and achievement with rich data wholly owned and controlled by the learner. Skills as digital currency are truly here.”
IMS certification for Open Badges 2.0 greatly surpasses the existing badge verification process by demanding rigorous features and capabilities to ensure learner-control of credentials, demonstrate rigor of achievement, and guarantee that learners are able to display their badges and share them from any IMS certified platform.
“Open Badges are a collection of clear, trustworthy icons representing the knowledge and skills of the badge owner and are awarded by a verified organization based upon observed performance,” said Geoff Irvine, CEO, Chalk & Wire. “Badging invites educational institutions and organizations to scaffold their offered student learning experiences into smaller chunks with relevant criteria articulated. The presence of a badge substantiates a badge owner’s level of competence.”
A first-of-its-kind credentialing solution, MyMantl incorporates digital badging with online learning portfolios directly from Chalk & Wire’s CWPro, the company’s ePortfolio-enabled student educational assessment platform. This integration enables educational institutions and corporations to award badges automatically when learners achieve specific levels of competency across assessed work samples and records of experience.
“Open Badges are the foundation of the growing digital credentials ecosystem giving learners a verifiable way to communicate and show evidence of their knowledge and skills in an increasingly competitive world,” said Dr. Rob Abel, chief executive officer, IMS Global Learning Consortium. “Open Badges 2.0 provides rigorous standards for interoperability that ensure earners can make full use of their digital credentials. We are pleased that Chalk & Wire is at the forefront of obtaining IMS certification for Open Badges 2.0.”
Institutions can employ MyMantl’s, easy-to-use Badge Path Planner to generate hierarchical Badge structures linked to learning outcomes. These can be directly applied to extant academic programs and prerequisites or used to support Competency-Based Education offerings. Organizations can also quickly and creatively design their Badges directly in MyMantl using a Badge Builder offering thousands of graphic assets or by importing their own.
Added Irvine, “The certification is in keeping with Chalk & Wire’s commitment in 2016 to deliver and release a robust, full-featured platform for Learning Recognition Networks.”
IMS Global Learning Consortium is the organization responsible for the advancement of both the Open Badges specification and community. MyMantl was built to adhere to IMS Global conformance certification requirements.
For more information and pricing details, visit https://mymantl.com/.
About Chalk & Wire
With a market-changing, research-based approach to higher education assessment, Chalk & Wire has helped institutions demonstrate student competency and improve the evaluation of learning outcomes for nearly 20 years. To increase the validity of assessment data, Chalk & Wire’s market-leading assessment platform is built on its CoreValidity™ process, which drives alignment between faculty and leadership through a unified assessment language and raises inter-rater reliability earlier in the process. Chalk & Wire takes a consultative approach to helping institutions prove their value and efficacy as well as their ability to prepare students for their post-graduate pursuits. For more, visit http://www.chalkandwire.com.
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