Open Badges Specification
The openbadges.org website describes the technical specification underpinning Open Badges in the following way:
The Open Badges standard is a technical specification for describing how to create, issue, endorse, verify, and exchange interoperable Open Badges. The standard is publicly available and free for anyone to use. IMS Global Learning Consortium manages the Open Badges standard; the Mozilla Foundation originally released it. Open Badges 2.0 is the current version of the standard that supports all the features described in this site. Open Badges 2.1 (Badge Connect™) provides an optional REST-based API that enables a user-centric exchange of badges between systems.
Version 3.0 of the standard has recently reached the stage of review and adoption by the 1EdTech membership (formerly IMS Global Learning Consortium). The difference between v2.0 and v3.0 is explained in a post by one of the specification's authors, Kerri Lemoie, in a post entitled The Future of Open Badges is Verifiable:
Here’s an example of how an Open Badge as a Verifiable Credential (Open Badges 3.0) exchange could work:
- A learner connects to a badge issuing platform with their digital wallet app on their phone or laptop.
- 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.
- A job employment app asks for proof that the applicant has experience with a requirement needed for that role.
- The learner presents the job employment app with the badge using the digital wallet app. The job employment app can then verify a. that the learner providing the badge is the recipient of that badge b. that the issuer is the identity that issued the badge, and c. that the badge data has not changed since it was issued.
- The verifier responds that the badge is authentic.
In comparison, here’s an Open Badges 2.0 flow:
- A learner or an organization provides an issuer app with the learner’s email address
- 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)
- The earner can share the link on social media, or perhaps with a potential employer or a job application app.
- The badge is verified by either a. a human looking at the web page where the badge is hosted or b. 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.
One major benefit of Open Badges 3.0 is the alignment with the W3C's Verifiable Credentials Data Model, which provides a way for badges to be issued for anything from low-stakes, 'fun' badges, all the way through to high-stakes, proof-of-identity badges. The Verifiable Credentials for Education Task Force meets on a regular basis to talk about the use of VCs in education, including alignment with Open Badges 3.0.