OK, I'm not sure that the future of online learning is badges. But it would not be inaccurate to say that it's something like badges. Once teaching is decoupled from assessment and evaluation, we create the conditions where a network of assessment agencies can proliferate. There's no reason to suppose assessment need consist only of tests and exams - assessment can be any metric at all: number of posts, number of votes for a classification, connections created, whatever. I think the proliferation of metrics will be a good thing, because a focus on a single metric distorts our evaluations.
Consider, for example, the different outcomes when we rank universities by different criteria. David Kernohan looks at four metrics and comes up with four different rankings. "And there are thousands upon thousands of other criteria we could have chosen. But only the first is recognised as valid in the university funding method. Students are supposed to aspire to study at institutions in that first list, despite other institutions being 'better' depending on your choice of criteria. This strikes me as anti-competitive. It rewards inputs, not outputs. Would you choose a garage based on the quality of cars they serviced? Or how those cars drove afterwards?" The same applies to student evaluation. Relying solely on numerical grades is unwise.
Consider, for example, the different outcomes when we rank universities by different criteria. David Kernohan looks at four metrics and comes up with four different rankings. "And there are thousands upon thousands of other criteria we could have chosen. But only the first is recognised as valid in the university funding method. Students are supposed to aspire to study at institutions in that first list, despite other institutions being 'better' depending on your choice of criteria. This strikes me as anti-competitive. It rewards inputs, not outputs. Would you choose a garage based on the quality of cars they serviced? Or how those cars drove afterwards?" The same applies to student evaluation. Relying solely on numerical grades is unwise.
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