CFP: HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition Competition Overview: Bringing together badge content and program providers, designers and technologists - The "Badges for Lifelong Learning" Competition will gather leading organizations, learning and assessment specialists, designers and technologists to create and test working badge systems in the wild. - Together, competition participants will contribute to a robust badge ecosystem, where traditional and 21st century skills and achievements are inspired, recognized, translated across contexts, and displayed and managed across the web. - The result for learners: new learning and knowledge, real-world outcomes like jobs, credit for new skills and achievements, and whole new ways to level up in their life and work. Collaborate with leaders in education, industry and government - Badges for Lifelong Learning competition collaborators<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-collaborators.php>include leading organizations exploring the potential of badges for their own work and programs. - These include NASA, the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor, Energy, and Veterans Affairs, Intel, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Association of Manufacturers, Microsoft, and many others<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-collaborators.php> . - These organizations will provide real-world examples, content, programs, activities, and other learning resources for the competition, actively collaborating alongside select participants. - This is a unique opportunity for badge designers and technologists to work with some of the world's most innovative organizations, collaborate with other competition participants, or focus directly on their own project. Who should participate? - Organizations and groups with "badge friendly" content, programs, or activities. - Individuals or teams interested in advancing new approaches to learning. - Learning and assessment innovators interested in new ways of inspiring and recognizing learning across contexts. - Designers interested in badges and sets of badges. - Developers and technologists with ideas around building systems or tools to support badges. How to participate There are two main ways to participate. Applicants can submit: 1. Badge Content and Programs<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-stage-1.php>- proposals focused on learning content, programs, and activities that present an opportunity for badges and badge systems. These applicants will submit to Stage One (see below). 2. Badge Design and Tech<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-stage-2.php>- proposals focused on badge or badge system design and the supporting technology that makes them work. These applicants will submit to Stage Two (see below). NOTE: Applicants can submit proposals in a single category, or in both. The competition has three stages: 1) Content and Programs<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-stage-1.php>; 2) Design and Tech<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-stage-2.php>; 3) Match-making and Finals<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-stage-3.php>. (View the timeline.) <http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-timeline.php> Winners - Winning badge systems will be selected from those presented at the Finals in Stage Three by an expert panel of judges and announced at the end of January 2012. - Criteria will include: - overall technical and pedagogical quality; - effectiveness of the badges' assessment process; - aesthetic and design quality; - likelihood of acceptance and adoption by learners, institutions, employers, and the general public. - Winners will receive up to $200,000 for their projects - Awards ranging from $10,000 to $200,000 will be granted to the winning teams from Stage Three. These awards will be granted based on project feasibility and complexity, team member expertise, length of time required to complete the work, and level of institutional support. - Time to complete winning projects is one year. - Representatives from winning teams will attend the Winner's Meeting and Digital Media and Learning Symposium in San Francisco on February 29, 2012, followed by the Digital Media and Learning Conference<http://dml2012.dmlcentral.net/>on March 1-3, 2012and present their projects at a special forum. Winners must also budget travel expenses to participate in the 2013 Digital Media and Learning Conference. - Winning badge systems will launch and join the badge ecosystem in early 2013. Sheryl Grant Director, Social Networking HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media & Learning Competition <http://www.dmlcompetition.net/> Duke University Box 90403 114. S. Buchanan Blvd., Bay 5 Durham, NC 27708-0403 <http://www.youtube.com/user/video4hastac#g/p>