Chicago E-Learning Scheme Embraces Virtual Badges For Public Schoolers

theodp (442580) writes "Over at the Chicago City of Learning, children are asked to join the CPS Connects initiative and instructed to provide their Chicago Public School (CPS) student ID to "connect your learning experiences in your school and around the city". Doing so, explains the website, will allow kids to "earn digital badges that unlock new, related opportunities and can give access to live learning experiences throughout Chicago from program partners," which will serve as "an indicator of achievement to colleges and employers." The initiative aims to "get 80% of all 3rd-12th grade students to claim their accounts by January 30th." Before you scoff at the idea that a child's future could depend on his or her Digital Badge collection, consider that the supporters helping government make it happen include the MacArthur Foundation, Gates Foundation, and Mozilla, and a number of business and education partners have made public pledges committing to help accelerate the spread and scale of digital badges for learning. Digital badge-based employment has also earned a thumbs-up from the White House. It's unclear, but might make sense that Chicago kids' digital badges will be collected and shared in the citywide data warehouse being built by the 'cradle-to-career' Thrive Chicago initiative, which is working with the Mayor's Office and CPS to develop a "data system that integrates data from multiple partner agencies, links program participation data to other youth data, and provides a web interface where partner agencies can access youth data targeted on improving youth outcomes at the individual and aggregate levels." After all, the data collected will include "student demographics, school attendance, grades, student behavior, out of school time program participation, and progress to graduation." Not only that, Thrive Chicago's Leadership Council includes the interim President of the MacArthur Foundation (as well as Microsoft and IBM employees)." Update: 01/12 15:52 GMT by T : An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the MacArthur Foundation, which has now been corrected.

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dissent will be recorded

[Anonymous Coward]

on your permanent record.

Never heard of it...

[Anonymous Coward]

Polling some CPS parents and employees, none I contacted have yet to hear of this initiative.

It's great when senior management - erm, politicians - tout something to the press without any attempt at buy-in from the stakeholders. That usually means that something won't be very good for people who have to do the work but allows "leadership" to present metrics that they are succeeding.

Of course I scoff. And I'm worried too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Before you scoff at the idea that a child's future could depend on his or her Digital Badge collection, consider that the supporters helping government make it happen include the McCormick Foundation, Gates Foundation, and Mozilla, and a number of business and education partners have made public pledges committing to help accelerate the spread and scale of digital badges for learning. Digital badge-based employment has also earned a thumbs-up from the White House.

Except that you listed exactly those reasons why one should not only scoff at this idea, but maybe also be worried about it.
Firstly, it's a huge privacy breach. Secondly, it sounds like a privatisation of the school system. School is supposed to shape good humans and grow a decent generation. It's not a corporate-driven training ground.

Re:Of course I scoff. And I'm worried too.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I'm not terribly impressed (as is typical with this '21st century skills!' Digital! STEM!' flailing); but one thing that's worth pointing out is that, even with boring old traditional education, there is a substantial 'privatized' component. Most notably, textbooks. The fight between Texas and California(the two largest markets, as well as the two most likely to loath whatever the other one likes) hash out the outline; but Pearson and friends end up actually making the sausage and selling it to the schools. Increasingly (for reasons that totally have to do with improved student achievement and the wonderful educational capabilities of computers, and similar bullshit, not for reasons of lock-in, data gathering, or anything similarly slimy, these publishers have increasingly been rolling their own(terrible) online/electronic portions. I've had the most personal experience with 'Pearson SuccessNet'(run screaming, though I doubt that the others are any better).

In this context, If the Mozilla Foundation wants to write some CS curriculum for some part of the K-12 system, I suspect that it'll be a breath of fresh air by comparison, as well as being cheaper than the alternative. The idea of merrily chopping up "High School Diploma-certifies that the bearer is a moderately competent human being with a general grounding in reading, writing, mathematics, history, and not being a total fuckup" into 'digital badges' sounds like something that only hard drugs and an MMORPG addiction would make seem like a good idea; but if we can get people who aren't bloodsucking and largely incompetent textbook-slingers to do some of what they have traditionally done, I'd say that it's a win.

Re:Of course I scoff. And I'm worried too.

[gstoddart]

You should be most especially concerned that a cartel of corporations will be able to track every detail of your child from "cradle to career". Your daughter will be tracked, collated, monetized, cross referenced, and have her information sold to whoever is willing to pay for it.

I don't even have children, and that concerns me.

If you see no problem with a bunch of shady players, doing stuff for which they have no evidence, and from which they will enrich their own agenda, knowing all of this information about your children ... then maybe it's you who has failed to think of the children.

Having all this information about every damned thing they do be tracked so that it is detailed and complete before she's an adult who can make her own choices ... well, I think it's a terrible idea.

If you think this won't be abused, or won't have affects nobody can think of right now ... you should think harder.

Basically we're doing a huge social experiment on what happens when you raise a generation of children who have no privacy, have no say in it, aren't legally old enough to consent to it or understand it, and who will have to live with the consequences.

I see more potential for abuse and bad outcomes than I see room for benefit.

Unless, of course, the goal is to have your child accept a surveillance society as a normal part of life.

Land of the free and home of the brave has become a bad joke.

Job interview of the future?

[theodp]

EMPLOYER: "If you're qualified, then where are your digital badges?" KID: "Digital Badges? We ain't got no digital badges. We don't need no digital badges. I don't have to show you any stinkin' digital badges!" EMPLOYER: "Next!"