Along the lines of badge exploration, Global Kids is developing a new badge system for New York City and Chicago members of the Hive Learning Network, a group of civic and cultural institutions that encourage young people to explore their interests in virtual and physical spaces.

Up to 28 Hive member organizations will pilot badge programs to see how they fit with their own organizational needs and for the broader Hive network, according to a release. 

The first series of badges will mark global citizenship and civic participation. Global Kids will use the badge system in its own after-school programming, offering a model for how badges can be integrated by a youth-serving organization. Its own youth leaders will benefit from the following:

• Assessment, both formative and summative, to provide meaningful feedback about their participation in our programs and qualified certifications that can be shared with those in the workforce and at universities;
• Deeper engagement with Global Kids’ programs, through games-based techniques and an online social network;
• Scaffolded learning, supporting them to find their own path through Global Kids’ programs;
• Enhanced lifelong learning skills by developing their ability to value what they learn at Global Kids, give name to it, and connect it with their formal and informal learning; and
• A more democratic learning experience, in which they get to take part in their own assessment process and shape the system itself.

Global Kids began developing its first badge system four years ago. It was later taken to scale within the New York Public Library, adapted for use within a K-6 school in New Orleans and an Atlanta middle school, and is currently in development for additional schools. Support for that project, and the latest badge system, is provided by the MacArthur Foundation.