Trip to Mozilla HQ London for Open Badges

Hi all!

Yesterday, we went to Mozilla in London along with some DLs from John Henry Newman Catholic Collage (there were other schools when we got there though) to help design a scheme called Open Badges.

At Ickenham Train Station waiting to get the train to Mozilla London HQ

It was an early start for us; we had to get into school for around 7:00am! After a 2-3 hour journey, we arrived and were welcomed by some of the staff that worked there.

The first activity we did was called “Strong Wind Blows” which was essentially a brain storming activity where we had to give ideas for badges. It was a bit like musical chairs, but without the music – the person without a chair had to give an idea.

Then we had a small break, after which we went into groups and expanded on these ideas – name, what it looks like, who could award it etc. Some of the ideas were screen capture/other forms of digital tutorials, teaching teachers and doing presentations in front of large groups of people.

Testing Mozilla software

After lunch, we continued building up our ideas, and had a think about what motivation people would have to get the badge. Also, we discussed how would people feel about having a digital/online badge instead of a physical one that you could wear – what do you think?

Finally, some of the groups, presented their badge and we got a chance to ask questions about it. A group of primary school DLs presented their badges – I couldn’t have stood and presented in front of all those people when I was 7!

Megan being interviewed about Open Badges #DLBadges

Heading home after a great day - thanks to JHNCC for taking us in the minibus!

Around 4:00pm, we set off on the journey home and arrived back about 6:30pm. It was a fantastic day and we all had great fun – thanks to everyone that was involved!
By Will D