The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, HASTAC, and Mozilla are offering $2 million through their Digital Media and Learning Competition for organizations, learning and assessment specialists, designers, and technologists interested in creating and testing badges and badge systems.

"Badges can help engage students in learning, and broaden the avenues for learners of all ages to acquire and demonstrate—as well as document and display—their skills," said US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "We can build new avenues for entrepreneurship and collaboration, and spark economic development at home and around the world."

Calling badges a "game-changing strategy," Duncan announced that the Department of Education is joining the Department of Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative (VAi2) in making a commitment to award a $25,000 prize for the best badge concept and prototype that serves veterans seeking good-paying jobs in today's economy. The VA will join Mozilla, the MacArthur Foundation, and the departments of Education and Labor, he said, to support and sponsor this part of the Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition. It will be called "Badges for Heroes Challenge."

"Digital technologies are helping to re-imagine learning, and badges are emerging as a new way to both encourage and demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge and skills of all kinds—in formal and informal settings," said Julia Stasch, vice president of US Programs at the MacArthur Foundation.

Supported by a MacArthur grant to the University of California at Irvine and administered by HASTAC, the competition will fund designers, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers and others who develop badges and badging systems. The competition is part of MacArthur's digital media and learning initiative that is designed to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life.

To help advance and encourage this new use of technology, Mozilla is creating an Open Badge Infrastructure—a decentralized online platform that will house digital badges and can be used across operating platforms and by any organization or user. This approach will help to make digital badges a coherent, portable and meaningful way to demonstrate capabilities. It will also encourage the creation of "digital backpacks" of badges that people will carry to showcase the skills, knowledge and competencies they have gained.

The Indiana University School of Education has received approval to offer a new online doctor of education degree (EdD) in Instructional Systems Technology (IST) entirely through distance learning. The new program is the first doctorate degree to be offered online by Indiana University.

While all courses will be taught online, doctoral students will be required to visit the IU Bloomington, Indiana campus at least three times during their studies. Both the qualifying exam and oral dissertation defense will occur on campus.

"The new online degree will make available a program with a proven track record to people we could not have reached otherwise. It is in itself an application of the innovative teaching for which our faculty is known," said School of Education Dean Gerardo Gonzalez.

The delivery method will allow working educators and practitioners to earn an advanced degree from a top-tier education school while remaining employed. The online EdD will focus on applying theory to practice.

Graduates of the IU program, Department of Instructional Systems Technology, are prepared to work as practitioners and researchers. They learn to construct and test products, systems, and services for use in both education and corporate training settings. Elements of IST include the analysis, design, development, evaluation, deployment, and management of instructional technology.

IU currently offers an online masters in instructional technology. According to university officials, the online PhD was launched in response to graduates of its online education masters program wanting to engage in advanced research and study with their alma mater.

IBM and IT & T, Mohali have introduced a Career Education in IBM Software (CEIS) program to help engineering and management graduates acquire the skills, education, and experience they need to build successful careers.

The curriculum design incorporates a "blended learning" approach by integrating classroom, hands-on lab exercises on projects guided and designed by IBM's professional team, to provide students both the theoretical and practical training needed to build strong e-business application development skills.

IT & T Finishing School, Mohali is a sister concern of PAL InfoCom Technologies, which has been servicing global clients since 2005. IT & T has been envisioned as a means of grooming skills to create industry-ready professionals.

The following courses will be offered to January-to-June engineering graduates:

1. Java, MySql with IBM Project Certificate
2. Java, DB2 database with IBM Project Certificate
3. IBM Rational Testing tool IBM Project Certificate
4. Linux Administration
5. ASP.Net with MS-Sql database