This study investigated the viability of a Digital Badge system to deliver professional development to teachers working with English language learners. The study
asked several research questions to determine if Purdue’s Passport system was effective at
delivering ELL teacher PD. First, the study asked, is a digital badge system a viable tool for
delivering professional development to in-service teachers of English language learners? This
question helped determine if the in-service teachers participating in this study would be able to
obtain the training materials and navigate the online system on their own to obtain the digital
badge.
Then, the study asked, what types of training do ELL teachers think could be converted to
digital badges? This question was asked to identify the types of trainings the participants in this
study believed could be transferred to an online system such as Purdue’s Passport system and
delivered as individual badges teachers could complete with little to no assistance. This question
also helped investigate how teachers perceive the current training they attend in face-to-face
sessions.
The final question the study asked was, what are ELL teachers’ perceptions of digital
badges and their role in professional development? The final question was asked to determine if the participants’ attitudes toward digital badges changed throughout the study and what the
participants believed digital badges’ role could be in delivering ELL teacher professional
development.
The data collected in this study included the participants’ written reflections within the
digital badge system, pre and post-surveys and interviews after they completed the running record
badge. The results of this qualitative study suggest that for in-service teachers there are some
benefits to delivering ELL teacher PD through digital badges. Results indicate that the participants
enjoyed the ability to complete the training on their own schedule and had no issues viewing the
content within the running record digital badge. The participants also had numerous
recommendations for the types of training they believed could be converted to digital badges and
how a digital badge system could be implemented at their school.