In the article,"The future of credentials: Will degrees and resumes make room for the badge?," Seattle Times writer Monica Guzman interviews iSchool Assistant Professor Katie Davis about her new research project that will study the badge program being adopted by the Providence After School Alliance in Rhode Island. The article notes, "The program, which won funding from Mozilla, the MacArthur Foundation and others, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is out to give kids credit for learning that happens outside the classroom."

Digital badges are given as an award for an achievement or work accomplished. Common in video games and on social network sites, badges serve as a visible accomplishment and are shared with a larger online community that could include teachers and peer communities. But do they measurably increase learning outcomes and inspire students to strive for success? That is the question Davis will attempt to answer during her one-year research project.

Davis, who is in her first year as assistant professor, specializes in digital youth. She has conducted research into the role of digital media in adolescent friendships and sense of identity, an important factor in psychological well-being, and serves as an Advisory Board Member for MTV's digital abuse campaign, A Thin Line.

Read the Seattle Times article.