Abstract
A pilot program was developed for middle school (grades 6-8) educators and students to apply NASA real-world problems to classroom concepts as part of NASA Langley Research Center’s (LaRC) Centennial Celebration through the use of digital badges. Three sets of digital badges were developed on three of NASA’s main missions: Earth Science, Aeronautics, and Journey to Mars. Each digital badge offers a total of 5 hours of professional development for educators and 2 hours of activities for students. These digital badges have introduced educators to NASA Langley Research Center’s missions and 100thanniversary. Online discussion sessions, a requirement for these badges, has attracted educators new to the digital badge concepts. The LaRC Centennial badges provide a forum through which educators can learn about this new format of professional development. Educators report that these badges are worth their time and effort as part of their professional development. LaRC looks forward to building new badges in the future to expand beyond middle school across the K-12 continuum.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
