STAGE THREE: Match-making and The Finals

Team Assembly, Collaboration and Final Badge System Proposals

The goal of this stage is to match winning content applicants and collaborators with design and tech partners to form comprehensive teams, and for these teams to work together to finalize badge proposals. The product of this stage is a final badge system proposal from the team.

Match-Making

Match-making and creation of Stage Three teams will happen through one of three scenarios:

1. Selected content applicants from Stage One and collaborators will each be matched with winning design/tech applicants from Stage Two who submitted badge designs for their content. Content applicants and collaborators will be involved in the match-making process to find the best fit. HASTAC will help with the matchmaking where necessary.
2. Selected content applicants from Stage One that submitted winning design ideas for their own content in Stage Two, if invited, will proceed with their existing team to Stage Three.
3. When there is no direct association between winning Stage One applicants or collaborators and Stage Two applicants, HASTAC will match Stage Two applicants with compatible content applicants and collaborators to create comprehensive teams.

Team Collaboration (February 1-27, 2012)

Once Stage Three teams are formed, team members will exchange contact information and are encouraged to begin collaborating as soon as possible to work through the final badge system specifics. HASTAC will work with the teams to help forge the effective relationships that will be required to make optimal use of the time at The Finals.

The Finals (February 28-29, 2012)

The Finals will consist of a required two-day, face-to face meeting of competition finalists. These teams will spend two days working to finalize their proposal for badge systems for lifelong learning. 

Day 1 of The Finals will consist of a series of workshops focused on badge design and development, alternative learning assessment models, and collaborative working partnerships. Teams will have the opportunity to refine the concept and presentation of their badge projects.

Day 2 of The Finals will involve presentation of each team’s proposed badge design, assessment, and technical system (“the Pitch”) to a panel of expert judges from industry, the nonprofit sector, education, and the press. The pitch will also include a comprehensive budget including how the funds will be distributed across the team.