[Case Study] Tokyo City University Achieves Automated Badge Issuance via LMS Integration

Infosign, the exclusive Japanese distributor for the Open Badge issuance and management platform 'Open Badge Factory,' has released a case study featuring Professor Hiroyuki Yasui of the Faculty of Common Education, Department of Natural Science, Information Education Division at Tokyo City University.

In October 2024, Professor Yasui implemented Open Badge Factory (Pro plan) and automated the issuance of badges to students who passed the IT literacy skill test through LTI integration with the Learning Management System (LMS) 'WebClass.' Starting this academic year, the program will expand to all students in the target courses, with an anticipated issuance volume of up to 1,000 badges per year.

Background: Overcoming Operational Hurdles in Open Badge Adoption While Open Badges are increasingly adopted in educational institutions to visualize learning outcomes and provide digital certification, many domestic sites report issues such as poor retention and lack of student usage. Factors include administrative burden, complex user interfaces, and insufficient student awareness.

Professor Hiroyuki Yasui at Tokyo City University has been a pioneer in addressing these challenges for over a decade. Since the early days of Open Badge standard 1.0, he has researched the theme of 'automated badge issuance integrated with LMS.' After testing multiple platforms, he chose Open Badge Factory for its ability to automate issuance via LTI.

Mechanism: Automation through Standard WebClass Features and LTI Integration The core of the system built by Professor Yasui is the combination of standard 'WebClass' LMS functions and Open Badge Factory's LTI integration. When a student who has passed an IT literacy practical test (e.g., Word, Excel) accesses the corresponding resource on WebClass, the badge issuance screen appears automatically, allowing the student to claim the badge with a single click. With 'no review' settings, manual administrative reviews are unnecessary.

This demonstrates the possibility for many domestic educational institutions using WebClass to achieve automated Open Badge issuance within their existing environments.

Status and Future Outlook: Moving from Limited Testing to Full-Scale Implementation Professor Yasui has verified the operational process through limited issuance to repeaters. From the 2026 academic year, the system will expand to all students enrolled in the target courses.

The goal is not just skill certification, but the educational effect of 'letting students experience the technical infrastructure of digital certification.' They anticipate annual issuance of up to 1,000 badges.

◆ Comment from Professor Hiroyuki Yasui 'I want students to carry badges whose legitimacy can be verified anywhere in the world. I want them to confirm that it passes through validators correctly and understand through first-hand experience that this is the mechanism for digital certification that will guarantee trust in the future.'