Dive Brief:

• Ed tech company Clever has created a new scannable badge to help students log on to classroom computers without having to memorize complex passwords while maintaining secure connections.
• Each physical badge is customized with a code for each student, and students can also decorate their badges.
• The badges have already been piloted with 200 pre-K and kindergarten students, and Clever found that each child spends an average of 1-5 minutes trying to type in a password, while the new badge system takes only 2-10 seconds.

Dive Insight:

From a data privacy perspective, if young students can more easily be protected by a scannable physical badge instead of a complex password while also saving time for teachers and making classrooms more efficient, the badge idea could certainly catch on. Yet tech administrators may still have questions about just how secure a badge system really is. At this point, few details have been released.

Using badges is also more dynamic and fun, and the option for students to individualize their badges will help engage and ignite young learners, giving them a sense of ownership and pride. Clever has previously announced that its system interface for students to use when logging in to classroom-related apps, strictly controlling and protecting student data released to third-party vendors, is already in use in 44,000 public and private schools in the U.S.