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Digital badges are becoming more popular now that many badging platforms integrate with learning management systems. Digital badges are validated indicators of an “accomplishment, skill, quality, or interest that can be earned in many learning environments.” In higher education, badges are becoming the preferred way to recognize micro, units of study that focus on specific skills or competencies. When discussing digital badges with faculty, below are some key points you should address. Tip #1: Why Badge? Be clear on your “why” as it will inform your "what". Done right, digital badges provide many benefits to students. For example, digital badges offer an opportunity to gamify their education, visualize their progress, enhance motivation, and provide sharable evidence of achievement. According to Janowski (2021), “digital badges provide value to learners while they are moving through their education as opposed to documenting it at the end of the learning journey in a traditional transcript.” Tip #2: What to Badge? Digital badges can be awarded for the achievement of learning outcomes, participation, or demonstration of skill competencies. For example, if the purpose of the badge is to foster student engagement, then a badge would be awarded for participation or completion of engagement activities. Ideally, digital badges should recognize learning not covered on the official transcript. Markowitz (2019) cautions that issuing badges that have no relation to skills required by potential employers can diminish the value of the badge from a student's point of view. Consider awarding badges for competencies such as critical thinking, leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork that will prove valuable to potential employers. Tip #3: What’s the Evidence? Janowski (2021) states, “Evidence of attainment is important to the integrity of digital badges because otherwise, it is unclear to a viewer why the earner has that badge.” Digital badges that include metadata on who issued the badge, the criteria for receiving the badge, and the evidence that was reviewed to determine the criteria was met, provide the necessary information for viewers to determine validity and value of the badge. |
