Capturing Student Achievement and Learning Pathways at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County

In 2015, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) recognized the need to capture knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired by students in both co-curricular and curricular endeavors not being captured in any identifiable way. The Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer desired to document competencies gained by students in the variety of contexts on campus and to track student, faculty, and staff achievements in a way that would both benefit each individual while also supporting the mission of the institution. This vision led to the adoption of a digital badging initiative resulting in a scalable process for implementing new badges throughout the university community. UMBC's digital badging program became the springboard for the institution's entrance into the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) realm whose objective is to capture all credentials earned by students, whether they be awarded before, during, or following their tenure at the institution.

Digital Badging at Scale at Penn State University

In this chapter, the authors discuss two examples of digital credential implementations at Penn State University. Penn State University is a large R1 with a main campus located in Central Pennsylvania. The purpose of this chapter is to situate the broader digital credential movement within one example of how it has played out in higher education. Within this one example, the implementations between the University Libraries and College of Engineering have similarities and differences. This chapter demonstrates that the purpose and goals of a digital credentialing program heavily influence decisions made from the beginning of the effort through maturation. Outside forces that impact what a digital credentialing effort looks like will be discussed such as administrative requirements and concerns over visual identity. Finally, this chapter provides thoughts on where digital credentials are headed within higher education.

360-Degree View of Digital Open Badge-Driven Learning

This chapter describes alternative credentialing practices related to competence-based open badges and their different audiences. The authors provide insights into different theoretical approaches to digital badging practices that could potentially support a competence orientation in continuous professional development and enhance lifelong learning. One aim of this chapter is to summarise the first European doctoral dissertation to address digital open badges and digital open badge-driven learning. The authors offer novel insights into reforms in education aimed at addressing students' individual interests and meeting the recognised needs of working life. They also present a set of innovative Finnish applications of digital open badge-driven learning in the context of educational research. Moreover, they describe the potential of badges as a tool to build ePortfolios. This chapter draws attention to the motivational effects of digital badging and the use of ePortfolios as an informative and interesting way to demonstrate competences in different contexts.

AISAP Professional Pathways Innovations

Over the past 5 years (2016-2021) the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals (AISAP) has engaged in a process of expanding their professional learning and credentialing opportunities for membership. Beginning in 2016, AISAP decided to leverage recent innovations in learning sciences, digital badging, and credentialing to greatly increase the professional learning and assessment experience of its membership. Thus, AISAP embarked upon a process of developing a robust micro-credentialing program and an online credentialing exam which are authentic, accurate, accessible, and add value to participants. This case study provides an overview of the institutional context and purpose of these solutions and then details the process of designing, implementing, and continuously improving these solutions. The case also includes a number of lessons learned and accompanying resources which may be relevant to other organizations considering, or in the midst of, developing similar solutions.

Are They Worth It?

Since 2011, the trend of digital badging has continued to rise among various organizations, including higher education. After gathering faculty feedback, input, ideas, and perspectives on structure and implementation, the faculty development center at a Midwestern university launched a university-wide digital badging program. The intent was to incorporate faculty input into the design of digital badges to gain faculty engagement. After the first year of implementation, a survey of faculty perceptions on digital badging received unanticipated results. Emerging themes from this survey indicate that faculty are hesitant towards digital badging; however, participant responses also suggest that faculty uncertainty of the digital badging program is connected to the communication process. Recommendations are presented to support the needs of faculty perceptions of a digital badging program.

Learning During a Pandemic: The Impact of Digital Badges on Staff Training

During the pandemic, the Spartanburg County Public Libraries implemented a new learning management system with a digital badging component. The digital badges were enthusiastically received by staff and increased training completion rates significantly. Even without an LMS, other libraries can create badging for continuing education using a variety of online resources. Digital badging is an important motivational tool to use for continuing education, especially as training goes virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Growing Oklahoma's Workforce Readiness Through Micro-Credentials

The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education is undergoing a rapid transformation which has been accelerated due to the onset of COVID-19. As the pandemic worsened throughout 2020, Oklahoma's unemployment rate skyrocketed to historic levels. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, numerous job openings are available, particularly among critical occupation areas, such as advanced manufacturing, information systems, technology, healthcare, and management. In order to meet this employment demand, the coordinating board of higher education in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE), sought additional ways to equip Oklahoma college students, particularly those students with some college and no degree, with the necessary professional capital to compete for these jobs. Concurrent with the national trends, OSRHE staff began researching opportunities to validate the ongoing achievements of students through implementation of micro-credentials and digital badging.

Engaging Youth Through Digital Badges to Promote Health in Underserved Communities

The CHAMPIONS NETWork program trains Chicago high school students as health advocates while preparing them to become future health professionals. We added digital badging to the curriculum in its third year of programming (2018). This article describes methods and student feedback about digital badging, allowing others to implement similar technology-driven opportunities to engage youth and promote healthy living. Program staff created seven online experiences (XPs) on health advocacy that made up a playlist. Students adopted three adults as clients and completed four XPs themselves and three with clients. Completion of all XPs resulted in a digital badge—an electronic portfolio of health advocacy experiences to be shared with employers and colleges. Following the 2019 cohort’s completion of the digital badge, we conducted two focus groups with students about their feedback on the digital badge. Results showed that students most liked the healthy eating and cardiopulmonary resuscitation XPs. They had more positive reactions to the experience than negative, and especially appreciated aspects of active learning, as well as the badge’s long-term benefits. This technology can potentially help any student with access to an electronic device become a health advocate, and could become a new tool for career development while improving population health.