Today’s workplace is constantly evolving, requiring a commitment for professional development from both individuals and their organizations. The realm of higher education is no exception to this, and at Daytona State College we recognize the importance of encouraging lifelong learning among our faculty and staff. Beyond simple encouragement, it would be nice to meaningfully acknowledge the commitment it takes to further one’s skill set; and it would be better yet if that acknowledgement could be shared among their peers. Well, it can: with digital badges!
Digital badges represent the successful completion of a program or course with a verifiable description of the specific knowledge, skills, and criteria required to earn the badge; and provide a means for sharing this accomplishment online (Pakstis, 2019). As a bonus, digital badges carry metadata from the issuer, explaining the credential and what was required to earn it. When shared through social media, this verifiability sets digital badges apart from the traditional self-assertions made on these sites
Through the digital badging system, you will also have a clearer path through your professional development because related and complimentary courses can be grouped together towards a single badge. If you desire a certain badge, you begin your journey knowing the requirements to complete it, and you’re able to track your progress along the way. As badges are issued, the associated metadata will also help training departments better understand your needs and interests, improving future offerings. Everybody wins!
Badges based on the Open Badges specification, originally developed by Mozilla, and now managed by the IMS Global Learning Consortium, are often afforded the greatest social currency (Freifeld, 2017). Badges distributed through Credley Inc. meet this specification. If you’ve completed the “Applying the QM Rubric” course in our Online Faculty Training Series, you will receive an email notification that you have been awarded a digital badge from Quality Matters, available through Credley (yes, it’s legit; collect it confidently, and display it proudly). The message will look like this (only with your date of completion):
Collecting Your Credley Badge
To collect your badge from Credley, click the “Accept your badge [credley.com]” button in your email. This will take you to Credley to create an account. You can also go the Credley Sign Up Page (credly.com/users/sign_up) to create an account directly.
After creating your account, be sure to confirm your email by responding to the auto-generated message from Credley. Failing to do so will prevent you from signing in or changing your password (Credley, Inc., 2019). Once confirmed, you will be prompted to sign in using the credentials you created. If you haven’t received the confirmation request within an hour, check your spam folder.
Now that your account is created, it’s time to collect and share your badge. Please view the following 2:44 video for a step by step guide through this process.
Automatically Accepting Badges
When accepting your first badge, you'll have the option to enable the Auto-Accept feature so that any future badges issued to you by that organization will automatically be displayed on your profile. When auto-accept is enabled, a badge will automatically be accepted and displayed on your profile. You will receive an email informing you of a new badge, but no action will be required unless you'd like to share your badge to social media. If you toggle off this setting, you'll have to accept any future badge from that organization manually (Credley, Inc., 2018).
To manage which organizations are on your auto-accept list:
- Log into your account
- Select the profile icon at the top right-hand corner of the page
- Select “Settings”
- Select “Organizations” from the left-hand menu
From the Organizations page, you can enable or disable the auto-accept feature for any organization that has already issued you a badge.
Whenever an organization issues you a badge for the first time, they will be added to this list; and you can choose whether you want to accept their badges automatically. Many organizations with professional development programs offer them; and soon so will Daytona State College!
As I mentioned before, the “Applying the QM Rubric” course is part of a larger “Online Faculty Training Series” offered through Daytona State College (for information about this training series, visit Online Faculty Training Series flyer). Beginning this Fall, all faculty who have successfully completed the series will be awarded the following badge:
Another DSC program for which digital badges will be issued is the Digital Professional Program. This is a five-course series designed to help you better troubleshoot digital technology and get needed support, foster new digital workflows to boost productivity, and create a liaison with the IT department that fosters a new collaborative technology environment (for more information about this series, visit Digital Professional Program). Those who complete the Digital Professional Program series will be awarded this badge:
There are many benefits to the digital badging system for employers and employees alike. Professional development programs can be tailored to the needs of the organization and the individual’s interest; attendees are guided meaningfully through the courses while being encouraged along the way; and upon track completion they are awarded with a meaningful (and marketable) way of sharing their accomplishment. If this sounds good to you, visit the Credley Sign Up Page or click the “Accept your badge” button in your email, and start displaying your digital badges today.
For more information about any of these programs please visit us in the Faculty Innovation Center (Building 150, Suite 200 on the Daytona Beach campus) anytime Monday - Friday, between 8:00AM and 5:00PM. You can also contact us at x3485 or fic@daytonastate.edu.
While you're here reading this, don't forget to subscribe to the Faculty Innovation Blog to keep abreast of all our exciting news; along with tips and tricks to help improve your courses.
References
Credley, Inc. (2018, December 20). Can I automatically accept badges? Credley Help Center. https://support.credly.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021214671-Can-I-automatically-accept-badges-
Credley, Inc. (2018, December 20). How do I manage and share my digital badge? [Video]. Credley Help Center. https://support.credly.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021222231-How-do-I-manage-and-share-my-digital-badge-
Credley, Inc. (2019, December 17). How do I get started? Credley Help Center. https://support.credly.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038029111-How-do-I-get-started-
Freifeld, L. (2017, September 7). Badge benefits: How organizations can use badging to encourage learning and generate results. Training Magazine. https://trainingmag.com/badge-benefits/
Leaser, D. (2019, June 18). Do digital badges really provide value to businesses? IBM Training and Skills Blog. https://www.ibm.com/blogs/ibm-training/do-digital-badges-really-provide-value-to-businesses/
Pakstis, S. (2019, October 15). For organizations and learners, the benefits of badging are clear. Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning: https://www.harvardbusiness.org/for-organizations-and-learners-the-benefits-of-badging-are-clear/
Christopher Smith
Instructional Designer, Division of Online Studies
christopher.smith@daytonastate.edu | 386-506-4277
Online Studies | Faculty Innovation Center (FIC)
Jasmine Checchi
