There is growing interest in how various technical tools can be used to leverage the instructional process for both teaching and learning. Digital badges are a visual representation of learning and skills. Digital badges have been used as a way to reduce gaps in knowledge (Bowen and Thomas "Change," 46(1), 21-25, 2014; Guskey…

Information technology (IT) plays an increasingly significant role in today's world. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased that reliance. Employers in all industries are struggling with considerable shortages of skilled IT workers and are seeking innovative alternatives to meet these needs. Digital badging and micro-credentials have emerged as an…

Digital badging has seen widespread adoption within the US higher education sector with continued growth predicted. Might digital badging present an underrealized opportunity for libraries seeking new vehicles through which to deliver information literacy instructional content? This paper offers an analysis of badging in higher education and…

Digital badges are a promising innovative tool to support teacher candidates' instructional skill development. Although digital badges are increasingly utilized in online teaching and learning, their effectiveness is still under investigation. This exploratory study reports on 151 elementary level teacher candidates' participation and success rate…

The CLAVIER (Connected Learning And Virtual Intercultural Exchange Research) network grew rhizomatically as a result of open practice (Blyth, 2019), which is central to the CLAVIER approach. Informed by the field of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), the network has provided a safe space to experiment with the development and implementation of…

This case explores the creation of an open badge student-employee training program. Utilizing competency-based learning, we created nearly 40 digital credentials for technical skills related to various software products. We specifically share the decisions we made related to the process of defining competencies, formatting badge criteria, and…

In academic settings where digital badges are taking over conventional task formats, educators are faced with the challenge of how to deliver and assess content and skills within badges. Imposing a mastery learning approach, where feedback is key, to a digital badge system may be a potential solution to using digital badges within higher…

This dissertation consists of three journal articles about using open digital badges to improve learning performance and facilitate students' goal setting processes. In the first study, we investigated the impact of instructional ODBs on pre-service teachers' perceived technology capabilities and their actual learning performance in a large…

Employers are increasingly selecting and developing employees based on skills rather than qualifications. Governments now have a growing focus on skilling, reskilling and upskilling the workforce through skills-based development rather than qualifications as a way of improving productivity. Both these changes are leading to a much stronger…

The Micro-Credential Program is a digital badging system composed of competency-based pathways that move forward early childhood professionals to achieving mastery in employability skills. These skills are crucial for early childhood professionals to have to provide high-quality, nurturing learning environments to children in their care as well as…

There has been much hype in relation to the emergence of digital badging in education. This paper seeks to determine whether digital badges indeed live up to this hype through a systematic review of 23 empirical studies. A series of evaluative research questions have been formulated to guide the analysis of the research literature along with…

Well-developed programming (technical) skills are very important for software engineers, information systems engineers and programmers in general. However, they must also possess relevant personal skills (soft skills) to be successful at the workplace (eg, collaboration, solving real-world problems and communication). The latter, however, are…

In "Demonstrating Student Mastery with Digital Badges and Portfolios," David Niguidula shows how students can meet standards and express their individuality through digital badges and portfolios. Building off an essential question--What do schools want their students to know and be able to do?--he then shows how schools can implement a…

School leaders are continuously searching for innovative educational practices such as the use of digital badges to curtail illiteracy. Digital badges are electronic representations of academic achievements that offer a more cohesive and comprehensive account of learning. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental research study was to…

Open badges are a digital representation of skills or accomplishments recorded in a visual symbol that is embedded with verifiable data and evidence. They are created following a defined open standard, so that they can be shared online. Open badges have gained popularity around the world in recent years and have become a standard feature of many…