Digital Badges at the University of Montana
Digital badges are virtual learning records certified by the University of Montana that verify a learner’s successful completion of a single or set of academic or occupational achievements. Upon successful completion of an achievement, learners may receive a digital badge, authorized and awarded by the Office of Educational Initiatives and Innovation.
What are Digital Badges Used for?
Digital badges are typically related to career readiness, workforce development, or industry-related outcomes. Digital badges help learners articulate the relevant skills and learning outcomes they have attained through learning experiences to prospective and current employers. Digital badges help employers assess these competencies as learners enter the workforce or seek advancement in their current positions.
Features of Digital Badges
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Digital badges contain metadata; an interactive and granular description of the skills, competencies and learning outcomes students attain through their learning experience. Other data may include information about the issuer, criteria for earning a badge, website links, learning standards and industry alignments.
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Digital badges are verified through a campus-based URL allowing employers to authenticate the credibility of the award and evaluate the issuing institution.
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Digital badges are portable and allow learners to easily share their achievements via e-mail, social media, LinkedIn, and other virtual platforms. When learners accumulate badges they are stored in a repository which provides easy and ongoing access to their digital badge portfolio.
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Digital badges are stackable, meaning individual badges may be connected to form a learning pathway. Pathways are effective in demonstrating a comprehensive set of skills or competencies.
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Digital badges may include an expiration date to ensure curriculum, skills and learning outcomes remain relevant and aligned with current industry or workforce standards.
What Types of Learning are Associated with Digital Badges?
Digital badges can be issued for various achievements such as undergraduate credit bearing courses with an approved attribute code (such as high impact practices and career competency designations); undergraduate career certificates; academic minors; noncredit courses and programs; internal UM professional development training; and personal enrichment activities. Digital badges are organized within a taxonomy which ties the level of digital badge to the assessment type and rigor of the curriculum.
This taxonomy is organized into five progressive levels, each building on the one before to recognize increasing depth of learning and achievement:
- Engagement: confirmation of participation in an activity or event.
- Knowledge: demonstration of awareness or knowledge by formative or summative assessment.
- Proficiency: demonstration of proficiency by application or analysis that can be tested or observed and is quantifiable.
- Mastery: demonstration of mastery by the evaluation of observable behavior and product including work-based or experiential learning assessments.
- Pathway: demonstration of the completion of a series of stackable or connected badges and learning achievements that may include a comprehensive final assessment.