FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Although they are a simple concept, digital badges are still relatively new to the educational environment (at least in the form of a verified, validated credential.) We have collected several frequently asked questions to rid you of doubts.
In short, a digital badge is a graphical representation of someone’s newly acquired or tested knowledge and skills. It allows anyone to trace the achievement of the person who earned the badge with the meta-data encoded into it: all of it will be hosted on the digital badge’s unique URL. The badge can be used by its earner to show completion of a course or program, via sharing it on social media or embedding it on a website.
Read more about digital badges on our website.
Badges benefit not one, but several collectives using them, creating a Win-Win-Win situation. There are many benefits of digital badges we can think of, however we would highlight the following three:
-As a learner, you get a visual representation of your abilities and knowledge that you obtained in a sometimes informal setting (it’s still valid and valuable learning!)
-As an educational professional, you get exposure of your programs and courses when the badges are shared socially
-As a company, you can use them to increase engagement in your teams
Once you’ve earned a badge, you will most likely have quick buttons to share it via social media (Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, etc); send it by email; or to copy the embed code to add it to your website, blog, or email signature. If you prefer, you could also print the certificate of your badge on paper for your records or display.
First of all, they are used for different purposes: you prepare a CV to tell a potential employer the most important information about yourself and your background. Badges don’t replace that; instead, they can act as reinforcement and certification of your skills and you can include links to them in your electronic résumé. Because badges are dynamic, they represent a constantly updated picture of your lifelong learning. Whoever is interested in knowing more about your legitimate, authenticated achievement can click on the badge and see all the necessary information.
What is encoded in a badge is up to the issuing organization. Most commonly, they will have information about the person who earned the badge, information about the issuing organization or individual; the event that originated the badge issuance; a serial number certifying that the badge is unique; information about the organization that validated the badge (if different from the issuer); maybe the criteria that the badge has been assessed against, etc. If the badge is temporary, there will be an expiration date.
The graphical representation of a badge is typically a PNG or SVG file. In the badge file, the encoded metadata comes in a JSON or JSON-LD.
Any entity that can be described with a name, description, URL, image, and email address is a possible candidate to become an issuer.