Sixteenth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge & Society

Abstract

Digital badges are “micro-credentials” that can potentially represent student skills/achievements in more context-specific ways than traditional academic credentials, such as degrees, certificates/minors, or even course titles on a transcript. A badge is essentially a digital image that contains embedded metadata describing information about the task performed to earn the badge, criteria for assessment, and often evidence that was submitted by the learner to earn the badge. A digital badge program was introduced into an undergraduate business communication course designed specifically for nurses. Digital badges were framed as a way of helping students use classroom achievements to professionally brand themselves—that is, to connect skills learned in the classroom with skills that might be attractive to their employers. Many of the badges directly connected work required for the course with criteria for earning a badge. For example, students could earn badges in areas such as workplace communication, business presentations, and group collaboration, as well as for writing proposals, memos, and other types of documents. We may be at a crossroads where digital badges are still viewed by some as a somewhat “disruptive” technology in the classroom, since they are very different than traditional transcripts and diplomas. However, in higher education, such attitudes among faculty and students are shifting. In this context, digital badges may present an opportunity for students to document connections between the classroom and the real world in new and exciting ways.