Digital Badges in Education – What Are They?

Digital badges in education are a must-have today. They clearly demonstrate how students succeed in learning or training, and which skills they have acquired, when we are talking about lifelong learning. According to a recent survey by Jobs for the Future and American Student Assistance (ASA), 81% of employers believe organizations should hire based on skills rather than degrees.

The further we go, the more serious the conversations about digital credentials become. In particular, the European Commission is developing the European Digital Credentials Infrastructure (EDCI) to support efficiency and security in how credentials such as qualifications and other learning achievements can be recognized across Europe. Such changes are already inevitable. That is why it’s better to understand in more detail now:

1. What are digital badges? 
2. What is the value of digital credentials? 
3. And what steps should be taken to successfully implement digital badges in education? 

Enough words—let’s get down to business.

What Are Digital Badges?

Digital badges are micro-credentials created using the Open Badge standard. If a badge meets this standard, it must contain the following metadata:

• Issuer – the organization or authority that issued the badge
• Criteria – the learning outcomes, assessments, or competencies required to earn the badge
• Issued On – the date the badge was officially awarded to the learner

In simple terms, digital badges are shareable proofs of learning. If you have completed a training course and received such a badge, you can present it to your employer. If you have received a certificate for mastering a new skill, you can add it to your social media profile, because digital badges can be added to LinkedIn, websites, or digital portfolios where HR, recruiters, etc., can see them. A significant advantage compared to paper certificates is that digital badges are easier to verify and harder to counterfeit.

This example shows how a digital badge can appear on platforms like LinkedIn, showcasing a verified skill or achievement that is visible to potential employers and peers.

The Value of Digital Credentials

Below, let’s unveil the main value of digital credentials for learners and organizations.

1. Easy to Access and Share. Badges are always available online. Іт can be added to social network profiles and resumes.
2. Quick to Verify. Each badge includes metadata that shows the exact skill or achievement it represents.
3. Consistent Across Systems. Standards make digital credentials easy to read across schools, training providers, and companies.
4. Specific to Each Skill. Badges reflect precise competencies, such as mastering a tool or completing a short course.
5. Adds Game-Like Incentives. Badges turn progress into milestones. Earning one feels like leveling up in a game.
6. Motivates Learning. Students work harder for visible goals. Each badge serves as both a target and a reward in the context of e-learning gamification.
7. Supports Lifelong Learning. Every Professional can accumulate badges throughout their career. If needed, they will have a visible record of their skills and expertise.
8. Builds Connections. Sharing badges online highlights skills to employers and helps people connect within their field.
9. Better for the Environment. Digital credentials cut printing and shipping, saving resources and reducing waste.

Benefits of Digital Badges in Education

Digital badges benefit both learners and educators. Here’s how:

• Badges provide learners with shareable proof of skills.
• Progress becomes visible through earned badges.
• Learners know exactly which skills are required for each badge.
• Assessments become more relevant, supporting a learner-centered approach.

Recognition and Recompense

Naturally, people learn and perform better when they are appreciated for what they do, their efforts are recognized, and they are rewarded for performing extraordinarily.

Digital badges in education allow educators to appreciate students for their achievements. These achievements could be related to anything, including learning, positive behavior, efforts, skills, and so on.

Apart from recognizing the success of top achievers, you can make the best use of online badges by awarding them to students who are struggling to excel. For this, you need to notice their smallest efforts and appreciate them even if they improve slightly. This will not only motivate them and encourage learning, but will also create a positive environment by making your sessions more inclusive.

Motivation

To recognize is to motivate. We feel motivated when we are praised for our hard work and efforts, regardless of the outcome. The same is the case with students in learning environments and employees in companies across the world.

It is extremely important for instructors or teachers to motivate students to do better and aspire to success. In the words of Gustav G of ‘WeAreTeachers’ on Facebook:

As teachers, we have the great privilege and responsibility to impact our students’ lives positively, giving them reasons to push forward and motivating them to want to succeed in life.

This is another thing digital badges can help you to do effortlessly. All you need to do is include digital badges in education to motivate students by making each badge worth a few points that students can earn and use for purchasing rewards. These rewards can include educational gifts, homework exemption, grace points in a test, or a gaming session for those with the highest reward points every month.

Such a reward system not only motivates students to learn but also makes learning fun and enjoyable.

Digital badges support lifelong learning — from school to online education to the workplace, achievements remain visible, verifiable, and portable.

Goals and Objectives

One simply can’t expect learners to learn unless they are clearly told about learning goals and objectives. Learning goals enable students to have a clear idea about what they will be taught and why. Dr. Robert Marzano is a renowned researcher, trainer, and speaker in education. He also emphasizes the significance of goals and objectives in learning, believing that they encourage students to learn in the right direction.

The best way you can make students remember their learning goals is by always having them displayed. You can also associate ratings from 1 to 5 that let students see their progress towards their goal(s). You can associate a digital badge with rewards on each of the marks on the scale, where ‘5’ will be the highest mark and ‘3’ will indicate mastery.

That’s the beauty of digital badges in education: they can be incorporated at all levels and areas of learning, including goals and objectives. Each badge that you associate will become the criteria for students to get rewards, hence motivating them to learn and work towards their learning goals.

A group of researchers also conducted a study in 2018 to determine the effect of digital badges on setting learning goals and motivating students to achieve them. The result was positive.

Reconsider and Revamp Assessment Practices

Every student is different, and a single learning style doesn’t work for all of them. Some will be great classroom participants but fail to be good at test-taking, and vice versa. Sadly, students across the world are mostly judged by how they perform on written tests/exams.

With digital badges, you don’t have to depend solely on exams and other conventional assessment methods. Badges can reward class participation, knowledge retention, attentiveness, or positive behavior. With its help, you can create a positive learning environment by recognizing individual strengths and encouraging students to learn in ways that suit them.

Undoubtedly, the introduction of digital badges in education has opened up a new and effective way to assess students based on specific learning styles. With badges, students can be rewarded based on overall performance; additionally, it’s one of the best ways to increase engagement in learning process.

Steps to Successfully Implement Digital Badges in Education

Implementing digital badges takes more than just adding icons to a course. It requires clear planning, the right tools, and alignment with learning goals. Let’s go through a checklist to succeed at this.

Learn All About Digital Badges

Some key points and terminologies that you should remember when implementing online badges include:

• Public badges give everyone access and show achievements in specific areas.
• Private badges are not accessible to the general public and are only used as proof of the efforts made by a learner/performer to earn them.
• The term ‘badge authoring’ refers to the pictorial formation of a badge using either an online application or a digital platform.
• Only the distributors who are scrutinized and well-reputed are entitled to ‘badge issuance’. This restriction has been enforced to preserve the value of badges.
• Badges that are made are collected to be stored in ‘badge portfolios’. These gatherings help link a person’s skills and abilities with their accomplishments in a single place.
• A collection of knowledge and experiences that are important for passing specific exams and gaining knowledge is known as a ‘badge pathway’.

The main concepts of digital badges design are based on gamification mechanics theory; therefore, we recommend looking through our latest guide to eLearning gamification.

Follow Best Badging Practices

Here are a few digital badging practices that you should always follow to save time and make online badges more effective:

• The badges you incorporate into learning should be able to get validated by a third party, should be challenging to achieve, and should be relevant.
• The use of digital badges is not limited to a mere classroom measure of performance.  Think beyond the classroom and individual performance. Focus on teamwork, participation, and facilitate online training to award badges.
• Ensure that the students in your class are aware of how awarding badges works, its purpose, and when they can get a badge. Tell your students about the benefits of badges beyond getting rewards. This is the best way to expect an increased learning retention.

Look for Badge-Awarding Platforms and Learn From Them

Before you finally begin to implement your very own badge-awarding program, get familiar with the platforms that already exist. See what badging platforms look like and how they function. Here are a few platforms for digital badging that you can check:

• Canva and Portfolium for badge creation
• Badgr and Credly for badge issuance
• Badge List for badge portfolio references

Prepare and Implement a Checklist

Develop a checklist that will allow you to easily judge your strategy for the implementation of digital badges. The checklist can include:

1. Classroom and context analysis
2. The end goal for badging
3. Timeline for implementation of badging and achieving the end goal
4. Collaboration with different companies for badge creation and issuance
5. Selection of a digital badging platform
6. Evaluation methods for badge assignment
7. Distinguishing badges from grades
8. Designing pictures for digital badges
9. An evaluation method to measure the success of a badging program

Digital badging is a wonderful tool that educators can use to recognize learners’ efforts and reward them for encouraging learning.

Key Takeaways on Digital Credentials

Why they matter – Digital credentials replace paper certificates with secure, shareable proof of skills.

Main benefits – They increase visibility, motivate learners, set clear goals, and support better assessments.

Environmental impact – No printing or shipping; badges reduce waste and save resources.

Networking value – Sharing badges online builds connections and makes expertise visible to employers.

Implementation steps – Success depends on planning, choosing the right tools, and aligning badges with learning goals.