The Appeal of Digital Badges

As prospective future instructional designers and creators of E-Learning courses, an important consideration for us is how we can keep our learners motivated enough to complete the content we create. This week, we continued our exploration of blended and online courses by examining the topic of Digital Badges. Digital Badges are one potential method of maintaining students’ engagement with the material.

A Digital Badge is, essentially, a virtual representation of an achievement by a learner. A tutor could award students a badge for many possible tasks, be it completing an assignment, contributing to class discussions, engaging with the course content consistently, completion of the course, etc. Badges are persistent signifiers of the learners’ work, containing metadata outlining who the learner is, why the badge was awarded, who issued the award, etc. A recipient can then decide to share this badge on their website, social media or portfolio to demonstrate their skills.

Initially, I was sceptical about the Digital Badge concept. I considered these to be little more than the equivalent of gold stickers awarded to primary school children – a nice reward in the moment, but ultimately valueless. However, upon reflection, I now realise how beneficial these badges can be. 

The fact that these items are persistent and verifiable increases their value substantially. Having an avenue to show a potential employer evidence of online professional development (which, in the past, was difficult to authenticate) is a distinct advantage. Being able to have a central repository of these badges, which one can easily share across multiple locations, is convenient and useful for creating a consistent online presence.

But perhaps the most positive aspect of a Digital Badge is the motivation that it provides to the pupil. A tangible reward for completing a task is undoubtedly a significant incentive which may be the deciding factor in whether one remains determined to finish the material or drop out.

My own experience with online courses reinforces this idea. I have signed up to multiple MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in the past, including programmes on game development, music production, artificial intelligence and more. Each time, I found myself losing the motivation required to complete my studies in these areas. Trying to fit additional learning around my other commitments did not seem worth it given that, in the end, I would have nothing to verify that I had attained the skills on offer.

On the other hand, I recently registered for and completed an online course on the SAGE accounting software. One of the driving factors behind me completing this particular course was that the SAGE organisation provides a certificate upon completion. Knowing that I would have something to prove that I now possess the knowledge required to use this software made the endeavour seem more worthwhile.

I believe more courses should look to integrate Digital Badges. One of the significant disadvantages at present is that not all employers accept the value of badges. In my view, the best way of overcoming this attitude is to increase the prevalence of their use. If Digital Badges become more ubiquitous, they could achieve a reputation for quality and importance. Should I go on to be involved in the development of E-Learning courses, I will strongly advocate the inclusion of a badge component where appropriate.