Digital badges are digital representations awarded for completing specific skills. This presentation discusses using badges for competency-based learning in K-12 and higher education. Badges can motivate students by recognizing achievements and guiding them toward goals. The presentation outlines examples of badging platforms for K-12 like Khan Academy and BuzzMath and recommends Credly as ESU's platform. It provides steps for educators to get started with digital badging in their classrooms.

1. DIGITAL
BADGING
PRESENTED BY
ANNA J. CATTERSON, PH.D.
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR
Emporia State University

2. BADGING 101
What is digital badging?
• A digital representation, in the form of a badge, awarded when
students complete a specific skill set
• Many FREE resources that issue badges for K-12, also for Higher
Ed
• You can use Gamification to issue badges, especially true in
Higher Ed
• Badges can be issued digitally – but reports and printouts can be
done too! (More visual friendly for classrooms)

3. INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODEL
Case Study:
Emporia State has been looking for a way to award badges to those
who are earning a specific skill set. This could include research, 3D
printing, library badges for understanding databases, college
orientation, healthy hornet initiative, etc.
Through 6 months of extensive research, we found an abundance of
answers…but not just for Higher Ed!
These are our findings.

4. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
1. Motivation
2. Competency Based Learning
3. Examples of Resources for K-12
4. Examples of Resources in Higher Ed
5. ESU Case Study and proposed Badging System

5. STUDENT MOTIVATION
• Pleasure in achievement
• Personal
• Persistence in difficult situations
• Activating
• Energizing
• Goal-directed
• More willing to approach challenging tasks
• Influences learning
• Initiates and maintains behavior

6. ARCS MODEL
According to John Keller (1988), there are four steps in the
instructional design process — Attention, Relevance, Confidence, &
Satisfaction (ARCS).
Satisfaction is based upon motivation! Provide feedback and
reinforcements that will sustain the desired behavior. If learners feel
good about learning results, they will be motivated to learn. Some
basic rules are:
• Do not annoy the learner by over-rewarding simple behavior.
• Using too many extrinsic rewards may eclipse the instruction.
• Notice that satisfaction is closely related to confidence. If you
allow the learners to build confidence, satisfaction will follow if
the task remains challenging.

7. A VISUAL OF THE ARCS MODEL

8. USING TECHNOLOGY AS A LEVERAGE POINT
Badging works best when you can focus on content that students
struggle with. Find concepts that assessments are low and need
improved upon. Badging works great with:
• Problem based learning
• Portfolios
• Projects
• Competency-based approach

9. EXAMPLES OF BADGING PLATFORMS
• Khan Academy (K-12)*
• BuzzMath (Middle School)*
• Class Badges (K-12)*
• Edmodo (K-12)
• Makewav.es (K-12)
• Smithsonian (K-12)
• DigitalMe (K-12)

10. KHAN ACADEMY

11. KHAN ACADEMY BADGE TYPES

12. BUZZMATH

13. BUZZMATH

14. CLASS BADGES

15. CLASS BADGES

16. ALSO…CREDLY.
• ESU Chosen Platform
• Can publish badges to
social media including
LinkedIn
• Works with LMS
(Canvas)

17. GETTING STARTED IN K-12
STEP 1:
Coaches, teachers, administrators can use Credly or any other of the
examples to build, manage, and share badges with students (or each
other!) to acknowledge your learning efforts throughout the year.
You can create a general badge like “Happy Helper” or maybe
something more focused, like “Researcher”. Just for fun, you could
create a badge for attending an in-service for faculty…all the fun
doesn’t have to be just for the students...

18. GETTING STARTED IN K-12
STEP 2:
Create a free Credly account
(recommend using your school
email account) to save your
accumulated badges and
showcase your skills!

19. GETTING STARTED IN K-12
Step 3:
Link to your Credly page on your teacher blog, school website,
signature link on your email or a QR code placed on your classroom
wall! You can also right-click to download the individual badge
picture files and print those images and display them proudly on your
classroom door or you can make stickers out of them and have a little
ceremony for those who earn a badge.

20. GETTING STARTED IN K-12
Step 4:
Each badge has a specific claim link and code. When you create a
badge, keep in mind that there may be MANY teachers who could
benefit from that badge. You may want to think about a location
where all of the claim codes and links could be made available for
everyone.
After logging in to your Credly account, click “Claim Credit” at the
top of the page, and enter the claim code provided.