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This paper aims to investigate the potential for digital badges to support alternate learning and career pathways in formal and informal learning environments. Stakeholder groups in higher education and industry discussed how digital badges might transform current processes of admitting undergraduate students and hiring young professionals.

This research uses a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 30 stakeholders in higher education and the technology industry.

Interview participants expressed optimism about the potential for digital badges to make learning pathways visible to learners and external audiences and to promote equity in STEM (STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and careers. Participants noted several obstacles, largely focused on issues of credibility and logistics of working with badges across settings.

Though the research approach is limited in geographic scope, the findings have broad applicability and insight for the use of digital badges in general.

Education policymakers, employers and scholars will be able to use the insights from this investigation in their efforts to find innovative ways to expand and diversify the STEM workforce, as well as support a wider range of learners than is currently supported by initiatives aligned with the school-to-workforce pipeline metaphor.

This paper directly confronts issues of real-world applications of digital badges by discussing practical implications with college admissions officers and employers. The current study fills a need for research that investigates the use of digital badges across – as opposed to within – contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an argument why digital badges in higher education should be used as an assessment tool and not only as a credentialing mechanism.

This paper unpacks the use of digital badges in videogames and explains how it aligns with quality assessment practices. Several research studies are provided as examples of this alignment.

Because different people have different reactions to different badges, some people will likely be best served by badges that are designed to be assessments.

The meta-analysis in this paper helps to shift current thinking on the use of digital badges in higher education away from a framework that only considers badges as credentials. Digital badges that are designed as assessments can be educative for learners who would otherwise not benefit from its use.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse data on first-year students’ needs regarding academic support services and reasons for their intention to leave the institution prior to degree completion. On the basis of the findings, a digital badge outline is proposed which could contribute to improved communication of academic requirements in order to help students to better adapt to higher education demands. Digital badges might also serve as an indicator for students’ needing additional academic support services.

An online-questionnaire was conducted with 730 first-year students at a German university. Participants’ responses to open-ended questions were coded and categorised. On the basis on these findings, an outline for a digital badge programme is proposed.

Participants seek the most institutional support regarding research skills and organisational aspects. Main reasons for participants’ intention to withdraw from the institution include difficulties with their programme choice.

These findings may enable higher education institutions to provide targeted support services that meet first-year students’ needs. On the basis of the findings, higher education institutions can create digital badge programmes, which may improve communication of academic requirements and may also serve as a platform for a staff-student conversation about expectations and demands for a successful first-year experience. Besides, further research and discussion may address using digital badges for learning analytics algorithms to even better identify students’ strengths and needs for targeted academic support services and enhanced student success in higher education.

Little is known about first-year students’ needs for institutional support and reasons for thinking about dropout in Germany. Understanding the student perspective is crucial for enhancing student retention. Digital badges are an emerging educational technology in higher education and they have the potential to target academic requirements, which may guide first-year students and help them to better adjust to universities’ demands.

This paper aims to describe the development of a digital badge for a discipline-specific course in chemistry that was undertaken as part of an overall course redesign. Learning outcomes were developed based on both disciplinary standards for undergraduate students and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. The badge was designed as a series of challenges and awarded based on successful completion of both the challenges and an associated writing assignment.

This paper considers relevant literature on the application of andragogy (adult learning theory) for online learning, a proposed theoretical framework for digital badge systems, the instructional design principles used for this project, and the potential for using badges for delivering information literacy instruction. The application is supported by examples from academic libraries and this case study, with a specific focus on information literacy.

Andragogy is highly applicable to online learning but is not the only learning theory relevant to the design of digital badges. Multiple learning theories may be applied during the design process using instructional design principles. Digital badges present one mode of delivering instructional content, but the learning theory and design principles applied are far more important than the delivery mode.

Drawing on both learning theory and instructional design principles, this paper addresses ways in which librarians and educators can develop digital badges or badge systems that align with both curricular needs and the concept-based approach of the Framework.

This paper aims to focus on two areas of digital badge design that impact learner experience: the value and meaning of badges outside of their original context and badge function and platform functionality that impact learner experience.

This research uses a design-based research approach. For this paper, components of badge systems were analyzed to identify the characteristics of learning experiences in each program.

Findings in this paper are from a National Science Foundation-funded project where digital badge systems were co-designed to connect informal science learning with college credit. The badge design principles presented to address the value of badges and badge function and platform functionality, as well as making program design more systematic and using badge design as a conceptual, organizing design framework for improved educational programs.

Though this research is limited in the number of programs examined, the findings provide a framework for the language and standards to discuss and implement digitals badges.

This paper will be of use to programing developers seeking to integrate badges into their educational programs or simply reexamine their educational goals and opportunities for learners.

This paper challenges the conventional use of badges for simply increasing learner engagement by illustrating that the badge design and development process can improve program design and subsequent learner experience rather than serving purely as a learner motivational tool.

Recognizing, tracking and providing mechanisms for sharing an individual's comprehensive record of learning is necessary and essential for both her agency over and ability to manage sharing her qualifications with parties whom she desires to be aware of her learning record. In doing so, she may capture and present degrees, certifications, microcredentials or badges representing varying levels of knowledge, skill and abilities (KSAs) achieved in both formal and informal educational experiences. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned ideas.

In the USA, competency frameworks are gaining more solid footing with both higher education institutions and employers as both move to address the changing landscape of education-to-work preparation and the relationships that exist between them. The need to support lifelong learning and the various pathways that individuals traverse in and out of educational pursuits and the workforce require a more personalized approach.

This paper will discuss the drivers of the newfound traction of competency frameworks among higher education and employers within the USA, present examples of the frameworks and how they are being applied to address the common interests of educators, employers and the learner/earners, and explain the role badges and microcredentials play in capturing and recognizing the broad spectrum of learning, skills and competencies achieved by an individual throughout the lifelong learning journey.

The digital badging taxonomy and concept of using badges as a representation of a unit of competency, both introduced in this paper, provide a unique strategy for contextualizing the relationship between levels of cognitive domain recognized in academic settings and the language of KSAs used by employers.

The concept of digital badges (DBs) as a form of microcredentialing has gained considerable traction in higher education and workplace settings in recent years. This scoping review aims to map the empirical research conducted on DBs in higher education and workplace settings.

The design of this study is a scoping literature review. This scoping review adopts the five-stage scoping framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005).

Based upon our review of the 45 studies that comprised this scoping review of the empirical literature on DBs, we advance a typology that segments the empirical research based on whether DBs are used as pedagogical tools (PTs) or microcredentials. The authors found some confusion regarding nomenclature, numerous theories offered to explain DBs and divergent findings that suggest room for further exploration of this relatively new phenomenon.

This scoping review of the literature helps make sense of the emerging research landscape on DBs. The findings suggest that using DBs as a PT or as a microcredential has implications for a wide range of stakeholders regarding promoting lifelong learning, upskilling and reskilling the workforce. With the financial constraints facing higher education in a postpandemic environment, understanding the impact of DBs is needed before making an investment in this arena.

Alternative credentials are rapidly evolving. The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges and opportunities arising from this evolution with particular reference to their role in education and employment.

The paper explores the credential initiatives with a unique perspective from introducing alternative credential initiatives that have been influential in recent national policy developments. The paper is led by the experiences of the former General Manager of Microsoft's Education Products Group, former Vice-Chancellor of The Open University and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. His experiences and lessons learnt reflecting on alternative credential development during the last 30 years provides a unique insight in seeing the “signals” and moving beyond the “noise” of micro-credentials for successful integration into educational institutions.

A number of key findings are identified in terms of current development challenges that impact on alternative credential use and identifying further developments. Relevant examples and references are provided throughout, with a particular focus on North America, Europe and Australasia where the most progress has been made in alternative credentials.

Implications for those wishing to develop badging and microcredentialing solutions, especially in higher education, are identified for all seeking to maximise the success of alternative credential systems.

Martin Bean has a unique perspective having explored credential initiatives whilst General Manager of Microsoft's Education Products Group and whilst Vice-Chancellor of The Open University and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. Martin Bean has also been influential in recent national policy developments in Australia. Martin Bean’s experiences and lessons learnt witnessing alternative credential development during the last 30 years across three continents, and within both public and private sectors, are summarised here to provide context for discussions of some of the key global concepts and related work.

University and college students are fully immersed in a participatory, interactive, digital culture that permeates every aspect of their lives. Today’s educators must find ways to integrate educational technology into their curriculum to fully engage their students in the learning process. The difficulty for educators is vetting educational technologies for pedagogical effectiveness and devoting time to work with them prior to classroom integration. Those responsible for creating faculty professional development training opportunities will find self-directed online learning modules coupled with a virtual learning community an effective training tool. Structured inquiry-based learning, which relies on self-direction, curiosity, and knowledge creation, serves as the framework for such professional development efforts. Faculty and staff from 10, public institutions in New York State created an inquiry-based, self-directed, learning community called Tools of Engagement Project (TOEP). The goal was to help faculty and staff identify and master Web 2.0 tools relevant to their teaching needs for integration into their skill set. Approximately 300 faculty and staff from across these 10 institutions met in a virtual environment during a four-month period to actively engage in a collegial, online community where they were encouraged by mentors and fellow participants to learn about Web 2.0 tools. Results of pre- and post-surveys and participants’ comments have shown this self-directed format to be an effective professional development training tool. The pace of TOEP and the differential teaching and learning aspect of the modules have helped faculty and staff who struggle to find the time to integrate these pervasive technologies into their teaching practice.