WorkLore

Badges are back but it’s no longer just for participation. 

(Anyone remember those Participaction badges?!)

Today, both learners and employers are including badges into their search for jobs or for employees. 

Badges are changing the education and skill game. 

The parchment that you earn with a degree means you have learned a subject widely and have a broad knowledge and experience in that subject. Degrees have a value because of that .

Badges represent knowledge and skills as well but do so for a more focused skill or knowledge base. What’s cool about badges is that you know exactly what you’re getting when you earn one (or when you’re an employer looking at one). 

Because badges are digital, clicking on the badge will open the metadata page that includes specific information about the skills earned. The example above is a fun and not serious badge, but it gives you an idea of the digital information that comes up when we click through to the meta-data on the badge. 

This is the power of badges. They make visible exactly what skills and knowledge that a learner has, giving employers an inside look into the credential. 

As standards for quality continue to improve in this space, I predict that badged learning (and micro-credentials) will increasingly provide value in the marketplace.