Digital Badges for Organisations and Learners

According to The World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs Report 2020,’ by the year 2025, technology transformation will be followed by reskilling of jobs and tasks. The report also stated that 43% of businesses surveyed plan to reduce their workforce as a result of technology integration, while 34% plan to expand their workforce as a result of technology integration.

The need to fill the skills gap is critical for both organisations and learners to ensure the needs of the future working environment. For a more advanced learning experience, many businesses and EdTech companies have launched in-person, virtual, and blended learning programmes. These learning programmes also include a digital badge that is awarded to recognise the individual’s progress, skill, or talent.

Why are organisations adopting Digital Badges?

In 2014, IBM launched an online learning programme to assess the value of Digital Badges, and within a few weeks, they achieved the following stunning results:

• The students’ enrollment rate was 129%
• Learners or enrollees who completed the course was 226%
• When compared to the initial six-week launch of the learning programme, the number of students and learners passing the course increased by 694%

The fact that a digital badge includes important credentialing and learning metadata, such as the badge issue date and authority, criteria for skill achievement or knowledge acquisition, duration of credential effectiveness, and digital signature, distinguishes digital badges from physical badges and makes them valuable in education.

The use of a badge to represent skills allows learners to share their abilities online in a simple and trusted manner that can be easily verified in real-time. Digital Badge also helps organisations encourage performance and engagement through incentivizing their training, skill and progress with a Digital Badge. This will result in:

• Productive employees who are rewarded with a digital badge help to increase revenue.
• Employees are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs when they are recognised for their participation and engagement. lowering turnover
• Verified digital badge save hiring managers time and money during the recruitment process.
• Displaying digital badge increases brand recognition and awareness.

Why are learners opting for Digital Badges?

Digital Badges helps employees in the following:

• Using digital badges to demonstrate their competency in skills and achievements for career advancement
• Enhances their resumes and expedites the recruitment process
• Assists in the development of a personal brand value on professional social networking sites.
• Reduces skill gaps with a digital badge programme and training.

In Conclusion:

For businesses and learners, digital badges are the holy grail for promoting brand value and demonstrating proficiency in acquired skills and accomplishments.