Digital Badges

A digital badge is a smart, simple, and visual way of recognising non-accredited learning.

It helps the learner to understand what skills they have developed and lets them share their achievement on their CV, with an employer or prospective employer, or via social media. Digital badges provide motivation and reward for learning and are a digital marker of achievement commonly used to recognise skills and competencies.

Managing Staff & Internal Processes

• Badges can be used for rewarding staff achievements
• Digital badges make a great record of the upskilling and progression of staff within the organisation
• Badges give a quantifiable source of data for ‘soft outcomes’ such as increasing skills or wellbeing
• Badges are a brilliant way to reflect staff training, CPD courses and suitability for roles

Recruitment

• Recruiting the right people for any organisation requires a lot of time, care and effort. Badges are fantastic for getting a snapshot of a person’s experience and skills 
• they have the added bonus of showing what organisations have previously worked with them without the laborious requests for references

Attitudes & Movements

• Every organisation has key messages and attitudes that they want to develop in others. Digital badges are a brilliant way to recognise and encourage the change you want to see in the world

Marketing

• You can get really creative with using badges as a marketing tool!
• Badges can be created with your logo and branding, so are very personal to your organisation. Every time someone shares a badge they earned with you, it’s an advert
• Because of the way badges are linked in-browser, people that click on your badges get a direct snapshot of the activity you deliver and the impact you’re creating

Digital badges contain verified metadata

• They describe an employee’s learning and skills gained, and the process required to earn them

A pathway is a collection of badges in a particular industry sector. A pathway helps students to progress through the steps needed to reach a goal. The motivation through a pathway of learning is provided by breaking it down into steps, which could each be awarded with a digital badge. Some pathways lead to a specific goal such as further learning, work experience or a job interview.

Cities of Learning helps different places across the UK design and deliver lifelong learning with the aim to unlock the potential of each participating area and builds the skills needed for local people, employers and the community to thrive.

The programme recognises individual and organisational achievements and accomplishments outside of formally accredited qualifications through digital badges. These badges are designed in partnership with local businesses and educational providers to connect people to training and work-related opportunities and address workplace skills gaps.

In 2022, the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) announced Bradford District as the first area in the North of England to be accepted onto the City of Learning programme, joining a national network of lifelong learning practitioners to share expertise and knowledge.