Watch a Video: Learn about Badges

In this Quest, you’ll watch a video presentation entitled, “Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Adventures in Digital Credentials and Badges”. The talk was led by Jonathan Finkelstein, Founder of Credly and director of the BadgeStack Project, at an annual meeting about transforming education through technology.

Watch the video below, and then in the submission box, share a brief comment or reflection about one action, milestone, behavior, or skill that people should get credit for achieving. Focus on something that people don’t currently get properly acknowledged for having done.

Source: Original video available on the EDUCAUSE web site.

Quest Question: Describe at least one action, milestone, behavior, or skill that people should get credit for achieving, but which usually go unrecognized or unnoticed.

Join Credly

Credly is universal way for you to earn, store and showcase achievements throughout your life.  Achievements are represented by badges, which you can earn in virtually every aspect of your life, from school to the workplace to museums and fitness activities.

Badges you earn for the learning you do right here on this site will be sent to Credly, where you can make them visible on social networks you use, on your blog, or your own web site. Every person on Credly also has a public “profile.” You can curate what achievements you’d like to showcase at any time on your Credly Profile.

In this Quest, you’ll visit Credly.com and join, creating a free account.

Once you have created your account, visit the “View Profile” page from the user menu at the top right of the page and then copy the web address for your Profile page into the submission box here. (It will look something like “https://credly.com/u/jonathan”.)

Give Someone Credit

We know that a badge says something about a person who earns it, but what does a badge say about the issuer?

When an observer of an earned badge looks at its criteria and the evidence that someone achieved something, what will they learn about the organization or individual who decided to bestow the badge? What does a badge say about what you value in the world?

In this Quest, you will define a badge that represents the achievement of something you value. For example, it could be the demonstration of a skill, an important behavior or attitude, or the reaching of a milestone that matters. You will create a badge for this achievement, and then you will issue it someone who deserves it. Here’s how:

  1. Sign into your Credly account.
  2. Click “Give” at the top of the page.
  3. Design and define a badge that acknowledges something important to you or your work. Follow the steps to save and then give the badge to one or more people who deserves it.

After you give a badge, describe in the submission here the name of the badge and the criteria, or link to the badge on Credly.

Customize Your Profile

Your Credly profile is like a dynamic resume that helps others appreciate your skills and accomplishments. Each badge is validated by a person or organization that has observed your achievements first hand.

In this Quest, you’ll complete your Credly profile and explore the various options for sharing your badges so that you can curate how you showcase your achievements to others.

Now that you have a Credly account, login and visit the “Account Settings” area from the top right menu:

  1. Hover your mouse over the “About Me” section and click the pencil to add some about information about yourself.
  2. Click the pencil next to “Email” and add any email addresses you use. This will allow you to automatically consolidate achievements you receive from any person or organization in your Credly account, regardless of what email address they use when they issue you badges.
  3. Use the “Social Settings and Auto Share” area to link your social networks. This makes sharing your badges wherever you want them super easy.
  4. Hover over the avatar area and add an image of yourself.
  5. Click “Save Changes“.
  6. Then visit the “My Credit” area of Credly to explore how to manage your badges, share them on social networks and create Categories.

When you are done, use the submission area to list at least one group or person who might issue you badges to recognize your achievements.