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Introduction
In 2024, when you look for digital badge platforms, you find plenty of solutions, and that is where many get confused. That's why we have prepared a guide that can help you understand what factors to consider while making a buying decision.
After working with clients in Higher Education, Professional Training and Coaching, and Employee Benefits over the past 2 years, we've identified the 3 biggest factors that made their digital badge campaigns successful. We have created a Digital Badges Buyer Guide Triangle based on these insights to help you.
Digital Badges Buyer Guide Triangle
Just as a triangle has three corners, you, as a digital badges buyer, need to consider 3 key factors to ensure you choose the best digital badges platform and achieve optimal results for your program. If a platform misses any of a factor listed below, then it may affect your digital badges campaign. These critical factors are:
- Recipient value features
- Verifiability
- Ease of issuance and management
Now that you're aware of these factors, let's explore each one in detail to help you make an informed decision.
Recipient value features
The badge recipient experience is paramount when selecting a digital badge platform. It's important that the platform offers features that enhance the value of badges for recipients.
Firstly, consider if the platform supports hosting of digital badges on unique URLs for lifelong and global access. Badge wallets enables users to store their badges securely and access them easily and use their wallet as badge portfolio. Social media sharing integrations are also essential, allowing users to showcase their achievements publicly on platforms like LinkedIn.
Moreover, pathways that guide users on how to achieve higher-level badges can incentivize continuous learning. Language support is another critical factor; a platform that offers multilingual capabilities ensures inclusivity and accessibility for a diverse user base
Feature checklist as below for digital badge platform’s recipient value features:
Feature | Importance |
Hosting of badge on unique link | High |
Social media sharing integrations | High |
Learning Pathways | Medium |
Multilanguage support | Medium |
Badge Wallets | Low |
Verifiability
Verifiability is a cornerstone of digital badges. The credibility of your badges hinges on their ability to be easily authenticated by third parties. This aspect is crucial not only for authentication but also from a revenue perspective. Consider this: if a student could easily fake a digital badge, why would they pay your program fee? As a consequence, you could lose a significant portion of revenue if your badges are not verifiable.
To ensure your digital badges are verifiable and globally accepted, your chosen digital badges platform must comply with two key standards: the Open Badges 3.0 standard and the W3C Verifiable Credentials standard.
Compliance checklist as below for digital badge platform’s verifiability status:
Standard Compliance | Importance |
Open Badges 3.0 | High |
W3C Verifiable Credentials | High |
Ease of issuance and management
Issuing and managing badges should be straightforward and scalable. The best platforms offer robust tools for bulk issuance using spreadsheets, which is particularly useful for educational institutions or organizations that need to award multiple digital badges at once.
Integration capabilities with existing systems (like Learning Management Systems) streamline the process further by automating digital badge issuance based on predefined criteria. Additionally, look for platforms that make it easy to update digital badges over time.
Ensuring these management features are user-friendly will save time and reduce administrative overhead, making the badging process efficient and effective.
Issuance & management feature checklist for digital badge platforms:
Feature | Importance |
Bulk issuance with spreadsheets | High |
Integration with popular LMS | High |
Integration with webinar platforms | Medium |
Update digital badges | High |
Digital badge platform to consider
If we consider all three factors of “Digital badges buyer guide triangle”, the platform that ticks on all of the checkboxes is Certopus. It ensures to provide best experience to digital badge recipients, ensures verifiability and makes your job of issuance and management of digital badges easy.
To learn more about Certopus for micro-credentials and get a free consulting call regarding your digital badge campaigns, we recommend you book a slot here:
Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQ )
How do digital badges work?
Digital badges are modern certificates recognizing achievements, skills, or activities. Issued by educators, trainers, or HR managers, they serve multiple purposes. In learning, they motivate and engage students. In HR, they recognize talent, aid retention, and build employer brand. Badges are versatile and portable, easily shared on professional profiles or resumes, making them valuable for showcasing skills to potential employers or clients.
How to send digital badges to students?
You can sign up to Certopus for free and start issuing digital badges to your students.
What factors to consider while choosing a digital badges platform?
You need to follow Digital badges buyer guide triangle which says that if you consider 3 factors while buying digital badges platform, your digital badges program is guaranteed to be successful. These 3 factors are: Recipient value features, Verifiability and Issuance and Management features.
Need More Information?
Book a demo to learn more about Certopus for your business use case, or if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us. We would be delighted to assist you. Finally, if you're on social media, follow us to remain informed about our latest developments and learn more about digital credentials like digital certificates, digital badges, and micro-credentials.
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