Digital badges set for exponential growth
As a junior developer in the early 90s I used an obscure programming language called “REXX”. Only in use at IBM, my expertise was only really relevant there — in my downtime, I used it to develop a chat room for fellow pre-university students so we could play online games across the country.
Once I left IBM after a year to pursue my degree, I forgot all about Rexx and chat rooms. I must have put it on my online CV somewhere though as I was surprised 10 years later when I received an emailed job offer looking for Rexx expertise!
So as usual, we technology folk have seen the impact of “taggable” skills fairly early on — unique names for skills that anyone can search for using Google. Those tags can quickly be verified for expertise based on number of years use. It’s a pretty good bet that someone programming Rexx for 10 years is better at it than someone who’s been using it for 2 years.
So while digital search works for programming skills its not so good for other skills like management, cooking or machine usage in a factory.
The problem is twofold:
- many skills aren’t properly taggable — and so not findable in a useful way by others — how do you tag “management” properly for example. Are presentation skills different from powerpoint skills?
- how do you define the level of those skills in a uniform way — is your expert presentation skills the same as my expert presentation skills?
One part of the solution is to create a common digital currency using certificates. Called digital credentials or badges the idea is that individuals, education providers, education certifiers and employers use badges as a common language for giving, sharing and discovering skills.
At an event last night at City & Guilds I heard from speakers detailing the use of digital credentials in youth activities (Clarion housing group), cooking (WorldChefs certification) and machining skills in Colorado (Colorado Community College System).
What all had in common was the discovery that digital badges bring new advantages to all parties. Some of the benefits stated include:
- they make skills portable
- the evidence stored with the badge tells the story behind the skill
- creates a living CV (can be embedded as certifications on LinkedIn for example)
- spreads the word about the training organisation (badges shared on social media)
- allows individuals to capture and convey their skills at the right granularity
- allows individuals to advocate for themselves more effectively
- allows organisations to improve skill matching to job opportunities
- allows trainers to gain insights into where skills they teach are used
So quite a few advantages over the old fashioned paper certificate.
It’s still early days but I think digital badging is set for exponential growth, led by organisations such as Credly and the Mozilla Backpack.
