Digital Badges Awarded To Online Learners

Several vocational education providers across New Zealand are now awarding graduates with digital badges, electronic credentials that can be shared and verified online.

Ara, Toi-Ohomai, NMIT, NorthTec, UCOL, WelTec & Whitireia, Otago Polytechnic, and EIT all offer courses through their online learning service, eCampus NZ.

Now all learners using the service will receive a digital badge upon completion of their qualification in addition to their parchment certificate or diploma.

Digital badges are gaining popularity as a way to showcase skills and achievements online. They can easily be added to social networking profiles such as LinkedIn, email signatures, resumes, and websites and shared with colleagues, employers, and family members.

Current and potential employers can verify the qualification and see an overview of what has been learned by clicking on the badge.

"While they are already used quite widely, I expect to see digital badges continue to gain traction over the coming years. While these particular badges reward the completion of a qualification, we are also seeing increased demand for credentials that recognise ‘right-sized’ learning and training opportunities," said eCampus NZ Chief Executive Pamela Simpson.

Simpson believes digital badges complement traditional paper certificates nicely.

"Digital badges can be used to reward achievements of any size, from single learning outcomes to the completion of in-house training and professional development. They are very user friendly and can be shared and verified easily, making them valuable to job seekers, professional development and compliance managers, and career-changers,""

Learners will be notified about their new digital badge once they complete their qualification.

Anyone interested in learning more about digital badges for their staff development can contact eCampus NZ.

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