Traditionally, educational accomplishments have been recognized with a simple piece of paper. However, a certificate or diploma says almost nothing about what specific topics or skills the recipient may have learned in order to earn it. This hurts rather than helps educators and students looking to record and showcase their abilities.
A transformative technology has recently been developed that transcends paper certificates and enables a person’s various achievements to be displayed, accessed, and verified online via a “digital badge”. The underlying concept is simple; a digital badge is just a small image that contains a link to detailed information about what specific things a person had to learn or do in order to earn it and what new skills they can be expected to have acquired during the process. Once earned, a person’s badges are officially recorded and can be displayed in an email signature, on a web page, in a LinkedIn profile, or even in a CV document. Because digital badges are easy to manage, they have also enabled a new type of recognition to be earned for increasingly more granular learning accomplishments. Together, these so-called “micro credentials” and digital badges have sparked tremendous interest and adoption in both education and business environments.
Digital badges provide a powerful way for faculty to document and display their ever increasing professorial skills both inside the Qatar University community and to the world at large. This semester, the CETL will begin awarding QU-branded digital badges to all faculty who complete five workshops in any of the five Education Excellence Themes. For example, a faculty member will be awarded a badge for “Learner-centric education” if he/she attends and actively participates in five “Learner-centric education” workshops, which will be offered throughout the semester.
The following icon will be displayed on the CETL weekly program in order to show that a workshop is part of the Badges initiative. It is important to note that the workshops that do not show this icon will not lead to a badge.
In the coming semesters, the CETL will continue to expand its digital badging initiatives to encompass many other professional-development activities. So, say goodbye to paper certificates and help us welcome a new era professional recognition for your professional development.