About

Digital badges give shape to learning that’s easy to recognize but hard to put on a transcript — the skills, interests, and accomplishments earners build inside and outside the classroom. Microcredentials are how UMBC assesses and recognizes those specific skills, and each one carries information about exactly what it represents, set by the issuer, so institutions, employers, and other third parties can trust it.

Two students in UMBC shirts working together on a laptop

UMBC’s digital credentials began as a pilot project in 2016. Since then, the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation has led the Badging Essential Skills for Transitions (B.E.S.T.) initiative, which aims to strengthen the career readiness of students across the University System of Maryland. Grounded in the NACE career-ready skills framework, B.E.S.T. focuses on building Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Globalism, Interculturalism, Leadership, Problem Solving, and Professionalism among students.

Want to go deeper? Start with 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Badges (Braxton et al., 2019). In 2023, our team also released a draft report drawing on the work of our peers: UMBC Microcredentialing: Recommendations from Peers.

Working with badges

Badges answer three questions: who did something, what did they do, and who says they did it? They often represent competencies that never show up on a transcript — expertise communicating complex scientific information, agility with a particular software tool, or strong project management skills.

Paths to earning a badge vary. At some institutions, learners take a course — for credit or not — to gain the knowledge or skill a badge recognizes. Elsewhere, a learner might submit evidence of a skill they already have for evaluation. The criteria for earning a badge, and how those criteria are assessed, might be set by instructors, departments, colleges, a university system, or a national association.

Our work

Consulting for microcredential creation

We work closely with faculty, staff, and stakeholders to design coursework, programs, and learning experiences that yield meaningful competencies. We advise on learning outcomes, assessments, and alignment with nationally recognized frameworks, and ensure market-relevant skills and tags are built into every microcredential.

Technology

We manage the technical infrastructure behind UMBC’s digital credentials, following national standards such as the 1EdTech Open Badges and TrustEd Microcredentials frameworks, ensuring learners, issuers, and stakeholders have a reliable, user-friendly experience.

Governance, policy, and advisory

We work with stakeholders across campus to set and uphold the practices that protect the trust and validity of UMBC’s microcredentials, and to identify where new microcredentials could align with emerging trends and industry demand.

Research

We’re committed to advancing the field of digital credentialing through ongoing research — exploring how earners use their credentials to find new opportunities and advance their careers and lifelong learning.

Resources & literature on badging