Badgr

“Badgr is part of an ecosystem that will put learner credentials in the control of the learners who will hold them, and allow those learners to take them and bring them into whatever communities they end up working in, to infuse their experience with verified records of their skills." ​
- Nate Otto, VP Badgr, Concentric Sky​

Description 

Badgr is a free online tool that organizations and individuals can use to record and verify learning achievements in the form of digital badges.​ Badgr Pro subscriptions are available that include advanced features like learning pathways. Digital badge systems like Badgr enable learners to aggregate microlearning into a joined-up story of skills acquisition. The track record is portable, enabling learners to demonstrate skills acquisition to employers and learning institutions. 

Role in the future of work 

Digital badges are a useful tool for learners and employers not just to verify the acquisition of an individual skill but to structure learning pathways that indicate suitability for particular roles. They can help employers adopt skills-based hiring both internally and externally and build greater transparency around promotion pathways. They may also provide a useful source of data in support of efforts to build the criteria for skills acquisition (taxonomy). ​

Growth to date

Badgr started in 2015 with support from the MacArthur Foundation, about five years into the development of the Open Badges standard by the Mozilla Foundation. The two foundations teamed up with the aim of making it easy to issue and share digital learning badges across the web, paving the way for open-source platforms like Badgr. ​

Currently, over 10,000 organizations across 38 countries use Badgr to recognize skills, competencies, qualifications, and the completion of requirements or courses. ​

Barriers and challenges

The biggest challenges lie in establishing common terminology around skills to make them easily ‘portable’ across organizations and jobs, and mainstreaming digital badges to make them more meaningful and accessible for both individuals and organizations. ​

Looking to the future

Badgr is focusing on working with organizations to link digital badges to clear and tangible learning pathways and worker outcomes (e.g. promotions). The team is also focusing on the technical interoperability and worldwide recognition of digital credentials, to make it as easy as possible for learners create comprehensive digital skill profiles and unlock opportunities that are right for them.​

Click to Badgr's website for more: https://info.badgr.com/