Alternative Digital Credentialing Resources
Alternative digital credentials (ADCs), also known as digital badges or microcredentials, demonstrate great promise as a strategy for closing the skills gap and supporting the alignment of industry skills with traditional and nontraditional higher education programs. Recognizing this potential, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) has made a significant investment in ADCs at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as through a workforce training pilot seeking to rapidly upskill displaced workers through a series of stackable, non-credit ADCs leading to industry-aligned credentials.
SIUE Alternative Digital Credential Offerings
The following resources are intended to support conceptualization, implementation, and sustainability of faculty ADC development at SIUE. Current ADC offerings at SIUE have been developed by academic units and research centers including the Department of Chemistry, STEM Center, and Small Business Development Center. For more information on ADC development, resources, or to request employment data to explore curricular alignment, contact Courtney Breckenridge at crakers@siue.edu.
General SIUE ADC Guidelines
- Digital badges may be earned for activities performed inside and outside of classrooms, but the assessment of skill/competency mastery maintains the rigor and integrity of digital badges for SIUE
- Digital badges are expected to make the earners more employable or to highlight a set of skills valued in the workplace or in the broader society by allowing those skills and competencies to be defined and assessed so that the earner, future employers and others understand and expect the earner to possess the described skills
- Digital badges are expected to be offered over a significant period of time. Thus, there must be commitment on behalf of the unit offering the digital badge to regularly offer and assess the activities that lead to the digital badge
Launching a New ADC
- Fill out a ADC Data Request Form, which can be requested by emailing Courtney Breckenridge at crakers@siue.edu.
- Work with the ADC Team to engage with industry partners about how the badge would be received and utilized.
- Complete ADC Request Form.
- ADC Request Form and supporting documentation are then reviewed by the ADC Steering Committee.
| College, School, or Department | Representative |
|---|---|
| Educational Outreach/Provost’s Office (Chair) | Mary Ettling, Courtney Breckenridge |
| School of Business | Richard Flight |
| School of Engineering | Serdar Celik |
| School of Education, Health and Human Behavior | |
| Education | Open |
| Health and Human Behavior | Open |
| School of Nursing | Open |
| College of Arts and Sciences | |
| Arts | Barb Nwacha |
| Social Sciences and Humanities | Linda Markowitz |
| Sciences | Kevin Tucker |
| School of Pharmacy | Therese Poirier |
| School of Dental Medicine | Open |
| Graduate School | Jill Smucker |
| East St. Louis Center | Tiffany Caguitla |
| Staff Senate | Open |
ADC Development Resources
- Education Design Lab Microcredentialing Resources and Toolkit
- Education Design Lab 21st Century Skills Badge Overview
- ADC Course Design Rubric Standards
- Witchita State University Badge Catalog
Academic Literature
- Carey, Kimberly & Stefaniak, Jill. (2018). An exploration of the utility of digital badging in higher
- education settings. Educational Technology Research and Development. 66. 10.1007/s11423-018-9602-1.
- Cheng, Z., Richardson, J. C., & Newby, T. J. (2020). Using Digital Badges as Goal-Setting Facilitators: A Multiple Case Study. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 32(2), 406–428.
- Eaton, A., & Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy. (2020). Elevating Real-World Learning: Two Cities’ Efforts to Credential Real World Skills through Digital Badges. In Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy. Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy.
- Fanfarelli, J. R. (2018). Designing Digital Badges to Improve Learning in Virtual Worlds. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 11(3), 1–10.
- Higashi, R., & Schunn, C. D. (2020). Perceived Relevance of Digital Badges Predicts Longitudinal Change in Program Engagement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(5), 1020–1041.
- Martin, W., Gutierrez, J., & Muldoon, M. (2020). Digital Badges Forging Connections between Informal and Higher Education. Afterschool Matters, 33, 16–24.
- Micro-credentials and Digital Badges. (2019). Library Technology Reports, 55(3), 1–34.
- Pike, R. E., Brown, B., West, T., & Zentner, A. (2020). Digital Badges and E-Portfolios in Cybersecurity Education. Information Systems Education Journal, 18(5), 16–24.
- Stefaniak, J., Carey, K. Instilling purpose and value in the implementation of digital badges in higher education. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 16, 44 (2019).
