Digital credentials are electronic representations of achievements, skills or competencies. They are issued by an educational institution, business, or professional organization, and are used to demonstrate the acquisition of specific knowledge or the successful completion of a course, project, or training.
Badges, Certificates and Micro-Credentials
Although there are many types, in the context of certification digital credentials can be classified into three main types:
- Digital badges: The idigital badges They are visual representations of achievements or skills. They can be used to recognize informal learning, project-based learning or competency-based learning.
- Digital certificates: They are electronic documents that certify the completion of a course, program or training. The digital certificates They usually include information about the content of the course, the evaluation criteria and the name of the institution that issues it.
- Micro-credentials: The Micro-credentials They are academic or professional credentials that focus on specific skills and knowledge rather than encompassing a complete educational program like degrees.
Use cases and benefits
Digital Credentials have a wide variety of use cases, both in education and in the corporate sector.
In education, they can be used to:
- Reduce costs: Digital credentials do not have to be printed like paper, which significantly reduces costs, logistical processes and environmental impact.
- Positioning of the institution: Digital credentials can be shared very easily on networks such as LinkedIn, which improves the organization's digital presence and enhances the promotion of its programs since these credentials mention the organization and contain links and branding of the organization.
- Increase employability: Digital credentials can help students demonstrate their skills and competencies to recruiters. This can increase your chances of getting hired.
- Improve the student experience: Digital credentials can help students feel more motivated and engaged in their learning.
In the corporate sector, digital credentials can be used to:
- Recognize the skills acquired at work: Digital credentials are a way to demonstrate skills and competencies acquired on the job, which can be useful for promotion or career development.
- Facilitate continuing training: Digital credentials can be used to encourage continuous training of employees, since they want to feel valued at work and being recognized with this format allows them to obtain development opportunities.
- Improve transparency and equity: Digital credentials can help ensure that all employees have access to the same professional development opportunities.
- Improve motivation: Emotional salary is essential, therefore, when an employee receives training opportunities and obtains evidence of this learning, their satisfaction within the organization improves and desertion decreases.
Digital Credentials and Blockchain Technology
Digital Credentials can use blockchain technology to ensure their authenticity and security. Blockchain technology is a distributed ledger system that uses cryptography to ensure data integrity. It works by creating blocks of data that are linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a set of data, a hash of the previous block, and a hash of the next block. Hashes are unique values used to ensure data integrity.
When a digital credential is issued using blockchain technology, the credential data is recorded in a block. The hash of this block is included in the next block, and so on. This creates a chain of blocks that is impossible to modify without altering all subsequent blocks.
Open Badges 3.0: the latest digital recognition standard
The Open Badge 3.0 standard is a set of specifications that define how to create, issue and verify digital credentials. Open Badge 3.0 is an open standard, meaning it can be used by any organization.
The Open Badge 3.0 standard defines the following elements of a digital credential:
- Description: A description of the credential, including information about the achievement, skill, or competency it represents.
- Transmitter: The organization that issues the credential.
- Requirements: The requirements that must be met to obtain the credential.
- Evidence: The evidence that supports the granting of the credential.
- Validator: The entity that verifies the validity of the credential.
The Open Badge 3.0 standard also defines a standard format for digital credentials, based on the JSON-LD format. This format allows digital credentials to be easily shared and verified between different systems.
Digital Credentials are a powerful tool that can be used to recognize and validate learning. They have a wide variety of use cases, both in education and in the corporate sector. It is the safest, most environmentally friendly and least expensive way to certify people's achievements and learning.
