The future of digital badging

Signe Sandfeld Hansen, M.Sc. in Psychology and counsellor, CfDP It is not always easy to find a job. It can be particularly challenging if you are a vulnerable person who cannot see your own qualities. The recently completed Skills Connect project primarily aimed to offer youth between the ages of 16-25 a practical opportunity to verbalise their problem-solving skills, and secondarily to identify the assistance they are able to provide to other young people online, for example on our youth counselling, Cyberhus.dk. This resulted in the development of 2 digital badging courses; “Problem-Solver” and “Super-Helper.” Back in 2015, when the project started, digital badging was still a relatively unknown concept in Denmark, however, finding ourselves in a digital age, badging has become more accessible, more versatile, and it has become an effective measure to help young people develop skills; for instance, skills necessary for finding a job. Furthermore, it could be assumed that the digitisation of learning and the use of elements from gamification is a relevant and effective approach to engage young people. This applies both to the development of young people’s skills as well as the process of learning more about themselves.

What did we learn?

Through the process of developing and diffusing our badging courses, we have seen a need for more accredited digital badging for young people in order to bridge the gap between what young people have to offer and what an employer is looking for. Accreditation through recognised organisations, sponsoring a digital badging course, would be the most effective way to encourage young people to involve themselves with digital badging, while ensuring the credibility of the badge to potential employers. We know that young people find it useful to complete a digital badging course. However, we are also aware that a broader recognition of these and other digital badging courses is a key to further improve young people’s employability. We know that we can help young people understand the skills they have acquired and give them the tools to demonstrate this to an employer in a valuable way, and we are proud to be part of taking the first steps towards a more widespread knowledge of badging in Denmark. Click to learn more about “Problem-Solver” and “Super-Helper”!]]>