UT Austin Digital Badging Initiative

UT Austin faculty and staff can now offer digital badges through a UT Austin Digital Badging Initiative!

Badging Basics

Badges are verifiable digital records that acknowledge completion of an assignment, training, or other activity (completion badges, primarily awarded by continuing and professional education programs) or assessed mastery of knowledge, skills, and/or abilities for a given context (competence badges, primarily awarded by academic units). All badges contain metadata with detailed information about the achievement and earning criteria.
Badges can be stand-alone or part of a pathway. Within a pathway, some badges are prerequisites for other badges.
Badges can be presented for a wide range of activities, including completing a certificate program, demonstrating a lab skill, or mastering an activity. Badges earned for completion through this program typically require participation for a minimum of four hours. Badges earned for competence require passing some type of assessment.
Badges from the UT Austin Digital Badging Initiative are issued by Colleges, Schools, and Units (CSUs), but they can be proposed by any UT faculty or staff member. Training is required for anyone involved in the awarding of badges through this program.
There are no restrictions on who badges can be awarded to, so recipients can include UT students or affiliates as well as those who have no affiliation with UT.
A list of badges issued through the UT Austin Digital Badging Program is available here.

UT Austin Completion Badge Designs*

*These badge designs may only be used for badges approved through the UT Austin Digital Badging Program.

UT Austin Competence Badge Designs*

*These badge designs may only be used for badges approved through the UT Austin Digital Badging Program.

Badges fulfill unique needs of students, programs, and employers by providing portable, verifiable digital records of achievement.
Badges offer flexibility to acknowledge both accomplishments at the micro-credential level and progress in stackable learning pathways.
Badges allow recipients to highlight competencies that are not otherwise readily apparent.
Badges build awareness of programs available at the university.
Badges present a framework for thinking comprehensively about teaching and the development of competencies in education.

Continuing and professional education programs pay a one-time fee of $500 per issuer to participate in the UT Austin Digital Badging Initiative. In addition, badges cost issuers $2 per recipient per year, for any number of badges awarded to that recipient.
There is no charge for CSUs to award badges to current UT Austin students, faculty or staff. CSUs awarding badges to non-UT affiliated recipients will be charged $2 per recipient per year.

For information not covered here, contact badging@utlists.utexas.edu.