Abstract:

The introduction of New Ways of Working, changes in technology and businesses structures, have led to the development of more diverse education and training formats, including business universities, massive open online courses, complementary credentials, and digital badges.

The objective is to show the importance that digital badges hold in education and employment, especially in a context of constant changes. A theoretical analysis was conducted and a case study on a private university in Puebla in which digital badges have just been introduced is presented. A bibliometric analysis on the concept of “digital badges” is included to provide an overview of the relevance of the topic worldwide.

Credentials and badges have been created to compensate an imminent reduction in university registrations due to the increase in numbers of educational institutions with more diverse offerings, Badges constitute new ways to recognise and celebrate lower cost, accessible, verifiable and transferable learning. These are competences, skills and learning outcomes derived from evaluations and activities that are fully aligned with the labor force. They increase employability and complement universities offerings, and can be acquired before, after, in place of, and during the pursuit of a degree. Credentials and badges are useful for De-skilling, Re-skilling, and Up-skilling, and they even provide opportunities for career shifts. These offerings are substantially shorter than university courses.

The market for credentials and digital badges expands beyond that of HE. It includes current students and employers; academic deserters, employees who desire a change in career, those who want to go back to the workforce, including retirees; people who did not have access to HE for different reasons; employees who require new professional abilities, and businesses who need to train their personnel. Credentials and badges provide a way of connecting those who have been isolated, and occupying those who are unemployed.

Digital badges can improve current systems in Higher Education; become integrated in digital portfolios; increase overall enrolment, and operate in real-time. They create a system to collect and inform about students prgress; they create innovation and eliminate the need of official transcripts and degrees, thus reducing waiting times for credit validity, bureaucratic processes, and unnecessary requirements. HE can certify competences, offer a variety of courses as complementary or alternate credentials, and issue digital badges.

They are frequent in global collaborative and shared economies, and are business focused; delivering what formal education is not providing, helping students and employees build their careers, and creating new learning pathways.

In certain countries, such as Mexico, the strict regulatory framework established by the Ministry of Education, has resulted in obsolete programs that lack flexibility, limiting the possibilities to improve and create the offering required by employers. The UPAEP, in Puebla, has recently started the developing digital badges, and creating additional credentials. The process followed as well as the benefits and the problems faced during the process are described. Results will be useful for other institutions who are considering creating a broader educational offering.

Keywords:

Digital badges, new ways of working, soft skills, employability, flexibility.