By studying this course, you have the option of gaining a digital badge.

What is a badged course?

Badges are a means of digitally recognising certain skills and achievements acquired through informal study and are entirely optional. They do not carry any formal credit as they are not subject to the same rigour as formal assessment; nor are they proof that you have studied the full unit or course. They are a useful means of demonstrating participation and recognising informal learning.

If you’d like to learn more about badges, you will find more information on the following websites:

• Open Badges – this information is provided by Mozilla and IMS Global, a leading provider of the open badges system.
• Digital Badges – this information is provided by HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory), a global community working to transform how we learn, and particularly making use of technology.

Gaining your badge

To gain the badge, you will need to have visited every page within the course, and scored at least 50% in the end-of-course quiz.  When you have done this you will receive email notification that your badge has been awarded and it will appear in the My Badges area in your profile. Please note it can take up to 24 hours for a badge to be issued.

Your badge demonstrates that you have participated in the course. The digital badge does not represent formal credit or award, but rather it demonstrates successful participation in informal learning activity.

Accessing your badge

From within the course:

1. Go to the navigation block and under My Profile you can access My Badges. When you click on My Badges you will be taken to your My Badges page on OpenLearn Create.
2. To view the details of the badge, to download it, or share it, click on the badge and you will be taken to the Badge Information page.
3. You can download this page to your computer.

Sharing your badge

Badges awarded within OpenLearn Create can be shared on multiple platforms using a badge aggregator such as Badgr, Badge Passport or Credly. They can then be shared to other platforms such as LinkedIn and Wordpress.

When you complete this course and hopefully starting producing and delivering your own online courses you can build your digital badge and award to participants that complete your course.

Now go to Session 2