2025 Badge Summit

Bring your badge wallet to a next-level birthday bash that will stretch your thinking about what badges can do and how they can connect us: 🎶 music, 🎉 surprise moments, 🎂 cake (obviously), and the kind of spontaneous connections that make conferences unforgettable.


This session isn’t just about digital credentials—it’s about community and the magic of shared experiences. Remember when you'd meet someone special at an event and then pore over the photos on the private event page the next morning to make a friend request? That’s the energy we’re bringing back. Online badges that unlock doors, and IRL badges that unlock online experiences. Selfies with your new friends. Connections that can last through the year.

Higher education is facing many challenges. Evolving curricula, financial difficulties, rising student costs, and increased competition are some examples of issues that higher education institutions are grappling with. Some of these issues have been exacerbated by recent global events such as the Covid 19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. However, there is one issue that acts as a major obstacle to learning, affecting both institutions and potential learners, and has been around since the advent of formal education: access to higher education remains grossly unequal (Stich, 2012). Students from low-income backgrounds, underrepresented minorities, and marginalized communities often face financial and other accessibility barriers that make it difficult to pursue higher education opportunities (Taylor and Cantwell, 2019).
Micro-credentials have been identified as a means of addressing inequality issues in higher education (European Commission, 2021). Our presentation, drawing on examples from Ireland’s National MicroCreds project, will explore how micro-credentials can improve accessibility and inclusivity in higher education by providing flexible, affordable, and high-quality learning opportunities that are accessible to learners from diverse backgrounds. A micro-credential is a proof of learning outcomes that a learner has acquired following a short, usually digital, learning experience. Credit bearing, and with the ability to “stack” learning towards a higher education award, micro-credentials offer a way for learners to control their own learning journeys (MICROBOL, 2022).
With the changing face of the workplace and the availability of new tools and approaches, the demand for lifelong learning and professional development opportunities is expected to grow (OECD, 2021). Micro-credentials have the potential to become an increasingly popular method for individuals, regardless of circumstance or background, seeking to advance their careers or improve their lives. An additional benefit of improving accessibility and inclusivity is the increased diversity of student cohorts, where exposure to wide-ranging backgrounds, experiences, and opinions can improve and enhance the student experience for all, not just those of traditionally marginalised groups (Spencer-Oatey and Dauber, 2019). 
However, although micro-credentials represent an opportunity to tackle accessibility and inclusivity issues in higher education, it is important to mirror the student experience with the principles of this learning movement. For micro-credentials to reach their potential then they must be designed with accessibility and inclusivity in mind from the outset of the design process. This can be achieved by focusing on the student-centred learning principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
It is important to note that “levelling up” via accessible learning design does not mean a reduction in academic or teaching standards. The purpose of UDL is to improve the learning journey for all students by incorporating teaching and assessment approaches that address the specific needs, strengths, and circumstance of all students. UDL offers a set of principles for curriculum design and development that strives to reduce education inequality by offering all students equal opportunities to learn (Griful-Freixenet et al, 2021). Marrying micro-credentials with UDL principles brings together two mechanisms for improving accessibility and inclusivity in higher education. This represents both a great opportunity and a grand challenge.

We'll explore the challenges of implementing digital badges in secondary and higher education environments. Digital badges are powerful tools for recognizing skills and achievements, yet their adoption varies significantly between these settings. In higher education, decentralized decision-making, integration complexity, and overlapping credentials affect adoption. On the other hand, secondary school faces centralized leadership constraints, limited resources, and low parent engagement. 
The presentation will highlight case studies, including UT Tyler’s badge initiatives, and open the conversation to thinking about strategies to overcome barriers. By aligning badges with existing programs, training educators, and building awareness, we can foster greater adoption and effectiveness. Additionally, we will discuss cross-sector collaboration to bridge these educational contexts, ensuring a seamless transition from high school to higher education’s badge ecosystem and ultimately to the workforce. 
The session will conclude with actionable strategies, a call for innovative solutions, and a Q&A to engage participants in addressing these challenges. 

As part of the "Microcredentials – piloting a new solution to support lifelong learning" project, we are testing microcredentials for skills development and designing their issuance process. Currently focused on the ICT sector within VET, the project has a budget of €5.7M. It includes developing technical solutions, such as the Odznaka+ app, based on the Open Badges standard.


Pilots have involved various issuers, including universities, schools, associations, sports clubs, and private companies, certifying achievements, competencies, and qualifications. The project emphasizes stakeholder-driven solutions. A national advisory group was formed, bringing together five ministries and key representatives from the education and labor sectors.


During the conference, we would like to present the Polish approach to badges and microcredentials, showcase best practices (e.g., UNICEF badges for inclusive education teachers), and introduce the preliminary quality assurance model, the functionalities of the Odznaka+ application, and our plans for the system's future development.

Credential Engine and the Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC) will present the outcomes of their year-long collaborative project on best practices for issuer registries and the development of an innovative issuer registry prototype. Attendees will gain insights into the benefits of issuer registries, their integration with verifiable credentials, and their potential to enhance trust and interoperability in digital ecosystems. The session will feature a live demonstration of the prototype in action, illustrating its practical applications. Presenters will also share key lessons learned from an applied research approach to technology development, leveraging the unique strengths of a higher education consortium like the DCC and the Credential Registry.

Research indicates that neurodivergent (ND) students in higher education often avoid self-disclosure due to fear of stigmatization (Brown, 2023) and discrimination (Edwards et al., 2023). This can leave ND students navigating their education without essential support. Faculty and staff signaling their understanding, allyship, and advocacy of neurodivergence may ease these burdens. This session outlines a digital credentialing system to recognize neurodivergence allyship and advocacy, with the goal of fostering a more supportive environment.

As microcredentials continue to gain traction in higher education, ensuring trust and quality is more critical than ever. Join us for an interactive exploration of how the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) developed and implemented a Microcredential Evaluation Rubric to elevate its digital credentialing initiatives. This session will showcase the six standards driving UMBC’s approach—spanning alignment, stackability, and external relevance—and how they support meaningful, reliable microcredentials for learners and employers alike. Expect practical insights, governance tips, and real-world applications that you can adapt to your institution’s credentialing strategy.


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Welcome to The Skyway, an innovative global education initiative designed to revolutionize how learners access and manage their personal data and developmental growth. By creating and maintaining connected learning pathways—called Flight Paths—The Skyway aims to empower learners to choose their own educational journeys, accessing the essential skills needed to thrive in the modern world. 


By promoteing educational agency, safety, and access, we can collectively build, maintain, and govern learning "Terminals" and “Flight Paths” for a variety of skills and domains, enabling learners to explore diverse learning pathways aligned with their personal and professional interests and goals. 

In the beginning was Mozilla Open Badges, to open up recognition of people and achievement across a lifewide spectrum, from formal education to informal experience. Recognition as a conversation — flexible and accessible for all.
Then came micro-credentials: badges as handy digital envelopes for old school course certificates. And the walls closed in again. Or did they?
Learn how badges can be more than certificates. Explore how they can help articulate formal, non-formal and informal learning.

IBM has partnered with the Alabama Community College System, Bay Area Community College Consortium, Colorado Community College System, and Louisiana Community and Technical College System to scale access to Cybersecurity and Data Analytics training and certificate programs. These credentials were designed to include ACE recommended college credits and to align directly with in-demand jobs.  As the programs scale the IBM team is building a Talent Community to connect all credential earners with recruiters looking for people with their skills.  In this session we will examine IBM's end-to-end LER ecosystem approach to credential learning, help learners market their newly acquired skills, and develop a network of employers who can monitor and recruit from a national pipeline of certified talent.

We'll examine the challenges along the way - how to make data interoperable, how to capture employer attention, and most importantly how to inspire job seeker confidence and generate results.

According to AI, Digital literacy within the topic of digital credentials" refers to the ability to understand, access, and effectively utilize digital credentials. How do we as Higher Education Administrators create this ecosystem? Come join in a conversation with 4 Higher Education Subject Matter Experts who have a take on what the gaps may be in creating literacy around digital credentials for students, administrators, faculty and employers.

SkillStack®, Idaho's statewide Open Badges microcredential platform, has been in place for over 10 years. It has been widely adopted across Idaho, with over 40,000 secondary and postsecondary learners earning digital badges. A key use case for SkillStack® is the awarding of microcredentials to high school juniors and seniors enrolled in CTE capstone courses. These digital badging pathways incorporate both written and observed career skills assessments conducted by teachers, serving as indicators of students' career and college readiness. 
Within Idaho, SkillStack® digital badges can potentially be leveraged in various formal and informal contexts to provide prior learning credit, facilitate recruitment into college programs, and offer other advantages to badge earners. However, numerous logistical and technological barriers currently complicate this process, rendering it unclear and burdensome for the badge earners themselves. This presentation will delve into IDCTE's experiences and efforts to articulate and streamline these pathways of opportunity for digital badge learners as they transition from high school to college.