Digital badges

The Centre for Advancing Practice have launched digital badges

Digital badges standardise recognition of the quality assurance of advancing practice education, training, and experience.

The badge does not necessarily confer recognition of skills specific to a scope of practice.

What is a digital badge?

Digital badges are quickly becoming an essential part of the modern learning experience. Badges are web-enabled indicators that can be verified online in real time, allowing practitioners to showcase their abilities in a digital way. Not only do digital badges provide learners with a way to showcase their skills and accomplishments, but they also help employers easily identify qualified candidates for open positions.

Digital badges recognise and celebrate learning or professional development achievements.

Additionally, they offer representation of standardised recognition of the quality assurance of education, training, and experience.

Digital badges are shareable across the internet for maximum visibility and recognition. They are easily shareable and compatible with all of the major platforms searched by employers and educators, such as Facebook, twitter, or LinkedIn. Websites, blogs and digital CVs can have badges directly added.

In addition to the image-based design we think of as a digital badge, badges have meta-data to communicate details of the badge to anyone wishing to verify it or learn more about the context of the achievement it signifies. Together these data should provide all the information needed to understand what the badge signifies:

• Who received the badge?
• Who issued the badge?
• What was the criteria for issuing the badge?
• Does it expire?

Some or all of this information is visible in a visual format wherever the badge is displayed however, digital badges also store all of this information in it’s metadata. This means it can be verified any time – even if you only have the image!

Think of a digital badge as not only a line on your CV noting a particular skill or competency, but also visual evidence documenting how that skill was obtained.

How do digital badges work?

A badge is an image with a range of ‘built-in’ information or metadata. The image is the front face of the digital badge.

The metadata is the important bit, the Centre for Advancing Practice adds the following information to the badge.

• the name of the badge
• recipient of the badge
• a description of the badge
• the criteria for earning the badge

Badges are awarded when the criteria for that particular badge is met. When the criteria for a particular badge it met, the badge can be issued.

An individual may collect badges from different issuers and choose where to store and display these badges. When an individual displays one of their badges, the metadata can be viewed and verified by others simply by clicking on the badge.

I’m a practitioner – How is a badge valuable to me?

Your badge is a digital version of your qualifications and recognised educational equivalency. It allows you to easily show your colleagues, friends, or potential employers:

• When you earned the certification or education equivalency
• The framework the badge is based on
• What it takes to be eligible for the badge

Your badge allows you to easily manage, share (online), and verify your certification(s) and/or educational equivalency. This includes real-time authentication.

Badges provide employers and peers concrete evidence of what you had to do to earn your certification(s) or educational equivalency.

Badges can be shared in your email signature, on your electronic résumé, and on online (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter) profiles.

Benefits for….

practitioners

• Make your achievements, a permanent, verifiable part of your online profile. 
• Share your achievements with online friends and social media followers. 
• Easily adding your badge to an email signature, CV, website and more.
• Embed your badge on a personal website or blog. 
• Send or show your badge directly to a colleague, a recruiter, or your employer. 
• Recognisable and transferable qualifications.
• More consistent recognition of people working at an advanced level of practice.
• Help raise the profile of Advanced Practitioners.

employers

• Checkable standardisation of recognition of quality assurance education, training and experience as an advanced practitioner.
• Easier to identify advanced practitioners with quality assured qualifications or educational equivalence and experience for posts, including those already employed and applicants for new posts. 
• Support governance and quality assurance. 
• Recognisable and transferable qualifications that enable a fully utilised workforce. 
• More consistent recognition of people working at an advanced level of practice.

patients, carers and families

• Checkable standardisation of recognition of the quality assured preparation of advanced practitioners.
• Provides assurance that their practitioner has received advanced practice level training / education.
• Makes it easy to check the educational level of advanced practitioners.
• Enables increased awareness and understanding of advanced practitioner roles.

How do I get my badge?

To be ready to download a badge you will need to have successfully completed one of the recognition routes.

Badges can be claimed for:

• ‘Advanced’ – Recognised Completion of an Advanced Practice Education Programme – Those who have successfully graduated from a Centre for Advancing Practice Accredited programme can claim this badge.
• ‘Advanced’ – Recognised Educational and Experiential Equivalence in Advanced Practice Training – Those who have successfully completed the ePortfolio (supported) Route can claim this badge.

If you still need to apply for recognition i.e., a programme or ePortfolio or just need to get onto the portal, please see the guidance and support resources:

• Accredited Programme Graduate Guide to recognition
• ePortfolio (supported) Route

If you have already applied your badge will be ready for you.

To claim and download your badge please:

• Log into your profile on the Centre for Advancing Practice Portal.
• Click on Applications and Reports
• Click on your completed application (badges are only available for completed applications)
• Click on Claim Badge
• Click on Download badge

You can also watch our short video which explains how to claim your digital badge and our video on how to claim your digital certificate.

Guides

Claim your Badge

Step 1. Log into your profile on the Centre for Advancing Practice Portal.

https://advancedpractice.cpdnow.net/

Step 2. Click on Applications and Reports

Step 3. Click on your completed application (badges are only available for completed applications)

Step 4. Click on Claim Badge

Step 5. Click on Download badge.

Now save your badge in a safe space (you will be able to download again if you lose it)

Download a detailed guide to claiming and sharing your digital badge

Test

Digital certificate

In addition to your digital badge and QR code, you will also be issued with a digital certificate.  These are designed to be a backup or for a situation where a digital is not accepted.

Step 1. Log into your profile on the Centre for Advancing Practice Portal.

https://advancedpractice.cpdnow.net/

Step 2. Click on Applications and Reports

Step 3. Click on your completed application (Certificates are only available for completed applications)

Step 4. Click on view certificate.

 

Step 5. A new tab will open with a copy of your certificate.

You may need to adjust the text size as this is a local setting on your computer. This can be done by holding down the control (Ctrl) key and pressing plus or minus depending on whether you text is too large or too small.

Step 6. Print your certificate 

To print your certificate right click and select print from the options.

Then select print again.

You may also have the option at this point to print to pdf (to save a copy)

Download a detailed guide to claiming and printing your digital certificate

QR code

Step 1. Log into your profile on the Centre for Advancing Practice Portal.

https://advancedpractice.cpdnow.net/

Step 2. Click on Applications and Reports

Step 3. Click on your completed application (QR codes are only available for completed applications)

Step 4. Below the download badge button, you will see “QR code” with a small “+”, click on the “+” plus sign.

 

Step 5. You will see your own personalised QR code for your own personalised badge.

From here you can either use the copy the link button to copy the link to your badge (this can be a handy back up to the digital badge) or you can print your QR code (this may be handy to add to posters or printed material)

Download a detailed guide to claiming and sharing your QR code

Adding a digital badge to e-mail signature

This is written for outlook, the same principle can be used for other e-mail providers

Step 1. Click on the little arrow below the signature button on the ribbon (on some systems you need to start a new e-mail to open this section of the ribbon)

Step 2. Select the Signatures item on the menu

Step 3. Select the signature you would like to add the badge to

Step 4. Once you have selected which signature you would like to add it to click on the add image button. A new box will open showing files. Navigate to where the badge is saved – Often this can be in downloads.  

Step 5. Select the image and click “Insert”

Step 6. Step 6 to 9 adds the meta data to your email badge. Log into your account on the portal. Navigate to your digital badge (Applications and Reports). Click on QR code and then Click on Copy Link button. Link will now be on clipboard.

Step 7. Return to your signature. Right click on the badge image. Click link

Step 8. Paste the copied link into the Address box. Click ok

Step 9. Make sure you click “OK” (again).

On all new e-mails with this signature will now have a clickable digital badge (without third-party software)

This will take you to a webpage showing the details of the badge

Download a guide to adding a Digital Badge to your e-mail signature resource

Video guides