There’s a new method of academic credentialing, and Prince George’s Community College leaders are sharing insights with other higher education professionals across the nation. In conference presentations, PGCC leaders have covered how the College’s micro-credentialing or digital badges align with its strategic plan, challenges faced, lessons learned, and strategies for success.
Digital badges are a form of micro-credentials that are a visual documentation of specific skills or competencies positioned to accommodate field or industry standards. In 2019, PGCC began awarding digital badges to bridge the gap between traditional education and the current job market by offering a more skills-based approach to learning and employment.
“It’s important that we employ creativity and innovation in our mission to be forward-thinking about preparing students for careers of the future geared toward economic prosperity,” Laura Ellsworth, assistant vice president of Curriculum, Programs, and Regulation, said. “Digital badges provide students with a job market edge that will propel them into jobs faster and more equipped.”
The digital badges program is an example of the College’s mission to provide high-quality, transformative learning experiences leading to personal and professional growth and enhancing employee engagement.
Students, faculty, and staff who earn digital badges can share their achievements on social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter), embed them in digital email signatures, and add them to a digital resume. The badges are embedded with metadata about the criteria and issuing organizations that employers can verify.
The initiative began by developing five badges tied to competency-based modules within health and hospitality credit courses: Cultural Competency in Healthcare, IV Therapy Skills, Knife Skills, Measuring Skills, and Safe and Secure Dining. Thirty-four of these initial digital badges have been awarded to students since 2020.
Faculty and staff who serve on the College’s Curriculum Committee have had the opportunity to earn digital badges for completing rigorous training courses that were created by Curriculum Committee co-chairs, Dr. Iris Antoons and Dr. Teresa Bridger. The following digital badges have been awarded since 2022:
- Curriculum Proposal Basics: 36
- Curriculum Proposal Advanced: 13
- Curriculum Committee Training: 26
Digital badging has expanded to aligning measurable outcomes from general education courses with American College Testing (ACT) WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) proficiencies, which resulted in the creation of three digital badges that we have awarded to students every semester since the Fall of 2022 for attaining proficiency (B or better) in these three WorkKeys areas:
- Applied Math: One general education math course and one general education science course.
- Graphic Literacy: One general education course in science and one general education course in either humanities or social sciences.
- Workplace Documents: Introduction to Information Literacy (INT-1010) and one general education course in either humanities, science, or social sciences.
Since January 2023, there have been 6,255 WorkKeys digital badges have been awarded to students.
Micro-Pathways at PGCC
In partnership with the Community College Growth Engine Fund and Education Design Lab, PGCC’s first micro-pathway, Information Technology – Support Specialist, was designed and awarded to seven students in August of 2023. This micro-pathway will allow learners to earn a CompTIA/IT Fundamentals certification and CompTIA Network certification and gain skills to become an Information Technology Support Specialist. There is also the opportunity to continue to earn CompTIA Security + certification and/or an AWS Cloud Practitioner certification and pursue an associate’s degree in information technology or cybersecurity.
More information on these programs can be found here.
PGCC’s first continuing education digital badges were created in 2023. The College is authorized by the State of Maryland as an Education Provider for Notary Public and is the only community college in the state providing this training. Digital badges were created for the Notary Public Course of Study and the Notary Public Examination. Students who earn these credentials submit them to the Office of the Secretary of State for Maryland to obtain or renew their notary public licenses. The College has awarded 253 of these digital badges since the fall of 2023.
PGCC plans to further extend the program to include additional micro-pathways, senior adult programs, and professional development credentials for college staff.
For more information about PGCC’s digital badging program, contact Laura Ellsworth at badging@pgcc.edu.