Edubadges is the platform developed by SURF which allows for digital certificates to be awarded in Dutch tertiary education. At Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Community for Learning & Innovation (CLI) Project Manager Bram van Essen has been working on establishing edubadges within the university and involving students and staff. We talk with him and EUR student Ilse Bot about their experiences with Edubadges and their future as the project comes towards a finish.
Edubadges - how have they been used?
So far, 674 individual badges have been awarded to EUR students since the edubadge project began, states Bram. There are 51 possible edubadges that the EUR awards, and they exist on this platform. The potential recipients are students, teaching assistants, and educational support staff. For example, one type of edubadge that is awarded is in partnership with LifeVersity, a student initiative that initially received CLI support. Through the LifeVersity edubadges, students can show that they have successfully completed the 21-century soft skill courses that they offer. There are also edubadges that the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) offers for its teaching assistants, for attributes such as their team effort and engagement of students during tutorials. Another example of an edubadge that students can earn is for their participation and completion of the Pre-Academic Programme (PAP) before their studies commence.
Experiences from students
So, why would a student or employee want to receive an edubadge? Ilse Bot is a student at Erasmus School of Economics and received an edubadge for her work as a teaching assistant at the school. She first heard about edubadges through her friends, who had received them as part of their outstanding work as teaching assistants before. At the end of the course Ilse was a teaching assistant for, her coordinator awarded her the Excellent Team Player edubadge. “I think they are really useful to showcase, as they can back up the things you have listed on your CV or LinkedIn and confirm your achievements”, Ilse explains. Since receiving her edubadge, she has told her fellow students about them. Ilse also thinks it’s a good idea if coordinators explain to teaching assistants what edubadges are and how they can receive them.
Reflections on the project wrapping up
With the Edubadges project wrapping up, the Erasmus presence on the platform will remain through support from Education & Student Affairs (E&S). “At the beginning of the project, we had two main goals: the first being to set a direction for the university in which we want to use the instrument of edubadges and set certain boundaries for the activities we deemed worthy of such accreditation. Secondly, we wanted to pave the way for teachers to easily create and award these badges, thus having low thresholds to using the platform”, Bram explains. From the number of edubadges awarded, the positive student experiences, and the feedback that Bram and his teammates have received, these two goals were successfully accomplished. EUR now has a fully functional edubadge platform, which is here to stay and grow in the future.
The future of edubadges
As for the future of the edubadge platform, more accreditations will continue to be added. “We want to encourage teachers to continue requesting the development of new badges in the future as well, which they can do through the CLI website”, Bram mentions. The interface of the platform will also continue developing in the future, making it more attractive and better integrated to other platforms, such as LinkedIn. Furthermore, the platform will continue to be developed by SURF, for closer collaborations between universities and businesses to be built in the future.
- More information
If you want to check out edubadges, visit https://edubadges.nl. Want to know more about the project or request the development of an edubadge? Go to the project page.
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