Canvas Credentials, a digital badge—previously known as Badgr—is a platform for recognizing achievement. Digital badges enable instructors to identify skills students have gained or still need to earn. They are a great way to improve student learning and engagement. The platform offers various features to help stack credentials, track analytics, and gamify student learning!

Awarding Digital Badges

Instructors can award badges to students manually or automatically. Badges can be awarded for a variety of reasons, including:

- interest and engagement
- participation or attendance
- proficiency
- knowledge

Note: Once a badge has been awarded, the recipient's information cannot be edited. If changes need to be made after a badge is awarded, instructors can revoke the badge and award it again with the correct recipient data.

Digital Badges Benefits

Awarding digital badges is similar to awarding diplomas. They symbolize achievement, demonstrating skills students have mastered after completing a program. Digital badges provide a visual, online representation of accomplishments, skills, or achievements. Using the Canvas Badges Backpack, students can view all earned badges, share, verify, and organize them into collections.

So, the benefits of digital badges are that they are verifiable, shareable, and portable.

- Verifiable - The data inside proves what you've achieved.
- Shareable - You can post your badges all over the web.
- Portable - Take them with you in Backpacks.

row of badges

Note: All badges awarded through Canvas Credentials are automatically synced into the backpack. Badges awarded externally from other sources can be manually uploaded.

Anyone who has earned a digital badge in a Canvas course or elsewhere may sign up for free at Badgr.io and use its backpack feature to store and share the badges they've earned to social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. The same credentials used to sign up in Canvas Credentials should be used to sign into Badgr.io.

Get Started: Setting Up Digital Badges

To complete setting up Canvas Credentials in your course, complete the following steps:

Step 1: Enable Credentials so it appears in the navigation menu as an item list.

Step 2: Create learning activities and add course content as module items. If necessary, add prerequisites.

Step 3: Select the Credentials item in the navigation menu.

Step 4: Verify your Canvas Badges account.

Step 5: Create or add an issuer in Canvas Credentials you would like to connect to the course.

Step 6: Manage your Credentials account.

Step 7: On the Canvas Credentials page, select Canvas Course Badges

- - - Course modules and items created in Step 1 will show on the page.
    - You can award the badge you created in Step 6 per module by selecting the Evidence, Trigger, and Date restriction options displayed on the page.
    - Select "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.

Step 8: Track students' progress

Instructors can set up a free issuer profile to issue badges for students' achievements. From the Credentials service, you can award badges to any recipient with an email address or award badges to students right from your Online@UT (Canvas) course(s). Instructors may choose to make an issuer representing themselves, their college, or their specific department.

The Credentials app has been installed system-wide. It allows instructors to award digital badges to students as they complete course modules.

There is more!

Select the title to read more about Configuring credentials, Tracking course progress, and Course leaderboard.

Configuring Digital Badges

- Set up the Credentials Canvas App to automatically award badges for module completion and track student badge earnings.

Tracking Course Progress

- Instructors may track the progress of enrolled students through the available badges and download CSV reports for course data.
- Manual options to revoke badges if necessary or notify students by email of their badges.
- Students can track their progress, download portable Open Badges for their achievements, and share directly to LinkedIn or Facebook.

Course Leaderboard

- Instructors can optionally activate a privacy-protecting course leaderboard to add an element of gamification to their courses.
- Students can follow each other's progress as they earn badges in a course.

For students to see their digital badges, they will need to:

Step 1: Select Credentials from the navigation menu.

Step 2: From the screen, select Sign up.

Step 3: Enter their UTK email, name, and password.

Step 4: Select Create Account.

Step 5: Upon completing the sign-up, users will see a Backpack. All earned badges will be viewable on this page. The backpack can store and manage badges issued by any open badge-compliant issuer on the web.

Next - Configuring Credentials