How Accredible’s Digital Badges Increased Program Growth, Credential Delivery, and Student Engagement
The Organization
Miami University Regionals E-Campus is the hub for online courses, programs, and micro-credentials. In partnership with faculty and various college departments, they create highly interactive, rich, online and hybrid learning experiences that allow students a more flexible learning environment which improves access for all.
Unlike most traditional higher education offerings that require students to complete four years of coursework before receiving their degree, Miami University’s unique micro-credential program enables students to be recognized when they complete various learning pathways. Not only does this help to encourage student enrollment, but it also equips students with tangible credentials with related industry recognized skill sets that can be used to secure internships, promotions, and employment.
Challenges
With micro-credentials being a new offering for most universities, many students were unaware that they could request a digital badge after completing a certain grouping of courses. Although the University underwent a campaign designed to build awareness around this new micro-credentialing initiative, up until February 2022, Miami University Regionals had only issued 50 digital credentials – despite having hundreds of eligible students.
Their previous credential provider significantly limited their ability to customize, upload, and deliver digital badges to students, which added 20+ hours a week in work.
The Solution
After an extensive search to find a new digital badge platform, Miami University Regionals’ Senior Director narrowed their options down to Accredible, Credly, and Badgr. They needed a user-friendly platform that would seamlessly integrate with Canvas, enhance their student experience, and offer complete automation of their learning pathways – no middle steps involved.
Accredible offered Miami University everything they needed and more including:
- One-click social sharing without students being required to give access to their social media accounts.
- Fully branded digital credentials that put the University’s logo front and center (not Accredible’s) – on all issued credentials.
- A robust dashboard that enabled them to quickly see the number of eligible students, credentials issued, credential share rates, and course completion metrics.
- A completely customized, white-labeled, credential delivery experience that looks and feels like a natural extension of the Miami University’s brand.
- Job Market Insights for students to see the market value of their credentials and what employment opportunities they may be eligible for.
Results
In just 90 days of joining Accredible, Miami University Regionals has issued over 700 credentials (a 1,300% increase in comparison to their previous platform). The 20+ hour a week commitment required to manage the credential process has been reduced to less than 2.5 hours a week.
And, the open rate of their digital credentials has significantly increased to 85%, giving the program even more visibility, increasing student engagement and course enrollment.
“Our digital badges are now a recruitment and a retention tool. We can retroactively issue badges to students who weren’t even aware they were eligible for one. Interest in our learning pathways are up. And, with Accredible’s live credential pages, students can clearly see what courses they need to take to get their next badge.” - Janet Hurn, Senior Director Regional E-Campus
With the success of the program, Miami University Regionals is looking to package their expertise in the micro-credential space to begin offering consulting services to other universities looking to implement similar programs.
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