Connecting Faculty to Digital Credentials: Your Questions Answered Part 2

In our webinar, "Connecting Faculty to Digital Credentials",  we heard from a panel of experts on how to start and implement a digital credentialing program that has led to a well-versed and qualified faculty.

Brenda Boyd, Senior Academic Director: Program Services, Quality Matters, answers some of the questions that she was asked during the webinar. Read more:

Q: Can you provide an example of participants creating a piece of evidence?

A: A participant in a QM Teaching Online Certificate workshop such as the "Gauging Your Technology Skills" workshop works through the assignments to develop evidence. In the case of the GYTS workshop, the participant takes a faculty self-assessment (developed in partnership with SmarterServices) geared toward their readiness to teach online. Any identified skills gaps are shared with the participant only, who then creates a plan to address any gaps in their skills or knowledge using resources available to them on their campus. The plan the participant creates becomes their evidence for the digital credential, "Technology Skills Self-Assessment" to demonstrate the competency, " Identify technology skills gaps and be able to fill those gaps through available resources."

Q: How have you set the quality of the badges and what review internally do you have for new badges?

A: All QM digital credentials are backed by evidence and are meaningful to the earner. We created a set of workshop identifiers to showcase the competency for each earned digital credential. QM wants to ensure that any credential awarded is meaningful and we know that earners will not claim their digital credentials if they are not. Internally, QM is exploring using digital credentials for roles such as the QM-Certified Peer Reviewer, Master Reviewer, Course Review Manager, and Online or Face-to-Face Facilitator. We are also looking into using gamification and badging to provide continuing professional development to our QM-Certified Peer Reviewers.

Q: For the Instructional Designers that have completed the TOC, what do they use to build evidence? Or are they IDs that are teaching?

A: The QM Teaching Online Certificate is geared toward K-12 teachers and higher education faculty for the most part. We've had people take the TOC who want to teach online and are using the digital credentials to demonstrate their knowledge competency. If someone takes the TOC workshops who does not currently have an online course or institution, we provide a course for them to use and we ask them to use an institution's website where they might like to work to complete some of the assignments as they are purposefully relevant and individualized to the participant's institution.

To learn more about how to start a digital credentialing program at your organization, speak to our team now!