Microcredentials

At the Eriksson College of Education, we are dedicated to empowering our students with the essential skills and credentials needed to excel in today's competitive educational landscape. We recognize the challenges of effectively showcasing your qualifications in an increasingly digital world.

To address this need, we've partnered with Credly to offer our students and graduates microcredentials, also known as digital badges—a modern, verifiable representation of your achievements. These digital credentials can be seamlessly integrated into your professional online presence, including email signatures, digital resumes and social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and X.

Each badge contains secure, verified metadata that outlines your specific qualifications and the rigorous process you completed to earn them, ensuring that your APSU education stands out in the field.

Benefits of Microcredentials

Develop in-demand skills: Microcredentials focus on specific, targeted skills that are relevant to current needs in the education sector. Earning them allows you to address skill gaps and become more competitive in the job market.
Boost your resume: Microcredentials showcase your initiative and dedication to continuous learning. They can serve as valuable additions to your resume, highlighting your proficiency in specific areas.
Quick and Affordable: Microcredentials are a cost-effective way to upskill or reskill yourself, with no extra cost to students (beyond tuition and required course materials). They are awarded as you complete requirements, meaning you will earn achievements prior to degree completion.

Digital Badge Example

Inclusive Leader Digital Badge

Digital badges contain the following information, which is embedded in your free Credly account:
- Your Name
- Badge Name (Describes skill earned)
- Organization that Awarded Badge (Austin Peay State University Eriksson College of Education)
- URL linking to badge information
- Date Awarded

Current Offerings

The following digital badges are offered by the Eriksson College of Education. Discover how you can earn each credential by browsing the options below. Badges will be automatically awarded to those who complete the requirements. In order to qualify for some badges, students may need to be enrolled in a particular program, major or course, but qualifications vary. The badge qualifications are managed by faculty or staff in the Eriksson College of Education, and the contact for each badge is listed below.

A digital badge is typically earned by completing a workshop, training, assessment or academic course. Badges can also be awarded in conjunction with academic or research awards, leadership accomplishments or those who participate in co-curricular or extracurricular events or activities. If a academic course or assessment is required, you will need to register for and successfully complete each course and/or assessment with a passing score.

Additional credentials will be added soon. If there is a digital badge you would like to see added to this list, please email coe_communications@apsu.edu.

Learn more about the requirements to earn this badge:

For more information, contact:

Dr. Charles Gonzalez
gonzalezc@apsu.edu
931-221-1114

Microcredential Development

Faculty and staff are able to submit Microcredential Development Request. These can be based on events within the college, competencies gained in coursework, and much more. You are only limited by your imagination! Fill out the form linked below to get started.

Request Form

Getting Started

Unlock your potential with our easy-to-follow process for earning and leveraging Eriksson College of Education microcredentials.

Engage in our academic courses, workshops or activities to gain valuable skills and knowledge.

Upon successful completion, you'll receive:

An email confirmation from Eriksson College of Education
A notification from Credly, our digital badge platform, with instructions to set up your account and claim your badge

Highlight your new skills to potential employers and your professional network:

Share your digital badge on LinkedIn, Facebook, X or via email
Embed it in your resume, personal website or email signature

Leverage your newly verified skills:

Discover job opportunities aligned with your microcredentials
Research potential employers and industry trends
Access salary information and career insights through Credly

Build on your success by exploring additional microcredentials offered by the Eriksson College of Education to further enhance your professional profile.

Explainer Video Resources

What is a Digital Credential from Credly Academy on Vimeo.

How to Accept and Manage Your Digital Badge from Credly on Vimeo.

FAQ

If you have other questions or concerns. please contact the Eriksson College of Education at (931) 221-7512 or coe_communications@apsu.edu.

Open badges are web-enabled versions of a credential, certification or learning outcome which can be verified in real-time, online.

We have partnered with Credly to translate the learning outcomes you’ve demonstrated into a badge, issued and managed through the company digital badging platform. The technology Credly uses is based on the Open Badge Standards maintained by IMS Global. This enables you to manage, share and verify your competencies digitally.

Representing your skills as a badge gives you a way to share your abilities online in a way that is simple, trusted and can be easily verified in real time. Badges provide employers and peers concrete evidence of what you had to do to earn your credential and what you’re now capable of. Credly also offers labor market insights, based on your skills. You can search and apply for job opportunities right through Credly.

Credly is the end-to-end solution for issuing and managing digital credentials. Credly works with credible organizations to provide digital credentials to individuals, worldwide.

You will receive an email notification from Credly (admin@credly.com) with instructions for claiming your badge and setting up your account.

You can easily configure your privacy settings in Credly. You’re in complete control of the information about yourself that is made public.

No. This is a service we provide to you, at no cost.

While badges are simply digital image files, they are uniquely linked to data hosted on Credly. This link to verified data makes them more reliable and secure than a paper-based certificate. It also eliminates the possibility of anyone claiming your credential and your associated identity.

You can share your badge directly from Credly to LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook; over email; embedded in a website or in your email signature.

Labor market insights are pulled from live job requisitions. Based on your skills you can learn which employers are hiring, what job titles you might be qualified for, salary ranges and more. Search active job listings and even apply for them with just a few clicks through Credly. Access the labor market insights from your badge details page by clicking on Related Jobs, or by clicking on the skill tags assigned to your badge.

Yes, you can download your badge from the Share Badge page. Your downloaded badge contains Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) compliant metadata embedded into the image. This allows you to store your badge on other OBI-compliant badge sites, such as the Badgr Backpack.

Not at this time.

You can find tutorials and answers to additional questions here: support.credly.com.