Name of Service

Digital Badging Service

Scope:

What does this Service Offer?

The Digital Badging Service team manages the UW-Madison (hereafter "UW") digital badge platform as defined by UW Policy 1088, including:

• Communicating and documenting the service's offerings and business processes.
• Creating and configuring "badge issuers" who are University academic offices authorized to issue badges.
• Managing the academic approval process for digital badges.
• Providing support, consulting, and validation to ensure each digital badge complies with UW Policy 1088.
• Configuring digital badges, including creation of public badge graphics using official UW branding. 
• Analyzing and reporting on University badging activity.
• Ensuring the sustainability, efficiency, and effectiveness of the badging service, including funding, staffing, and technologies of the service.

What Can the Badging Service Team Do for Users?

• Onboard and train new issuers and users.
• Provide training aids.
• Provide support to Canvas Credentials users related to using the platform.
• Provide advice on best practices within the platform, complying with UW Policy 1088, and on badging generally.
• Provide information and training related to using new features/functions.
• Represent users and issuers by working with Instructure and DoIT to resolve issues, raise questions, and facilitate discussions.

What Is Out of Scope for the Service Team?

• Taking on a badge issuer’s tasks, such as awarding the issuer’s badges to awardees.
• Offering exceptions to UW Policy 1088. For such matters please contact the Policy Manager listed at the end of UW Policy 1088.

Availability

How Do I Get This Service?

Service is generally requested by completing an Intake Request Form. A member of the badging team will reach out to the requester. Service requests may include assistance with features of existing badges, staff training, data questions, digital badge strategy consultations, etc. It is recommended that users exploring implementation of digital badging and users  new to digital badging request a pre-Lumen consult to learn more about digital badging and the digital badging approval process at UW-Madison. This pre-Lumen consult will ease the Lumen process for new users.

Who May Consume This Service?

The intended service consumers include, for example:

• UW faculty, staff, and instructors offering educational programs to any audience, including the public or internal University audiences.
• UW employees offering skills training of any kind, to any audience.
• UW staff supporting the administration of educational programs and trainings.

How do I create a Digital Badge? 

Users who wish to request a new digital badge may do so by submitting a Lumen Badge Request.

Uses of This Service

What Uses Are Permitted?

Any use permitted by UW Policy 1088. Examples include:

• Skills taught and assessed in noncredit offerings.
• Skills taught and assessed in a summit or similar event.
• Skills taught and assessed in a co-curricular setting.
• Skills taught and assessed as a portion of a credit course.
• Skills taught and assessed across several credit courses (but not equivalent to a certificate), where the skills taught are a portion of the courses' curricula.

What Uses Are Not Permitted?

Any use not permitted by UW Policy 1088. Examples include:

• Badges that claim the same meaning as a credit offering (course, certificate, or degree).
• Badges that do not assert that each awardee's actual learning has been assessed by the University. 
• Badges that are not assessed by a UW instructor.

Service Uptime and Lifecycle

Canvas Credentials current system status and its outage history can be accessed at Instructure Status. Instructure has not published a separate uptime guarantee that is particular to Canvas Credentials.

Once UW has issued a badge to an awardee, the awardee has full control over the badge lifecycle, even if UW were to stop using the Canvas Credentials platform, or if the badge's original UW badge issuer were to stop using the Digital Badging Service. Please see documentation on the Using the Canvas Badges Backpack page.

Support and Training

How to Get Support

To request support from the Digital Badging Service team, please complete the LEG Service Inquiries form and select the Digital Badge Support option under Type of Assistance Requested.

How to Get Additional Training

For self-service support at any time, all are invited to avail themselves of vendor-provided platform documentation on the Canvas Credentials page.

To request training from the Digital Badging Service team, please complete the LEG Service Inquiries form and select the Digital Badge Training option under Type of Assistance Requested.

Costs

Digital Badging invoicing is done for each issuer at the end of the fiscal year for digital badging activity completed in the prior fiscal year.

Tier 1

Tier 2 (all customers not in Tier 1)

Tier 3 (all customers exceeding Tier 2)

Resources and Responsibilities

System Administrator

• Configures new users and issuers.
• Trains new users and issuers regarding use of the platform.
• Creates, maintains, and shares training aids and other “how to” and best practice documents.
• Publishes and maintains the service web presence.
• Promotes badging to stakeholders.
• Configures and maintains data integrations between the badging platform and related platforms, such as Canvas, except where other UW teams have that responsibility.

Currently assigned to Learning Technology Systems Administrator, Division of Continuing Studies

Service Manager

• Defines and requests the resources needed to operate the service.
• Negotiates Service Level Agreements with customers.
• Works with the vendor to ensure service availability according to agreed-upon SLAs.
• Works with the vendor to ensure platform data integrity, security, and appropriate availability.
• Works with the vendor to ensures platform scalability across the UW-Madison enterprise
• Supervises staff providing the service.
• Communicates service performance to stakeholders.
• Defines and prepares decision items for service governance.

Currently assigned to LEG Instructional Design Manager, Division of Continuing Studies

Service Owner

• Reviews and approves Service Level Agreements with customers.
• Reviews, approves, and monitors service metrics.
• Provides or acquires resources to operate the service.
• Facilitates service governance.

Currently assigned to IT Director, Division of Continuing Studies

Definitions

Badge: A digital indicator of accomplishment or skill that complies with UW Policy 1088 and can be displayed, accessed, and verified online by anyone with whom the badge awardee shares the badge.

Badge awardee: A learner who is awarded a badge indicating that learner has successfully completed the instructional materials and assessment of the specific skills covered by that badge, who has successfully engaged in instruction and assessment of specific skills, as indicated by the badge, and is subsequently issued a badge. 

Badge issuer: The portion/section of the platform (currently Canvas Credentials for UW badges) that is set up for a school, college, or unit for the purpose of issuing badges related to learning opportunities and related assessments provided by that school, college, or unit. 

Platform: Currently Canvas Credentials for UW badges, the product that the University purchases from Instructor to enable us to offer digital badges.

User: A UW employee who is assigned “staff” status in the platform and has the ability to issue badges to badge awardees.