Open Digital Badges and Micro-accreditation in the International Engineering Educator Certification Program (IEECP)

Open digital badges (OB) and micro-accreditation (MA) linked to micro-credentials (MC) are effective means for recognizing skills and competencies, of any kind, in an open, digital, and shareable way. Latin American engineering universities are currently discussing the benefits of using these strategies as a complement to the student’s final degree. In this scenario, the organizers of the International Engineering Educator Certification Program (IEECP) decided to address the use of OB in this program through its integration into a Moodle based Learning Management System (LMS). This paper describes the ongoing experience developed by the IGIP Accredited Training Center (ATC) InnovaHiEd Academy, regarding the use of OB in the IEECP, the motivation and educational decisions that led to the use of this open and universal method for the recognition of competencies, and its integration into the IEECP LMS. Moreover, this study presents evidence regarding the impact of OB and MA on the program teaching practices and participant’s engagement. This paper is expected to contribute as a reference for other investigations that address these topics, for those institutions interested in considering this approach in their learning programs and for other IGIP ATCs.