How Canvas Credentials Enhance K-12 Professional Development

The world of education is constantly evolving, and in recent years, micro-credentials and badges have emerged as a valuable tool for educators and students alike. These digital credentials offer a way to recognise and validate learning that occurs outside of traditional degree programs, and they can be particularly useful for individuals seeking to build lifelong learning habits. 

What are micro-credentials? 

Micro-credentials are typically smaller, more focused learning opportunities that allow individuals to gain specific skills or knowledge in a particular subject area. These credentials can be earned through online courses, workshops, and other educational programs and are often stackable, meaning that they can be combined to form a larger credential. 

What are digital badges? 

Digital Badges, on the other hand, are digital representations of achievements or skills earned through various learning experiences. They can be displayed on a person's online profile or resume and serve as evidence of their knowledge and expertise. 

Key benefits of micro-credentials and badges 

Flexibility 

One of the key benefits of micro-credentials and badges is that they allow individuals to take ownership of their learning and pursue their educational goals at their own pace. Rather than being tied to a traditional degree program with a set timeline, learners can choose which skills they want to develop and when they want to do it. 

This flexibility is particularly valuable for educators, who often have busy schedules and limited time to pursue additional education. By earning micro-credentials and badges, they can gain new skills and knowledge in a more manageable way that fits into their existing commitments. 

Showcase Expertise 

Micro-credentials and badges can help educators demonstrate their expertise to others. For example, a teacher who has earned a micro-credential in project-based learning can use that credential to show their colleagues and administrators that they have specialiszed knowledge in that area. This can help them stand out in the job market and potentially lead to new career opportunities. 

Networking 

Furthermore, micro-credentials and digital badges can also benefit educators by providing opportunities for professional development and networking. Many micro-credential and badge programs offer access to online communities where learners can connect with others who share their interests and goals. This can lead to valuable collaborations and the exchange of ideas and resources. 

Empowering Teachers' Professional Development with Canvas Credentials: A Guide to Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials 

As the education landscape continues to evolve, K-12 teachers must stay up-to-date with the latest technologies, teaching methods, and skills. Professional development programs are essential for teachers to improve their skills, stay current with the latest trends, and advance in their careers. Canvas Credentials is a powerful tool that can help K-12 teachers achieve their professional development goals. 

Canvas Credentials is an innovative platform that allows districts to create and issue digital badges and micro-credentials. These credentials are designed to be highly specific and focused on a particular skill or competency, making them an ideal way for K-12 teachers to demonstrate their expertise in various areas. 

See how Canvas Credentials can benefit teachers and enhance their K-12 professional development. 

Enhanced Credibility 

Digital badges and micro-credentials are becoming increasingly popular in the education sector. They are recognised and valued by employers and can be used to demonstrate specific skills and competencies. Canvas Credentials provides a framework for creating and issuing credible digital badges and micro-credentials that teachers can use to demonstrate their expertise. 

Canvas Credentials gives teachers and staff a system in which they can articulate their accomplishments in a standardised way. In this system, they can see which milestone badges they’ve earned, measure progress, and share their learner record with third parties when needed. 

Increased Accessibility 

Traditional professional development programs can be expensive and time-consuming. Digital badges and micro-credentials offered through Canvas Credentials are accessible to teachers online, making it easier for them to acquire new skills and knowledge at their own pace and convenience. 

With Canvas Credentials, educators can produce more than just a transcript of which professional development courses they’ve taken over the years. With verifiable digital credentials, they keep a comprehensive learner record of competencies and accomplishments they’ve already built as they plan ahead for what achievements are next on their pathways. 

Customisation 

Canvas Credentials allows organisations to create highly specific digital badges and micro-credentials that are tailored to the needs of individual teachers. This customisation ensures that the credentials are relevant to the specific skills and competencies that teachers need to succeed. 

Canvas Credentials offer limitless ways for educators to attain and maintain their credentials. Open Pathways enables them to take any badge from any source, stack them together in a system of rules, and issue a new credential. 

Integration with Learning Management Systems 

Canvas Credentials can be integrated with the learning management system Canvas LMS, making it easy for teachers to track their progress and achievements. This integration also ensures that the digital badges and micro-credentials earned by teachers are authentic and verified. 

In the ever-evolving professional education landscape, educators collect a large number of credentials and skills over the course of their career, but these experiences are often siloed. The onus is often left to educators to compile and verify the skills they’ve mastered. What they need is a simple way to stack and transfer their credentials and competencies and carry these skills with them for the rest of their professional journey. Canvas Credentials provides educators with a verifiable, stackable, portable way to showcase their credentials. 

Improved Professional Development Opportunities 

With Canvas Credentials, teachers have access to a wide range of professional development opportunities. They can earn digital badges and micro-credentials in areas such as technology integration, project-based learning, and social-emotional learning, to name a few. These credentials can help teachers advance in their careers and improve their teaching skills. 

Skills-Based Search 

Finding well-qualified candidates is a challenge for every district and school administrator. Canvas Credentials offers Comprehensive Learning and Employment Records (LER) that simplify talent acquisition by equipping schools and districts with a skills-aligned lens to inform their search and connect existing employees with upskilling or reskilling programs in their district. 

Actionable Analytics 

District leaders need a way to actively monitor the health of their professional development programs. Reporting and analytics within Canvas Credentials grant leaders insight into professional development engagement metrics so that they can discover which PD opportunities are most effective with badges. From here, administrators are empowered to monitor staff professional development and manage PD metrics. 

With these metrics in hand, administrators can discover, understand, and report on badging metrics and employee PD achievements. Finally, with this information, administrators can see both the number of badges shared over time as well as where badges are shared so that they can strategically fill in any gaps in professional development moving forward. 

Reward Professional Development 

Every district and school has a mission that they strive to achieve. In order to be successful, they need to identify and promote the skills that align with their mission. This is where rewarding professional development through badges comes into play. 

Canvas Credentials allow districts and schools to build longitudinal pathways that highlight the skills educators need in their lifelong learning journey. By tracking badge awards, group enrollments, and pathway progress for districtwide initiatives, they are better equipped to guide educators and staff on their professional development journeys. 

Canvas Credentials is an essential tool for teachers who want to enhance their professional development. It offers a range of benefits, including enhanced credibility, increased accessibility, customisation, integration with the Learning Management System (LMS), and improved professional development opportunities. Teachers who earn digital badges and micro-credentials through Canvas Credentials can demonstrate their expertise and advance in their careers. 

Learn more about Canvas Credentials. 

Do you want to know more about tools for the school districts? Download our free ebook "The Pillars of Today’s K-12 Classroom'' or contact us for more information on how we can help you do more with Canvas Credentials.