What are digital badges?

Online badges are a new credential used in informal and online learning environments show proficiency in a wide range of skills. Online badges signal achievement in both newer skill sets (app development) granular skill sets (PHP coding) and soft skills (collaboration). Online badges are free, portable, and universal and can be used to obtain jobs or educational opportunities. Online badges are also used to “gamify” courses and are found to motivate and retain students. Mentors and teachers assign badges to teams once the fulfill each requirement.

In addition to the “Helpful Feedback” P2PU badge available to all participants, Technovation Challenge has created five online badges that girls can earn for completing App Inventor tutorials that correspond to learning the following skills:

Crystal Ball Badge – Events + Variables + Lists
Paint Pot Badge – Events + Variables
Mole Mash Badge – Procedures + Debugging
Create your own App Badge- Breaking away from instructions
No Text While Driving -Text to speech

Mentors and teachers also receive a badge for completing a professional development training with tips on how to coach Technovation teams.

How to Give a Badge to Your Team:

To give a badge, find the badge on the lefthand panel of the task, and select it. Then click "Award Badge to Peer." You'll then need to enter the team's username and a brief description of what they did to earn it.