Digital Badges for Students and Student Employees

St. Thomas offers online modules and mini-courses that lead to new learning, and then earning a digital badge credential. View all of our digital badges on the One.StThomas.edu Badge site. This article highlights what may interest you for starters...    

Why Digital Badges? 

Digital badges are???electronic, clickable images that document knowledge, qualities, and skills that you gain in an online module or mini-course. Employers, prospective employers, and professional network groups can click on your badges for details on what you did to earn that badge. ??? 

St. Thomas partners with Canvas Credentials (digital credential service provider) to host and display your digital badges. Digital badges are portable; when you graduate from St. Thomas, your badges stay with you!

Why take time for a digital badge course? 

• Badges showcase your skills and competencies to prospective employers. By sharing your badge(s), prospective employers see your verifiable, secure information of specific skills and knowledge that you earned with that badge at St. Thomas.  

• Some badge courses complement or enhance your degree program and transcript. 

• Badges may offer an edge to certain St. Thomas opportunities; your work on badges documents your initiative, technology skills, and ways you “go the extra mile” to proactively take initiative in your learning. ???  

• At times a badge may help you to explore an interest or passion outside of your degree program.  

The remainder of this page highlights several badges that may be of interest to student employees and/or students who want to strengthen a career path or explore an interest!

We don't provide enrollment details on all of our digital badges since many of the Basics or Foundational badges then automatically point you to intermediate or advanced badges available after you complete the first badge in a series. 

Canvas Course Building Badges

St. Thomas students use the Canvas course management system in your classes. And, the Tommie Tech Canvas Technology site for undergraduates or graduate students introduces you to Canvas basics and other technology needed as a student.

The Canvas Course Builder badge series sponsored by the Innovation, Technology, and Services (ITS) team is for student employees, club leaders, and staff who will build content into a Canvas course. These trainings also align with a career path around design or technology so you could speak to your skill set with digital badge credentials. 

If this interests you, enroll in the Canvas Course Builder Badge 1 course. 

Next, the Canvas Course Builder 2 intermediate-level badge can be enrolled in upon completion of the Canvas Course Builder 1 badge. 

Digital Accessibility Skills Series 

Develop skills to create digital content and communications that are more accessible for all people (including people with visible or invisible disabilities and users of assistive technology). These badges are sponsored by ITS and the Digital Accessibility Service Team (DAST). 

The Digital Accessibility Basics and Learning Hub (self-enroll link) badge helps you start to apply digital accessibility practices in your student, work, and community life. Digital accessibility skills are marketable skills that can be attached to any career that in some way involves creating digital documents and/or using technology! This badge takes about one hour.

The Digital Accessibility Basics and and Learning hub also guides you to additional digital accessibility such as the Digital Accessibility Ambassador badge mini-course, the Accessible Documents badge, Assistive Technology badge, and ongoing learning sessions. 

Digital Learning Success Series

Learn to better guide other people’s learning in the digital/online space. These badges are for student employees, club leaders, and other students who require skills to guide people's learning in a Canvas site. The ITS/STELAR Digital Learning Success team manages these badges. 

The Digital Site Facilitator badge module helps you to learn more about an effective online presence as well as technical Canvas skills such as sending course announcements, and how various assignment tools and features work for those in a Teaching Assistant or Teacher role in Canvas. 

The Badge Reviewer module opens up after you complete the Digital Site Facilitator badge. That second badge supports those who will be engaging in or facilitating online discussion conversations, reviewing and grading work in a Canvas badge site, and supporting other people to learn well in a St. Thomas digital badge course. 

Digital/Technology: More Badge Options

These are additional digital badges that may be of interest to certain students or student employees in expanding your digital competencies! 

The Data Foundations Badge (sponsored by the ITS IDAR team) introduces the fundamental concepts and skills required for working with data, and the tools used to harness it. This self-paced badge takes about 2-3 hours to complete. 

We also have a Microsoft 365 Badge Series. Self-enroll into the Microsoft 365 Basics badge (2-3 hours) and Intermediate level badge using Office 365/Microsoft tools (2-3 hours).  

Lab Safety-Engineering Department Badge Series

There are several digital badges sponsored by the University of St. Thomas Engineering Department that pair in-person training with online content.   

The Lab Safety Badge teaches the basic knowledge needed to reduce your risk of injury when working in the Engineering Labs. What you learn here will also be applicable in other lab-like spaces you may work in outside the University as well.

You can self-enroll here in the Lab Safety badge, and find more information at the Engineering Labs One St. Thomas site. Upon completion of the Lab Safety badge, there are additional badges including Wood 1 and Wood 2. 

Lab Safety-Chemistry Department Badge Series

There are two digital badges and counting created by the University of St. Thomas Chemistry Department to properly prepare you to work with chemicals and equipment in the Chemistry labs.

The Lab Safety:Chemistry badge will give you the basic knowledge needed to reduce your risk of injury when working in the Chemistry Labs.

Upon completion of the Lab Safety: Chemistry badge is the following badge, "Chemical Safety" which dives deeper into the use and disposal of chemicals, as well as required safety and regulatory trainings.

Sustainability Badges 

St. Thomas has several digital badges (in partnership with the Office of Sustainability Initiatives and the Biology department) that expand your understanding of ways to be a steward of the planet and live in interdependence within our ecosystem.  

Start with the Sustainability Essentials badge (takes under an hour to complete!) This intro module tools you with core concepts of Sustainability and their connection to our St. Thomas mission. Also, learn how to get involved and contribute to efforts at St. Thomas and beyond.

We invite you to dig into the Pollinator Path badge series!  Pollinator Path Principles (badge 1) introduces you to many types of pollinators and the plants that depend upon them, and much more.

Then you will be introduced to the Pollinator Path in Practice badge.

And, if possible, please visit the St. Thomas Pollinator Path garden as your take on this new learning; the course includes directions to find that and also is filled with photos and videos from the garden!

Student Tutor/Academic Support Series

Student Peer Academic Support Series badges (sponsored by the Academic Affairs department, Tutor program, and ITS) are for student employees who provide tutoring or other types of academic or learning support. The badge series includes a Tutor Start-up Essentials, Tutor Foundations, Principles of Teaching and Learning, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices badge for student tutors.

The Tutor Champion badge is earned upon completion of these four badges.

This badge series is currently only open for students who are hired as tutors. Please ask your tutor staff supervisor to enroll you. 

More Resources  

• Our OneStThomas Badge and Microcredential site is where to find all current badges for students, student employees, staff, and faculty. 
• Also find our St. Thomas badges on our public St. Thomas Canvas Credentials website. Click and read about our badges and the type of information employers or others would see when you share or post your badge. (Note: Your badge would also include your name, the date it was earned, and all the micro-data about what you did to earn the badge.) 
• If you have ideas on badges that you’d like to see made available to students (or even interested in helping to develop trainings), please send our badging service team your ideas, or set up a consultation with us!