Cengage Partners with Accredible to Offer Digital Badging in Intro to Computing Courses

Through a partnership with digital credentialing platform Accredible, Cengage is making it easier for students in its Introduction to Computing courses to showcase workforce skills to potential employers. Students using Cengage's MindTap online learning platform will be able to earn achievement badges for competencies that demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft Office 365, the company explained in a news announcement. The badges can then be added to a student's digital résumé, online portfolio, or LinkedIn profile.

Accredible's badging software adheres to 1EdTech's Open Badges v2 standard, ensuring that the badges are verifiable and shareable across platforms. Each badge indicates "milestone achievement" for a specific Microsoft application, such as Word or PowerPoint. The badges will be available in all Cengage Introduction to Computing programs beginning with fall 2023 classes.

"The workforce skills gap is a serious issue that affects organizations in every industry," commented Cheryl Costantini, SVP for Academic Product at Cengage, in a statement. "One way to proactively address the issue is to allow students to master universally adaptable skills, like Microsoft Office 365, before they enter the workforce. Students want to know that the skills they're acquiring will result in employment, and employers want to know that they're hiring the most qualified candidates. Our partnership with Accredible accomplishes this goal, building skilled candidate pipelines that fill a serious need."

For more information, visit the Cengage site.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • closeup of hands using smart phone

    Learning Continuity Built into the LMS Withstands Cloud or Cybersecurity Interruptions

    When your institution's administrative or instructional capabilities face disruption from natural, technical, or malicious events, what measures does your LMS offer to provide a "business as usual" operating and learning environment? Instructure's Ryan Lufkin comments on the LMS and learning continuity.

  • digital brain with network connections

    Microsoft Moving to Internally Developed AI Models in Office Apps

    Microsoft is reportedly using its own in-house artificial intelligence models to handle some workloads in Excel and Outlook, offering new evidence that the company is moving its AI strategy beyond model development and into large-scale cost reduction.

  • businessman holding tablet with holographic AI icons

    Google Moves AI Agents into the Mainstream

    At its recent I/O developer conference, Google presented artificial intelligence agents not as a distant research project, but as a product strategy spanning Search, personal assistants, productivity software, developer tools, and smart glasses.

  • artificial intelligence on laptop

    OpenAI to Combine AI Products into Desktop 'Superapp'

    OpenAI is reportedly developing a desktop application that would combine several of its emerging AI products into a single platform, according to reports, marking the latest step in the company's effort to transform ChatGPT from a standalone chatbot into a broader productivity and automation environment.