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

  • person signing a bill at a desk with a faint glow around the document. A tablet and laptop are subtly visible in the background, with soft colors and minimal digital elements

    California Governor Signs AI Content Safeguards into Law

    California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed off on a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills, signaling the state’s latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.

  • close-up illustration of a hand signing a legislative document

    California Passes AI Safety Legislation, Awaits Governor's Signature

    California lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved a bill that would impose new restrictions on AI technologies, potentially setting a national precedent for regulating the rapidly evolving field. The legislation, known as S.B. 1047, now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom's desk. He has until the end of September to decide whether to sign it into law.

  • illustration of a VPN network with interconnected nodes and lines forming a minimalist network structure

    Report: Increasing Number of Vulnerabilities in OpenVPN

    OpenVPN, a popular open source virtual private network (VPN) system integrated into millions of routers, firmware, PCs, mobile devices and other smart devices, is leaving users open to a growing list of threats, according to a new report from Microsoft.

  • interconnected cubes and circles arranged in a grid-like structure

    Hugging Face Gradio 5 Offers AI-Powered App Creation and Enhanced Security

    Hugging Face has released version 5 of its Gradio open source platform for building machine learning (ML) applications. The update introduces a suite of features focused on expanding access to AI, including a novel AI-powered app creation tool, enhanced web development capabilities, and bolstered security measures.