I provide a lot of professional development to staff at my school district throughout the year. While other facilitators may provide treats or other types of rewards for their attendees, instead, I reward them with a customized digital badge.
Last year, I started to distribute digital badges for all of the attendees in my professional development sessions. Although I received little feedback from them, I still sent it out. I felt they deserved it and can proudly display their badge and brag about it.
So how did I do it? First, I used a Google Form to collect their information, including their name, and email address and all of the responses get recorded into a Google Spreadsheet.
Then, I used the Bitmoji extension to create my avatar. This extension can be found on the Chrome Web store. I created a new Google document and activated the extension in the browser. I searched the library to find a Bitmoji that had a positive message or emotion. There are tons to choose from.
Once you choose your category, pick the specific Bitmoji from the category by dragging it into the Google document. Capture it using a screen capturing tool such as Windows Snipit, Jing, Nimbus or Snagit and be sure to save the file to your device or to Google Drive.
Finally, I used Credly to create the customized badge. This application gives you the option to customize the badge shape, icon, text, border and colors. I found this tool to be user friendly and quick to learn. I would highly recommend that you try it by creating a free account.
After you create your badge, it is time to give credit it to the attendees or students in your class via email. Simply go to 'Give' from the menu, select 'Choose an Existing Credit', fill in the recipient's first and last names and email address as shown below. Once completed, simply click 'Send Credit'. The recipient will receive your digital badge.
Once you start creating badges, you will get addicted! I use them all the time to reward teachers, and students on their accomplishments in my class or professional development sessions.
Here is a short animation on using Bitmoji and Credly to create customized digital badges.
Enjoy!
