The institute provides free micro-courses and digital badges for UMB students, staff, and faculty.
The Learning Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) celebrated a remarkable achievement by awarding its 1,500th digital badge. This milestone is a testament to the remarkable success and growth of UMB’s badging initiative and the collaborative culture shared within the UMB community.
Founded in the summer of 2022, The Learning Institute provides free micro-courses and digital badges for UMB students, staff, and faculty, currently marketing 20 digital badges through 15 asynchronous micro-courses and five Zoom/in-person training programs. The Learning Institute’s creator, Gregory A. Brightbill, EdD, MBA, MEd, explained, "UMB’s digital badges and micro-courses are the shared efforts of countless offices, departments, and collaborators. This 1,500th badge is truly an institutional achievement.”
One key element contributing to The Learning Institute’s success is its strategic partnerships with content developers and internal experts. The Learning Institute collaborates with a diverse range of entities, including the UMB Police Department, the Office of Emergency Management, the Graduate Research Innovation District (GRID), the Student Counseling Center, the Office of Sustainability, Environmental Health and Safety, the Office of the Fire Marshal, URecFit and Wellness, and the Center for Dispute Resolution. These partnerships have allowed UMB’s badging initiative to offer a wide array of courses and training programs tailored to the specific needs and interests of the UMB community.
One example is The Preparedness Pro digital badge and micro-course curriculum, an innovative initiative encouraging participants to complete five essential preparedness training courses to earn the coveted culminating digital badge. These training courses cover a range of critical skills: Emergency Preparedness, Active Assailant, CPR/AED, Stop the Bleed, and Fire Extinguisher. This comprehensive curriculum results from a collaborative partnership between the Office of Emergency Management, Police and Public Safety, Office of the Fire Marshal, and Environmental Health and Safety at UMB.
The Preparedness Pro curriculum is overseen by Laura Cathcart, PhD, of the Office of Emergency Management, who explained that through micro-credentialing and digital badging “a friendly competition is created where students, faculty, and staff can compete to see who will earn the badge first. This gamification of preparedness training encourages a culture of preparedness and resiliency at UMB.”
UMB Police Chief Thomas Leone, MSL, elaborated, "Training [like this] empowers our community to act. The micro-courses help our students, faculty, and staff to become more informed and resilient. By including our Active Assailant Preparedness Training in this lineup and providing a digital credential, we can more easily share this lifesaving information and build a more resilient UMB."
As The Learning Institute continues its evolution, charting a course for the forthcoming introduction of five to eight new digital badges in diverse domains such as conflict mediation, sustainability, professionalism, online networking, personality types, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, it is evident that the dedicated individuals shaping UMB's digital badging initiative are steadfast in their commitment to upholding UMB's foundational values of Innovation and Discovery. In doing so, they are pioneering a fresh paradigm for learning and growth that resonates throughout the entire UMB community.
For more information about The Learning Institute and its diverse portfolio of free micro-courses and digital badges, go to www.umaryland.edu/TheLearningInstitute.
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