Digital Badges: Are You Ready For What’s Next?

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Digital Badges are Resume Worthy Credentials

NOTE: If you just want to jump to the 40+ badges you can earn for FREE, click HERE.

BONUS: Earn a badge in just 20 minutes, click HERE.

I have earned 21 digital badges. They have served me well in my current endeavors of building the Upskill Create Community.  They have helped establish my expertise in this area as well as give me a broad general knowledge of new technologies and skills.

I help others in our community earn badges, learn, share resources and connect with others.

My first two badges were IBM Cloud Essentials and Blockchain Essentials. Both courses are 3 hours long. All of the courses in this blog post are available for anyone to take and are 100% FREE.

The courses were enjoyable with good videos and learn-by-doing exercises. The exercises were easy to follow along with and helped fill in the gaps of my knowledge of Bluemix and Blockchain. Most of the videos are hosted on Youtube. Here’s an example from the Bluemix Essentials Course (if you can’t see the video below, click HERE):

Course Design

Each course was broken up into modules and activities in collapsible sections. I was able to take the course in chunks as my schedule allowed and I was informed of my progress at the bottom of each module (e.g. “completed 7 out of 33 modules”). At the end of each module, I was given a knowledge checkpoint question. At the end of the course, I had to correctly answer 80% of the 10 quiz questions to collect my badge. If I got less than 80%, I was able to re-take the quiz as many times as I wanted to get 80% or better.

Here’s an example of the expandable modules from the Bluemix Essentials course:

Course Requirements: As an example, here are the details for what is required to earn the Blockchain Essentials Badge:

1. Coursework: Successful completion of the Blockchain Essentials course.
2. Demonstration: Successful completion of the associated practical lab demonstrating the ability to create a working chaincode and deploy it to a blockchain network.
3. Assessment: Completion of the end-of-course test and received a score of 80% or higher.

Convenient: I wake up early on most weekend mornings and while the rest of my family is asleep, I thought I could use this time to make a small investment in my career by learning every weekend. Most courses average about 5 hours each so this is easy to complete.

Addictive: As a fan of the highly addictive collection game called Pokemon Go during the summer of 2016 (slogan – “Gotta Catch ’em All!”), I found myself feeling a similar addictive desire to get more IBM badges!

Want to earn a Digital Badge?

Here are several sources for taking courses and earning badges:

• Badges Mindmap (8 categories of courses including Blockchain, Data Science and Cloud): http://bit.ly/uc-mindmap
• Data Science Courses: https://cognitiveclass.ai/badges/
• Watson Academy: https://bit.ly/uc-watsonacademy
• IBM Skills Gateway: https://bit.ly/uc-ibmskills
• Learn Cloud and AI with IBM Badges by Mihai Criveti

My badges list: LINK

1. IBM Cloud (Bluemix) Essentials (3 hours) ✔
2. Blockchain Essentials (3 hours) ✔
3. Node-Red: Basics to Bots (4 hours) ✔
4. Watson Discovery Service Foundations Badge (1.5 hours) ✔
5. Data Science Foundations (3 hours) ✔
6. Big Data 101 (3 hours) ✔
7. Watson Conversation Service Foundations (3 hours) ✔
8. Hadoop Foundations Level 1 (5 hours) ✔
9. Python 101 for Data Science (5 hours) ✔
10. Data Science for Business – Level 1 (1.5 hours-5 hours) ✔
11. IBM Cloud Garage Explorer (1.5 hours) ✔
12. Docker Essentials: Extend your app with containers (3 hours) ✔
13. Getting Started with Kubernetes (2.5 hours) ✔

BONUS: Here’s a complete list of over 2100 badges you can earn from IBM: LINK. And here’s a list of IBMers that have earned badges: LINK.  Check out the Linkedin Post.

Grab my eBook to learn everything you need to know about earning digital badges.  Click the graphic to learn more about what’s included.

IBM Badges Wall of Fame (minimum badges required = 29)

Last update: 1-Aug-2019.  Badge Count increase (+x) is based on badge increase from 23-May-2019.

• Oliver Bodemer – 281 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/oliver-bodemer
• Sudip Lamichhane – 157 badges (+25): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/sudip
• Gourav Banerjee – 135 badges (+12): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/gourav-banerjee.651b536a
• Georges Maamari – 129 badges (+3): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/georges-maamari
• Bernd Schlosser – 123 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/bernd-schlosser/badges
• Mauricio Cadavid – 120 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/mauricio-cadavid
• Giulio Montenero – 115 badges (+3): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/giulio-montenero
• Hossam AlTurkey – 112 badges (+59): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/hossam-alturkey/badges
• Tanut Karnwai – 107 badges (+7): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/Tanut-Karnwai
• Siddhartha Sood – 102 badges (+13): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/siddhartha-sood
• Mihai Criveti – 101 badges (+7): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/mihai-criveti
• Martin Dvorsky – 99 badges (+12): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/martin-dvorsky
• Tom Halvorson – 99 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/tom-halvorson
• Alessandro Rodrigo Marialva – 98 badges (+9): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/alessandro-rodrigo-marialva/badges
• Omar Dasser – 90 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/omar-dasser/badges
• Cristiano Borges – 88 badges (+4): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/cristiano-borges-de-oliveira/badges
• Ranjith Radhamananohar – 87 badges (+8): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/ranjith-radhamanohar
• Santiago Lovera – 86 badges (+18): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/santiago-santiago-lovera-gmail-com/badges
• Alain Airom – 84 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/alain-airom/badges
• Samer Fouad – 79 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/samerfouad/badges
• Kenneth Cheung – 79 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/kenneth-cheung.6c69552d
• Ludmila Kantova – 78 badges (+4): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/ludmila-kantova
• Neil Dick Beltran – 73 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/neil-dick-beltran
• Catalin Modovan – 71 badges (+36): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/catalin-moldovan/badges
• Marshal V. Khosa – 66 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/marshal-v-khosa
• Somnath Das – 64 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/somnath-das.ebbce072
• Rafael Mello – 63 badges (+10): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/rafael-mello.72d25238
• Francisco Naranjo – 63 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/francisco-naranjo
• Muhammad Ali Raza – 62 badges (+7): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/muhammad-ali-raza/badges
• Theo Thomas – 62 badges (+10): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/theo-thomas
• Scott Kennedy – 60 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/scott-kennedy
• Raydo Matthee – 60 badges (+8): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/raydo-matthee/badges
• Vincent Perrin – 59 badges (+8): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/vincent-perrin/badges
• Chip Van Alstyne – 58 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/chipva
• Daria Korenkova – 58 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/daria-korenkova/badges
• Chris Phillips – 58 badges (+16): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/chris-phillips.bdd87ec5/badges
• Francisco Gomeztagle – 57 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/francisco-gomeztagle
• Luis Alejandro Valle – 57 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/luisvalle
• Tom Bosmans – 56 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/tom-bosmans
• Handoko Lie – 55 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/handoko-lie
• Radek Volf – 54 badges (+3): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/radek-volf/badges
• Shreyas Mulay – 52 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/shreyasmulay23
• Marko Ekelo – 51 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/marco-ekelo
• Derek Hubbard – 50 badges (+4): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/derek-hubbard
• John McNamara – 49 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/john-mcnamara.1ef76c24
• Kimmo Kaskikallio – 49 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/kimmo-kaskikallio
• Claudia Degli Esposti – 49 badges (+4): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/claudia-degli-esposti.0239309b
• Jeffrey Curtiss – 49 badges (+8): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/jeffrey-curtiss
• Juha Ekstrom – 48 badges (+6): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/juha-ekstrom/badges
• Leslie Rodriguez – 48 badge (+8): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/leslierodriguez
• Johnnie Ng – 48 badges (+9): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/johnnie-ng/badges
• Indradeep Kama – 46 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/indradeep-kama
• Andreas Graef – 46 badges (+6): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/andreas-graef
• Victor Kazuyuki Shinya – 46 badges (+8): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/vshinya/badges
• Amit Srivastava – 45 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/amit-srivastava.d0435a52/badges
• Juan Montalvo – 45 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/juan-montalvo
• Andre Gusmao – 45 badges (+4): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/andre-gusmao
• Amit Srivastava – 45 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/amit-srivastava.d0435a52/badges
• Pramod Singh – 43 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/pramod-singh.f475cea1
• Hycind Santhibhavan – 42 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/hycind
• Ashraf Ali Tajudeen – 42 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/ashraf-ali-thajudeen/badges
• Rafael Arturo Ramirez Sus – 42 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/rafael-arturo-ramirez-sus
• Ganbadrakh Danzan-Ayush – 40 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/ganbadrakh-danzan-ayush/badges
• Felipe Gama – 40 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/felipe-gama/badges
• Jody Burks – 40 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/jody-burks
• Carlos Matos – 40 badges (+7): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/carlos-matos.2e614c04/badges
• Michele Nicosia – 38 badges (+4): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/michele-nicosia/badges
• Adam Nowotarski – 37 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/adam-nowotarski
• Srinivas Cheemalapati – 37 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/srinivas-cheemalapati
• Hema Cherukuri – 37 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/hema-cherukuri/badges
• Michael Rocha – 37 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/mikejrocha/badges
• Elena Fernandez – 36 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/elena-fernandez-garces
• Kodiginti Rajesh – 36 badges (+3): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/kodigintirajesh
• Giovanni Triunfo – 36 badges (+7): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/giovanni-triunfo/badges
• Vicky Rose – 35 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/vicky-rose/badges
• Ayan Mukherjee – 35 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/ayan_mukherjee
• Pedro Soares – 35 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/pedrosoares/badges
• Stanley Soman – 35 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/stanley-soman/badges
• Emily Marucci – 35 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/emily-marucci/badges
• Bartholomew Zhang – 35 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/bartholomew-zhang/badges
• Manikanda Prabhu – 35 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/manikanda-prabhu-r/badges
• Laio Curi – 35 badges (+3): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/laio-curi/badges
• John Martin – 34 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/john-martin.71ebc4be
• Brian Wilson – 33 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/brian-wilson.99f6a03d/badges
• Christian Relling – 33 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/christian-relling/badges
• Bobbi Grace Hebermehl – 33 badges (+3): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/bobbi-hebermehl/badges
• Yogeswaran Govindarajah – 32 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/yogeswaran-govindarajah/badges
• Muhammad Gad – 32 badges (+3): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/muhammad.gad/badges
• Pal Krogdahl – 32 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/pal-krogdahl/badges
• Abhiroop Ghosh – 31 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/abhiroop-ghosh
• Baltazar Rodriguez – 31 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/baltazar-rodriguez
• Subrata Chakraborty – 30 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/subrata-chakraborty/badges
• Leonardo Kenji Shikida – 30 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/leonardo-kenji-shikida
• Narendran Subramanian – 29 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/narendran-subramanian.9346ea89/badges

 

Non-IBMers Badges Wall of Fame (minimum badges required = 15)

Last update: 1-Aug-2019.  Badge Count increase (+x) is based on badge count increase from 23-May-2019.

• Wes Morgan – 211 badges (+5): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/wes-morgan
• Jochen Meixner – 48 badges (+10): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/jochen-meixner
• Juan Francisco Martin Garcia – 47 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/jfmartin/badges
• Mohamed Gamal – 44 badges (+2): https://www.youracclaim.com/user/mohamed.gamal
• Luciano S. Mori – 41 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/luciano-s-mori
• Ahmed El Sayed – 38 badges (+6): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/ahmed-el-sayed/badges
• Christian Brandlehner – 37 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/christian-brandlehner
• Marcus Pinto – 35 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/marcus-pinto/badges
• Brandon Kutsch – 31 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/brandon-kutsch
• Sayan Chakraborty – 24 badges (+1): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/sayan-chakraborty.0f07ec11/badges
• Robert Mapstead – 21 badges (+0): https://www.youracclaim.com/users/robert-mapstead/badges

 

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