Guidance for Current Issuers

Each new badge that an issuer would like to issue should go through the request process.  If you are a current issuer and would like to add a badge to your offerings, consult your local Champion to begin the request process for the new badge. 

People assigned the roles of Owner and Staff member in the Canvas Credentials issuer space can issue badges. 

The Owner role is assigned only to local badge Champions.

If you are interested in issuing badges yourself, please discuss this with your local Champion, who can assign you the issuer Staff member role, if appropriate.  

This information is not available within the platform. We therefore recommend that Champions only assign issuer Staff member roles to a limited number of colleagues.

Any mistake in the issuing of a badge can be corrected by the issuer revoking the badge.

This means that the recipient (earner) you issued the badge to will no longer have access to the badge.

You can revoke a badge by going to your issuer space. Locate and open the relevant badge.

Navigate to the Award tab and find the earner whose badge you want to revoke. From the ellipsis (...) menu, click Revoke.

Please note that earners will not be automatically notified if any of their badges are revoked. Therefore, we recommend informing them if any of their badges are revoked and if they will receive a new, correct badge instead.

A. Editing the original badge

Yes, you can. However, we recommend you do not make major changes to the badge, as this will reflect on the badges you have already awarded.

If you would like to make substantial changes to the badge, you should complete a new badge application form and submit it through your Champion to the Governance Group for review. Once it has been approved, you may go into the platform, make a copy of the original badge, and edit the copy. This might be easier than creating a new badge from scratch.

B. Editing the ‘awarding’ of the badge

After a badge has been awarded, issuers have the ability to edit some of the information entered at the time of the award. This includes recipient name, award date, narrative and evidence.

However, the email a badge has been awarded to cannot be changed after it has been awarded. (See the FAQ 'What should I do if I issued a badge to the wrong person or email address?'.)

To edit the name, date, narrative or evidence on an awarded badge:

• From the badge award list in your issuer space, find the badge award you wish to edit.
• Click the ellipsis (...) for that badge award.
• From the drop-down menu, select Edit.

If an earner hasn't received the award email, you as the issuer should check which email the badge was awarded to.

• First clarify with the earner which email address they expected the digital badge to be issued to and which email addresses they have added to their Canvas Credentials account.
• In your issuers space, find the badge award you wish to view.
• Check  which email the badge was awarded to.

If the badge was awarded to an incorrect email, you will need to revoke the badge and reissue a correct badge.  Please see the FAQ 'What should I do if I issued a badge to the wrong person or email address?' for more information.

If the badge was awarded to a different email than the earner used to create their Canvas Credentials account, the earner needs to add an additional email to their account. Once they have added their secondary email, any badges awarded to that address will also appear in their backpack. You can refer them to the earner's guidance page.

• Organisation admin (aka system admin): This role is restricted to the Service Team within Information Services only.
• Issuer Owner: Staff role assigned to local Badge Champions. This role can create, manage and issue badges; add staff; and assign other roles within their issuer space.
• Issuer Editor: This role is not in use at the moment.
• Issuer Staff member: Staff role, assigned to individuals who wish to be able to issue badges. They cannot create or edit badges, or add others to the issuer space. They can only issue badges that have already been created by Issuer owners.
• Earner (aka recipient): This is not a platform defined role. This term represents anyone who is awarded a badge, which can be UoE students and staff, as well as people external to the University.

The  digital badges service team within Information Services (IS) will have Organisation admin roles. They will be able to assign new Issuer owners (Champions) to their issuer spaces. The Champions should only add a limited number of Staff Issuer member roles to those interested in issuing badges. IS will perform regular audits to ensure roles have been assigned correctly.

You will need to determine who your potential School or department Champion will be. If your School or department has a Learning Technologist, they might be most suitable for performing the Champion role, so we suggest having a conversation with them. If your School or department does not have a Learning Technologist, then we advise discussing internally.

If you require additional support or information about finding a local Badge Champion or establishing an issuer space, please log a call with IS Helpline, being sure to include your School/department in the relevant information. Once a local Champion has been agreed, IS will provide on-boarding and training and set up an Issuer space for the Champion to manage.

If you are interested in creating a new issuer space or new badges, we recommend discussing this with the relevant authorities within your local School or department.

There is specific training for the badge Champions, including guidance documents and an instructional video.  For issuers, there is no formal training.  If you have read the guidance above and still need further support, you may wish to speak to  your Champion or place a call through Helpline.

Not necessarily. Within the University of Edinburgh, some departments have already been issuing digital badges for several years, which has highlighted the need for a central service. Our aims are to:

• create consistency for all users that issue or earn badges
• co-create and share best practice amongst colleagues
• provide support
• create a badge community within the institution
• provide an opportunity for more colleagues to get involved.

Users may continue to issue badges outwith the IS supported service. However, we would be keen to discuss.