Professional Development

Digital Badges and Credentials

Mon, 07/27/2020 - 14:07

Digital Badge Features

American Camp Association badges truly stand out with innovative and exceptional features! Each badge displays the following information by default:

  • Your name, the American Camp Association logo, and the title of your course or event
  • A detailed description of your course/event with links back to ACA
  • The date when your badge was issued
  • Because these credentials are digital, hosted, and unique, anyone viewing your credential knows that it was issued by American Camp Association and only by the American Camp Association

And you can do much more with your digital credentials:

Document your learning. With ACA, you can develop your learning portfolio without breaking the bank; keep your money and keep learning.

Add “evidence items” by link or file upload. Your imagination is the limit! Share your course notes, discussion forums contributions, quiz grades, essays, projects, personal reflections — anything that serves to prove what you have learned.

Display on your LinkedIn profile. With one click, let your LinkedIn network know that you continually pursue excellence through your “always learning” approach!

Include a personal or professional reference. Ask a course mate, employer, or friend who can vouch for your learning to share a brief statement of support.

Quickly share on social media. One-click sharing makes it easy to let your networks know about your accomplishments — and to help spread the word about ACA.

Share by link anywhere. Anyone with the link can view your public certificate and only the certificates you choose to share with them.

Set as public or private. How and when you share your certificate is up to you.

Print or save to PDF. File it away, frame it for the wall, stick it to your refrigerator door, keep an offline copy for your records, attach it to emails, embed it in your website, etc.

Useful Resources

Learn more about American Camp Association badges from Accredible:

Please add our domain @acacamps.org to your safe senders list so you don’t miss any important emails about your digital credentials. 

ACA Staff Training — Certificates of Added Qualifications

Fri, 02/21/2020 - 14:18

Each certificate course covers all thirteen core competencies required to run a camp successfully and includes curriculum components suited to a variety of learning styles. Continuing education credits available.

Progression of Competencies for All CAQs

ACA’s Staff Training Certificate Courses are designed for individuals from varied audiences interested in expanding their knowledge and skills related to particular roles in camp or related youth development work.  These staff training certificate courses are considered foundational for the varied audiences addressed since all thirteen core competencies are addressed within each certificate course. Individuals can complete the competency-based requirements and learning activities for one or more certificates, as warranted by their professional needs, time, and interests.

Candidates for each certificate move through the curriculum components at their own pace and complete the required learning activities when ready. Requirements vary by certificate but can include reading articles, posting to an online forum, completing journal entries, viewing videos, conducting observations, and having discussions with a colleague.

A digital badge suitable for use with social media and electronic communication as well as a certificate suitable for printing are awarded upon the successful completion of requirements and learning activities. Continuing education credits (CECs) are awarded for participation and completion of the certificate courses and vary from 15 to 20 CECs per certificate. ACA maintains an educational history for all educational and professional development activities of current members that can be reported as a transcript. Demonstrate to your boss or future employer your commitment to your own professional development or consider investing in the development of your own competent staff!

Tips for Getting the Most from Your Course Credentials

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 19:17

Briefly, your ACA issued digital credentials:

  • Can be shared on LinkedIn with the click of a button
  • Can be shared by private or public link and on both Twitter and Facebook at the click of a button
  • Can be displayed on other webpages
  • Can be connected to many kinds of evidence items, such as course grades, photos, course notes, projects, videos, and personal/professional references

Your ACA digital credential is not just a single document, then, but a portfolio of your work -- a collection of evidence that serves to prove that you know what you claim to know and that you can do what you claim to be able to do.

Learners sometimes ask, "What can I do with my digital credential? What value does it have?" Our response is this: the credential has the value that you put into it and we believe that you can do with it more than you might immediately think.

When you link to your credential, you are showing an employer, teacher, colleague, or client as much evidence and history for that course as you care to muster.

For any course, ask yourself this question:

What would be good evidence of what I know and am able to do?

Use your answer to that question to help you identify the best evidence items to add to your credential in your wallet.

Is your course in business administration? You could upload an original business plan or marketing plan. You could seek and post a reference from a colleague, boss, mentor, or client.

Is your course in computer science? Post some code samples or links to websites, apps, or other projects available on the Web.

For any course, your notes or a learner's journal or blog would be a fantastic addition.

At the end of the day, if you are happy with a straightforward paper certificate, that's great! ACA digital credentials fulfill that role admirably. But our digital credentials also expand with your ideas and ambitions; if you have some time and energy into making a real case for what you have learned, the tools are right here for you to use!

By the way, we would love to see what you've done with your digital credentials! Drop us a line or mention us on Facebook or Twitter!

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