Digital Badges: a credible tool to prove soft competencies
Technology is changing the world. Students today need not only hard skills but also so-called soft competencies: leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence. A study by LinkedIn found that 92 per cent of respondents think that soft skills are more important than technical capabilities, while 89 per cent claim that bad employees do not have soft skills. According to Marta Talandyt?, a graduate of European Studies at KTU Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (SHMMF), extra-curricular activities while studying is one of the ways that helps to form soft skills.
To become competitive in today’s job market, one should invest in themselves. According to experts, extra-curricular activities at the university or college improve employability chances. They also help to develop soft skills, such as leadership, communication, teamwork, job interview skills, time management and flexibility.
KTU offers a range of different extra-curricular activities available to everyone for free. As a chair of KTU SHMMF Students’ Union, I realised that it is important to remind people to get out of their comfort zone and try themselves in different areas”, says Talandyt?.
She believes that extra-curricular activities develop both hard and soft skills that are essential today. They also allow getting involved in different projects, scholarship programmes and internships.
Involvement with university’s organisations is not the only possibility to “earn” digital badges. KTU cooperates with business representatives that share their expertise with students. They lead various seminars, invite to different discussions or workshops. Usually, during these seminars, a student does not get any certificate, but digital badges remain as proof acquired via non-formal learning.
Today many aspects of life are becoming digitalised, especially, in the job market. Digital badges are a way to receive a personal file of competencies together with a university diploma, both on paper and in digital format. An app on a smartphone or a computer provides access to all the achievements earned that can be shared on social media or professional networks. Digital badges are available in both Lithuanian and English languages, and many international companies recognise the value of it.
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GSP Admin