Digital Badges

What are badges?

Learning new concepts is great in and of itself, but we recognize that sometimes you need a way to show off your achievements. Digital Badges are digital micro-credentials that serve as portable learner records. LearnCoding issues its own standards-compliant Open Badges 3.0 credentials directly: there is no third-party account to create or connect, and no external service to sign up for. Each badge is cryptographically signed, tied to you alone, and can be checked by anyone at any time, with or without a LearnCoding account.


How do I earn them?

Badges are awarded automatically as you complete content: there's nothing to connect, request, or sign up for. Once you've earned a badge it appears on your Badges page right away (reach it from the Badges link in the sidebar).



Badges Page

A badge is earned per programming language: you can hold a Java badge for a lesson and a Python badge for the same lesson independently, as your completions in each language grow. Once a badge is awarded we never revoke it, but keep in mind more content may be added to a lesson or course later, so it's worth checking back and continuing if new material shows up.


Types of Badges

There are two dimensions to a badge:

  • Scope: a badge can be earned for a single lesson (view every topic and pass every quiz in that lesson, in a given language) or for a whole course (every lesson in the course completed, in a given language).
  • Tier: basic (every beginner topic viewed and beginner quiz passed) or advanced (basic, plus every advanced topic viewed and advanced quiz passed).

A note on the advanced tier: the advanced tier is a real, working part of the badge system, but at the moment no lesson has been marked with genuinely advanced-only content, so no advanced badges are being issued yet. As instructors mark content "Advanced Only" in the lesson builder, advanced badges will start appearing for the courses that have it.


Viewing your badges

Your Badges page lists every badge you've earned, most recent first. Clicking a badge opens its own page with the full details: which languages and tier it covers, when it was first earned, and its current status.


Sharing, downloading, and verifying

From a badge's page you can:

  • Share it: turning sharing on gives you a public link anyone can open to see your credential, without needing a LearnCoding account themselves. Sharing is off by default, and you choose when (and whether) to turn it on for each badge.
  • Download the signed credential (JSON): the actual cryptographically signed Open Badges 3.0 document, suitable for a digital backpack or LinkedIn's certifications section.
  • Download a badge image (PNG): an image of your badge with the signed credential baked directly into the file, so the image itself carries proof of the achievement.

Downloading is always available to you, whether or not you've turned sharing on, since it's your own record. Anyone holding a link, a downloaded credential, or a badge image can check it's genuine at /verify, with no account required on either end.