The Badge Sandpit is now live - jump straight into the site on Substack - The Badge Sandpit

No need to register for a ticket - just come along to the sandpit and start exploring

Curious about how digital credentials add value?

The Badge Sandpit gives you a low-pressure, hands-on way to explore the opportunities and practicality of digital credentials. Over three weeks, you will:

explore a range of learning experiences focussed on real world applications of credentialing platforms
earn real digital badges
understand the value of and experiment with Learning and Employment Records (LERs)
use AI skills and career tools to help communicate the value of your skills and knowledge through Rich Skill Descriptors (RSDs)

All at your own pace.

This is peer to peer learning, designed for curiosity, exploration and building understanding. It is not a sales pitch. There are no demos or product walkthroughs, just a digital space to play, learn, and figure out what works (and what doesn’t) in a supported, community-driven space.

Curated by Wendy Palmer, Director of Lifelong Learning Practice and author of The Lifelong Learning Edge, the Badge Sandpit brings together leading technology providers and innovative educators to create a space for exploration, experimentation, and conversation. Wendy has led global initiatives in microcredentials and digital learning, working with universities, industry, and governments to shape the future of recognition.

New challenges will be promoted each week, but you can complete them anytime. Most activities will take under 20 minutes and many will offer real digital badges you can keep. We’ll wrap things up with a live Showcase Webinar in December, where we’ll highlight participant stories, surface insights, and look at what’s next for recognition in learning.

The Badge Sandpit was inspired by an event at the 2025 Badge Summit, read more about it in Exploring the Badge Summit's Petting Zoo.

This event is open to educators, RTOs, universities, employers, designers, and anyone curious about the future of credentials.

What Kind of Challenges Can I Expect?

The Badge Sandpit is designed for exploration - no tests, no pressure, just short, practical activities that let you play with digital credentialing tools and ideas.

Get hands-on with digital credentials, you’ll design and claim badges, experiment with different platforms, and see how visuals and data come together to tell a story about skills. Try linking badges into pathways, sharing them to socials or job platforms, and exploring how Rich Skill Descriptors (RSDs) can map to real work.

You can test out LERs and CLRs in action, build a micro-credential map for your context, compare user experiences across platforms - and even play with AI tools to identify skills or generate badge evidence. Whether you're badge-curious or a seasoned pro, there’s something in the Sandpit for you.

The goal? To deepen your understanding of digital credentials through hands-on experience, and to provide the insight, inspiration, and confidence to advance your own practice in communicating your skills story, or supporting your organisation’s goals. (And yes, you’ll collect a few great badges along the way.)

Free. Flexible. Fun. Come and play in the Sandpit.

How to engage?

We will use your nominated email address to communicate with you.

Our event starts with a welcome email designed to help you curate your experience through the 6 weeks.

When the event begins on 17 November, you’ll receive access to a shared Badge Sandpit HQ, and a follow up communications for regular updates including:

New challenge links
Tips, prompts, and examples
Invitations to live webinars and Q&A sessions
Stories and insights from other participants

Support will be available throughout the event, and you can ask questions or share ideas at any time.

Badge Sandpit HQ (Substack Site)

All challenges, resources, updates, and reflection spaces will live on our dedicated Badge Sandpit Substack site.

You’ll have everything in one easy-to-access location, delivered straight to your inbox, so you can dip in and out at your own pace, whether you’re committing 20 minutes or diving deep.

Your data and privacy

During the registration we will ask some optional background questions to help us plan activities that are relevant and to show vendors the types of organisations taking part. This information is only ever shared in an anonymous, aggregated way (e.g. “40% of participants are from higher education”), never with your personal details.

During the Sandpit you may choose to engage directly with providers through the challenges, but the registration information you give us here will stay private and will not be passed on to providers for sales calls or marketing.

Badge Sandpit Webinar Series

Throughout the Sandpit, you can join the Badge Sandpit Webinar Series — four short sessions designed to help you explore, design, and reflect on digital badges in action.

Start with two free sessions - Welcome to the Sandpit and Reflections & Celebration - to connect, share ideas, and navigate the Sandpit challenges.
If you want to go further, join one or both paid deep-dive workshops - Badging 101: An Introduction and Badging: Going Deeper - where we unpack practical design steps, frameworks, and quality assurance.

Each session includes live Q&A and runs twice to suit different time zones.
Get your webinar tickets here

With thanks to our supporting networks and organisations, who are helping make the Badge Sandpit a reality.

Thanks to Our Partners Bringing the Badge Sandpit to Life

Uncover Hidden Skills with CLOCK

Explore how digital credentials can recognise informal and non-formal learning. Complete a challenge to identify and evidence your own skills using CLOCK’s framework. clockyourskills.com

Build Your Digital Identity with Pearsana

Turn your existing documents and achievements into verified digital credentials. Try out Pearsana’s platform and experience how a curated skills profile can support your learning and career journey. pearsana.com

Grow the Web of Trust with ORCA

Claim the “In Trust We Grow” badge, invite others, and build a ripple of recognition through endorsement and connection. A viral badge challenge that explores how trust scales in networks. ORCA

Map Your Curriculum with Edalex

Use Edalex’s AI-powered guide to map the skills in one of your courses and turn that into a personal evidence record. Submit your worksheet and earn the Curriculum Skills Mapper badge. Edalex

Show What You Know with TalentPass

Bring your badges, certs, and skills together in one smart profile. With help from Pythia, TalentPass’s AI companion, you’ll curate your credentials and make your skills speak for themselves. TalentPass

Uncover Skills That Matter with Muzzy Lane

What skills hide in plain sight? Use Muzzy Lane’s Production Assistant to build a custom skills diagnostic in a real-world setting to reveal capabilities that matter to you. Muzzy Lane

Design with Quality using Navigatr

Quality assurance is the backbone of meaningful credentials. Explore Navigatr’s QA process, then use their AI-powered tools to design a badge that meets clear, evidence-based standards. Navigatr

The Sandpit’s still filling up - more platforms on the way!

Contact the host of Badge Sandpit

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