Badgr Pathways: what they are, how they work, and what to know in 2025

Badgr Pathways are a feature that allows users to visualize and track progress through a series of achievements or competencies, often represented by badgr badges. After its acquisition and rebranding, Badgr became part of the Canvas Badges ecosystem. Badgr was originally developed by Concentric Sky, which played a lead role in the open badges movement before being acquired by Instructure.

To use Badgr Pathways and related features, users need to create an account to access the platform. This account enables access to badge verification, sharing, and other functionalities within Badgr.

Fast definition

“Badgr Pathways” refers to the learning pathway feature originally built in Badgr that lets you stack multiple badges into a guided sequence so learners can see what to do next and earn a capstone credential at completion. Users have the ability to create, issue, and manage different types of badges or credentials using the platform’s tools, making it easier to achieve organizational goals. At each step in the pathway, users can select the type of badge or credential to include, allowing for flexible award options and recognition methods. Since Badgr was acquired and rebranded, this feature is now called Canvas Credentials Pathways. The concept is the same. You map steps, attach required badges, and show progress in one visual track.

Digital Badges and Credentials

Digital badges and credentials are transforming how achievements and skills are recognized in education and professional development. With canvas badges, learners receive a visual, digital record of their accomplishments that can be easily shared on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These badges, often referred to as open badges, are designed to be portable and verifiable, allowing users to showcase their earned badges across different systems and social networks.

Badgr, now part of Canvas, enables users to create, issue, and manage a wide variety of badge types, making it simple for organizations to provide credentials that reflect real skills and achievements. Each badge contains detailed information about what was accomplished, who issued it, and the criteria met, giving both learners and employers confidence in the badge’s credibility. By providing a flexible and user-friendly way to manage and display credentials, digital badges help learners organize their achievements and make their skills visible to the wider community.

Where Badgr sits today

Badgr evolved into Canvas Badges for the free tier and Canvas Credentials for advanced features such as Pathways and analytics. Many universities and training teams still say “Badgr Pathways,” but in current product language you will see “Canvas Credentials Pathways.” Organizations and institutions can enable advanced features provided through Canvas Credentials.

What Pathways do

Pathways let program owners arrange badges as stepping stones across courses, workshops, or experiences. Modules can be used to structure each step within a course, and the system can be configured to automatically award badges as learners complete each module. Earners see prerequisites, optional steps, and milestones. When all required badges are complete, the system can award a completion badge or certificate that signals the full pathway. Examples from education programs show seven-week skills tracks and multi-course career routes published as public Pathways.

Typical use cases

• Faculty or staff development: stack workshop badges into a professional learning route.
• Student skills programs: combine course, co-curricular, and internship achievements into one track that culminates in a competency badge.
• Public showcases: some issuers publish Pathways galleries so prospects can see real routes and outcomes before enrolling. Note: Some organizations may require additional software to support public galleries or advanced analytics.

How a Badgr Pathway is built

1. Define the outcome and the completion badge: You may need to click the “Add Badge” button to begin.
2. Add steps: Each step references a badge that is issued by your LMS or badging system. Click “Add Step” to include additional steps as needed, and enter details such as badge names or criteria for each step.
3. Mark steps as required or optional: Consider the position of each step in the pathway for clear and logical navigation.
4. Set rules for completion and capstone awarding.
5. Publish the Pathway so learners can track progress in one place.

This is framed in Canvas documentation as mapping badged curricula into an easy-to-follow visual that stacks credentials over time.

Integration with Canvas

One of the standout features of Badgr is its seamless integration with Canvas, making it easy for educators and administrators to manage digital credentials within their existing courses. With canvas credentials, badges and certificates can be automatically awarded to students as they complete specific criteria, such as finishing a module or achieving a target grade. This automation streamlines the process, allowing users to focus on teaching while the system handles badge issuance and tracking.

To get started, users simply navigate to the Canvas settings and enable the Badgr tool. From there, it’s easy to create badges, set up criteria for completion, and map out a clear badgr pathway for students to follow. The pathway feature visually organizes achievements, helping students understand what steps to take next and what badges they can earn along the way. This integration not only makes managing credentials straightforward but also provides students with a transparent and motivating way to track their progress and celebrate their achievements.

Issuing and Tracking Badges

With Badgr, issuing and tracking badges is designed to be intuitive and efficient. Users can create custom badges and define the criteria required for students to earn them, such as completing a specific assignment or reaching a certain grade. Once a student meets the set criteria, the badge is automatically awarded and added to their badgr backpack a centralized digital space where all earned badges are stored and displayed.

The badgr backpack makes it easy for students to view, manage, and share their achievements. They can select which badges to display publicly, share them on social media, or include them in their professional profiles. For educators and administrators, the process of selecting students, awarding badges, and tracking progress is streamlined, allowing for easy management of badge issuance across multiple courses and programs. This approach not only recognizes student achievements but also empowers learners to take ownership of their credentials and showcase their skills to the world.

Things teams like about Pathways

• Clarity for learners: a roadmap that shows exactly which badges come next.
• Stackability: micro-achievements roll up into larger credentials.
• Public verification: each underlying badge remains an Open Badges credential with its own verification page, and all badges awarded through the pathway can be publicly verified.

Practical cautions

• Note: Careful planning is essential to avoid issues with badge sequencing and version control.
• Naming and levels: keep titles short and consistent so the full track reads clearly.
• Evidence and criteria: make sure each input badge has rich metadata. Weak inputs make a weak capstone.
• Change control: if you swap a step badge mid-year, document the version so employer reviewers understand what earlier earners completed.

These points align with how Canvas Credentials and higher ed users describe building successful learning routes.

Best Practices for Implementation

To maximize the impact of your badging program, it’s important to follow best practices when implementing Badgr. Start by creating a clear and logical pathway for badge achievements, ensuring that each badge has well-defined criteria that are meaningful and relevant to students. When creating badges, focus on achievements that truly reflect valuable skills and knowledge, and make sure the display of badges is intuitive and accessible.

Provide students with clear instructions on how to earn and display their badges, and offer ongoing support to help them navigate the system. Consider how badges will be stored and managed over time, ensuring that they remain accessible and verifiable for future use. By following these steps and regularly reviewing your badging strategy, you can create a robust and effective system that motivates students, supports their achievements, and provides lasting value to both learners and employers.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

While Badgr is designed to be user-friendly, occasional issues with badge issuance, tracking, or display can arise. If a badge isn’t being awarded as expected, users should first review the badge criteria and settings to ensure everything is configured correctly. Double-check that students have met all requirements, including grades and completion steps, and verify that the badge settings align with your intended outcomes.

If problems persist, it’s helpful to document the issue, including any error messages or unexpected behavior, and provide this information to the Badgr support team for further assistance. By systematically checking criteria, settings, and requirements, and following clear troubleshooting steps, users can quickly resolve most common issues and keep their badging system running smoothly.

How this relates to Sertifier

Pathways are simply a structured way to stack badges. Sertifier supports the same idea with badge families, criteria-rich issuances, and analytics that show acceptance and sharing. Badges can be easily shared via email, often including an image of the badge in the communication to visually showcase achievements. If your audience is outside a single LMS or spans enterprise training plus external partners, a vendor-neutral issuer like Sertifier lets you design badge sequences, automate issuing from multiple systems, and keep every step verifiable with Open Badges data. When creating accounts on different credentialing platforms, it is important to set a secure password to protect user information and badge data. You can then present your own “pathway” view in program pages while learners share each earned badge to LinkedIn.

Quick comparison checklist for buyers

Use these questions when you evaluate any pathway solution.

• Can we require and optionally include steps, and award a capstone on completion?
• Do step badges remain portable Open Badges with public verification?
• Is there a gallery or public showcase to promote programs?
• Are analytics available across steps and cohorts for program reporting.

In one line

“Badgr Pathways” means stackable learning routes that guide earners from first badge to capstone. Today you will see them as Canvas Credentials Pathways, but the goal is unchanged. Make skills progression visible, verifiable, and shareable.