As interest in skills-based hiring increases, more and more companies and states are eliminating degree requirements. In response, some higher education institutions are creating microcredential programs that positively impact student success, but you don’t have to create an entirely new program to show your institution’s value.
Skills-based credentials are valuable because they state specific skills in which a learner achieved or displayed competence. Digital credentials, which adhere to open interoperability standards, provide a machine and human-readable way to showcase those skills and make it easier for potential employers to verify those claims.
Just as microcredentials can represent specific job skills, they can also demonstrate durable skills learners gain at any learning institution, setting them apart from other applicants. A Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) and other types of Learning and Employment Records (LERs) can help package those various achievements in one place for learners to share over their lifetimes.
Two 1EdTech Consortium members created programs that did not redo how they educate students but repackaged how they communicate that learning to bring transparency to the knowledge, skills and abilities they are already gaining through CLRs.
The University of Georgia’s (UGA) CLR is a digital credential that combines a student’s academic courses and outside activities to highlight achievements and competencies, allowing students to effectively communicate their stories. They do this by mapping courses and activities to institutional competencies: critical thinking, analytical thinking, communication, social awareness and responsibility, creativity and innovation, and leadership and collaboration.
“We know that we already produce graduates with these valuable competencies,” said Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, UGA’s Vice President for Instruction and Senior Vice Provost for academic planning. “But we wanted to help students better articulate them. The CLR will highlight the durable skills students are learning both in and out of the classroom during their time at the University of Georgia, and this final digital credential will make it easier to explain their value to potential employers.”
At the University of Central Oklahoma, the Student Transformative Learning Record (STLR) serves as a second transcript that, like UGA’s CLR, helps students track growth in core areas that resonate with employers and graduate schools. The experiences focus on global and cultural competencies, health and wellness, leadership, research, creative and scholarly activities, and service learning and civic engagement.
“Packaging our offerings this way, we empower our students with a deeper understanding of their learning journey and what they need to do to achieve the skills they need for their next steps,” said Sonya Watkins, University of Central Oklahoma CIO. “Employers no longer assume passing a course equals preparedness. Our STLR gives both faculty and students the language to translate their knowledge and experiences in a way that is relevant to the real world.”
Communication is vital to creating a successful program. Camille Farrell, Assistant Director of STLR at the University of Central Oklahoma, says, “It’s important to build a culture of faculty buy-in so conversations at the heart of teaching and learning begin to shift for students — the paradigm shift away from the idea that learning is about making an abstract grade, to learning is about preparing for life beyond the grade. Faculty need tools and ways to do so. STLR gives them the method, structure, assessment tool and resources to more directly get at what is the evidence that a student is prepared in these core areas and at what level. However, higher education cannot continue to assume that it knows what employers want and need. We have to do the work to stay connected to how the world shifts and changes. Partnering with subject matter experts allows you to build rapport with employers, grow awareness of your programs and empower your students to demonstrate their value in the workforce.”
Another thing to consider is making your digital credentials interoperable by ensuring the platform or supplier you use is certified with Open Badges 3.0 and CLR Standard 2.0. These 1EdTech technical standards comply with the W3C’s Verifiable Credentials standard and make it easier for your credentials to move between platforms, institutions and industries, giving credential earners more control over who they share their credentials with and how. As Verifiable Credentials, Open Badges and CLRs can be shared and stored in learner-controlled wallets, giving the earner control over their data.
“We have incredible students who are so much more than what their GPA or transcript can show,” said Fiona Liken, University of Georgia’s Associate Vice President for Instruction. “The CLR helps to paint that bigger picture, and by following interoperability standards, we make those credentials even more valuable to those students.”
1EdTech Consortium members meet throughout the year to expand the use and value of microcredentials, share real-world examples of how they work, and improve standards and frameworks to better meet the needs of all stakeholders. You can see all the events the 1EdTech staff hosts and attends, including the annual 1EdTech Digital Credentials Summit, as well as learn more about the organization’s work in digital credentials at 1edtech.org.
