As interest in skills-based hiring increases, more companies and states are waiving degree requirements. In response, some higher education institutions are creating microcredential programs that positively impact student success, but it is not necessary to create an entirely new program to demonstrate the value of your institution.
Skills-based credentials are valuable because they establish specific skills in which a student has achieved or demonstrated proficiency. 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 enduring skills that students acquire at any learning institution, setting them apart from other applicants. A Comprehensive Student Record (CLR) and other types of Learning and Employment Records (LER) can help bring those diverse achievements together in one place for students to share throughout their lives.
Two members of the 1EdTech Consortium created programs that did not remake the way they educate students, but rather reworked the way they communicate that learning to bring transparency to the knowledge, skills, and abilities they are already acquiring through CLRs.
The University of Georgia (UGA) CLR is a digital credential that combines a student's academic courses and external activities to highlight achievements and competencies, allowing students to communicate their stories effectively. They do this by assigning courses and activities to institutional competencies: critical thinking, analytical thinking, communication, social awareness and responsibility, creativity and innovation, and leadership and collaboration.
“We know we are already producing graduates with these valuable competencies,” said Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, UGA vice president for instruction and senior vice chancellor for academic planning. “But we wanted to help students express them better. The CLR will highlight the lasting skills students are learning both inside and outside of the classroom during their time at the University of Georgia, and this final digital credential will make it easier to explain its 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. Experiences focus on global and cultural competencies, health and well-being, leadership, research, creative and academic activities, service learning, and civic engagement.
“By packaging our offerings this way, we give our students 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, CIO of Central University. Oklahoma. “Employers no longer assume that passing a course equates to being prepared. “Our STLR gives both teachers 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 is important to build a culture of faculty acceptance so that the conversations at the center of teaching and learning begin to shift for students—the paradigm shifts away from the idea that learning is about obtaining an abstract qualification, that learning is about preparing for life beyond the qualification. Teachers need tools and ways to do this. STLR gives them the method, structure, assessment tool, and resources to get more directly to what evidence is that a student is prepared in these core areas and at what level. However, higher education can no longer assume 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, increase awareness of your programs, and empower your students to demonstrate their value in the workforce.”
Another thing to consider is making your digital badges interoperable by ensuring that the platform or provider you use is certified with Open Badges 3.0 and CLR Standard 2.0. These 1EdTech technical standards comply with the W3C Verifiable Credentials standard and make it easier for your credentials to move across 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 student-controlled wallets, giving the student control over their data.
“We have incredible students who are so much more than their GPA or transcript can show,” said Fiona Liken, associate vice president for instruction at the University of Georgia. “The CLR helps show that bigger picture, and by following interoperability standards, we make those credentials even more valuable to those students.”
Members of the 1EdTech Consortium 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 events 1EdTech staff organize and attend, including the annual meeting. 1EdTech Digital Credentials Summitas well as learn more about the organization's work on digital credentials in 1edtech.org.
