our years ago Armin Hopp, Simone Ravaioli, Rolf Reinhardt, and I wrote a piece for the OEB on behalf of the International Council on Badges and Credentials (ICoBC). Looking back, some of the messages highlight one of the most important trends building momentum since UNESCO's Transforming Education Summit:
Never has there been so much momentum or excitement around the digital recognition of skills and competencies as today. The positive and increasing focus on lifelong learning— instead of batch loaded degrees that feel obsolete shortly after graduation—is a widely recognized, if understated, result of increasingly rapid technological change. As opposed to thousand year old academic institutions, traditions and unions dictating semestered curriculum, open source networks and multinational companies are delivering personalized content based on labor market information that attempts to prepare learners for constantly evolving occupations and competencies. With degrees exacerbating inequality and even creating inequity, the world seems poised to replace paper higher education credentials with digital forms of skills recognition as the ultimate measure of human capital. Educational institutions are defending their value beyond skills and brick–and–mortar place–based learning
Employers currently rely on degrees to hire more “efficiently.” They rely on the reputation of post–secondaries as a proxy for the quality of the talent and reliability of their skills. But they also exacerbate socioeconomic inequality. Degrees ensure those with access to higher education continue to hire those with the same background but are a blunt and often distorting means to recognise skills or competencies.
Teachers and learners struggle to effectively recognize and communicate the skills that should be at the core of their education. Students leaving a philosophy class on rhetoric can’t explain on their resume or in an interview that they learned communication, logic, and negotiation.
It is difficult to compare the meaning of credentials across educational institutions, industries, or international boundaries as individuals, employers, and governments struggle to maximize the portability and location of skills.
There is a growing consensus around the digital recognition of skills while reinforcing the trust of accredited education providers. Focusing much more granularly on an individual’s skills is both more fair and, in the long–term, more effective for society.
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Degrees wane, skills wax
Photo by Joan Kwamboka on Unsplash.
June 24, 2024
The world seems poised to replace paper higher education credentials with digital forms of skills recognition as the ultimate measure of human capital, writes Jake Hirsch-Allen.
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our years ago Armin Hopp, Simone Ravaioli, Rolf Reinhardt, and I wrote a piece for the OEB on behalf of the International Council on Badges and Credentials (ICoBC). Looking back, some of the messages highlight one of the most important trends building momentum since UNESCO's Transforming Education Summit:
Never has there been so much momentum or excitement around the digital recognition of skills and competencies as today. The positive and increasing focus on lifelong learning— instead of batch loaded degrees that feel obsolete shortly after graduation—is a widely recognized, if understated, result of increasingly rapid technological change. As opposed to thousand year old academic institutions, traditions and unions dictating semestered curriculum, open source networks and multinational companies are delivering personalized content based on labor market information that attempts to prepare learners for constantly evolving occupations and competencies. With degrees exacerbating inequality and even creating inequity, the world seems poised to replace paper higher education credentials with digital forms of skills recognition as the ultimate measure of human capital. Educational institutions are defending their value beyond skills and brick–and–mortar place–based learning
Employers currently rely on degrees to hire more “efficiently.” They rely on the reputation of post–secondaries as a proxy for the quality of the talent and reliability of their skills. But they also exacerbate socioeconomic inequality. Degrees ensure those with access to higher education continue to hire those with the same background but are a blunt and often distorting means to recognise skills or competencies.
Teachers and learners struggle to effectively recognize and communicate the skills that should be at the core of their education. Students leaving a philosophy class on rhetoric can’t explain on their resume or in an interview that they learned communication, logic, and negotiation.
It is difficult to compare the meaning of credentials across educational institutions, industries, or international boundaries as individuals, employers, and governments struggle to maximize the portability and location of skills.
There is a growing consensus around the digital recognition of skills while reinforcing the trust of accredited education providers. Focusing much more granularly on an individual’s skills is both more fair and, in the long–term, more effective for society.
