ith a shift in the importance of values in different kinds of skills, attributes and attitudes employers and society as a whole consider important for success in work and life today, we are seeing a diversification in the types of learning and skills development that many job seekers are acquiring—be it through formal education, informal education or even non-formal learning in the workplace. As the types of learning continue to diversify, however, it is critical that there is also a shift towards employers and educational institutions beginning to recognize these credentials, and that more structures be put in place to bridge communication around digital credentialing between educational institutions, governments and employers. It is this scaling of more portable credentials, therefore, that has the ability to not only encourage students and life-long learners to pursue learning endeavors outside of formal education, but also to incentivize businesses, employers and organizations to align their education initiatives with a new common standard.
However, the question remains: despite the promise of a future of more personalized learning and learner-centered hiring processes, will this technology be able to gain acceleration?
There are challenges that need scalable solutions before digital credentialing can become widely implemented.
While digital credentialing is on the rise, the lack of momentum in implementing credentials and the relatively limited-scale of their implementation have left many job seekers wary of which credentials are of actual economic benefit to the person who completes them. Similarly, doubts on the side of companies and institutions have been raised as to whether or not their businesses will have the technology and capacity to implement digital credentials long-term—and whether or not it’s worth it.
• There still exists a gap between what employers want and what jobseekers can provide. Despite the fact that employers nowadays are looking for job seekers who are both broadly educated and specifically skilled, recent surveys reveal that higher education institutions show significant doubts surrounding the work readiness of university graduates. Indeed, with education often being considered as having either a college degree or alternative credentials—rather than the possibility of having both—it is important that emphasis be put on the ability to receive alternative credentials as a compliment to college degrees, rather than as a standalone certificate. In fact, a recent Kaplan survey of two thousand college students found that when asked if their college or university provides alternative credentials, only 14% said yes—but when asked if they would like to achieve an alternative credential if offered by their university, 72% of all college students surveyed said yes, showing that while alternative credentials at the higher education level may not be broadly available just yet, implementing more credentialing may greatly benefit college students.
• Digital credentials are still limited to certain countries. While the US has been a leader in developing and investing in potential solutions in the digital credentialing space, there is still a lack of digital credentialing initiatives globally—and therefore, an enormous opportunity for leadership in regions around the world that have not yet tapped into the technology. However, with technology still remaining relatively limited, many institutions have raised concerns about the portability and long-term costs of these credential systems. Luckily for jobseekers, with advancements in digital credentialing technology—such as technology that has enabled data in the form of a QR code to be printed out on a piece of paper that can create accessibility to digital credentialing for individuals with a lack of access to technology—implementations are slowly being put into place to encourage better access to digital credentialing for everyone.
• Technology in digital credentialing is still limited—but growing. There is a need for more interoperability between different technology systems that would allow digital badges to become more portable between different providers, as well as a need for more integration of digital credentialing with job recruitment platforms, HR providers and other related organizations. However, while bringing the digital credentialing technology to scale may still take some time—and building out the technology on a single company level may prove a difficult task—there are many groups today developing technology platforms that are open sourced or accessible in some way for organizations wishing to create digital credentialing to partner with, such as the Velocity Network Foundation and the T3 Network Hub.
Various forms of digital credentialing are being successfully implemented.
• The LER hub is promoting the digital resumes of the future. Learning and Employment Records, also known as LER’s, are a subset of a form of cryptography-protected credentials that are being developed by the LER hub created to recognize achievements and skills that are digitally-linked to an individual in order to prove that whatever has been awarded to an individual is in fact that which the individual is claiming in that credential. Even more promising, LER’s can be used as a way to promote lifelong learning not only through formal education, but also through skills and attributes gathered in our jobs, in the community and throughout the course of our life that can be stored in the LER and credibly validated and endorsed.
Indeed, while LER’s can be viewed as a sort of in-depth digital resume that incorporates evidence-based attributes such as badges, certificates and work and education history, they also give the individual the opportunity to curate and rearrange their data in order to tell their narrative in their own personal way—and more importantly, give individuals the peace of mind that this data has not been modified or manipulated.
• Digital credentialing isn’t only for digitally advanced institutions. While there may be a misconception that institutions need to be farther along in digital maturity to get started in digital credentialing, there are a lot of digital credentialing initiatives where organizations are starting anywhere along the digital maturity spectrum. One example is Southern New Hampshire University who uses digital credentials to automate how the institution gives credit for learning that’s happened someplace else, such as post-secondary institutions, work and even less-formal settings. Similarly in Haiti, there is a team who is taking steps to lay the foundation of digital credentialing in the textile industry. In order to implement digital credentialing mechanisms, therefore, it is important to look at the digital transformation initiatives they already have underway and then fit digital credentialing into the already existing technology and initiatives.
Digital credentialing provides the opportunity to re-introduce the human element into the hiring process.
• Digital credentials help verify work products, not just content learned. More than just the work history and educational background that traditional resumes provide, digital credentialing also allows learners to represent the work that they have undertaken, the kinds of activities the student is doing, and the evidence that is generated from these activities to demonstrate that achievement.
• Endorsements in the digital space can help bring back the human element. While networks of personal interactions and trust existed long before technology, rapid advances in technology having abstracted many aspects of our lives and our ability to connect with one another. However, with digital endorsements from colleagues, professionals and other people in one’s network, people can now express their support and affirmation that someone has done something valuable—and there within creating new digital networks of trust that didn’t exist in the past.
Digital credentialing allows individuals to take ownership of their data.
• There is a shift in the information economy. While we currently live in a world where personal data is a commodity to be sold, digital credentialing may be part of a shift towards a new data economy where the individual has complete agency and ownership of the data—and can therefore decide what part of the data can and cannot be sold and maintain complete privacy.
• As a global community, we are in the middle of renegotiating our digital social contracts. With society as a whole trying to re-figure the rules of the digital world, the principles of privacy and individual ownership of data need to come first, and there needs to be full visibility of who’s doing what with one’s data. While it may be difficult to implement the principles of privacy and ownership of data due to the current system of financial incentives, partnering with organizations that also put privacy and ownership of data first can help promote these principles for the future.
a global affairs media network
Broadening Learning Opportunities with Credentialing and Recognition Systems
Image via Unsplash.
October 24, 2021
With a shift in the importance of values in different kinds of skills, attributes and attitudes employers and society as a whole consider important for success in work and life today, we are seeing a diversification in the types of learning and skills development that many job seekers are acquiring.
W
ith a shift in the importance of values in different kinds of skills, attributes and attitudes employers and society as a whole consider important for success in work and life today, we are seeing a diversification in the types of learning and skills development that many job seekers are acquiring—be it through formal education, informal education or even non-formal learning in the workplace. As the types of learning continue to diversify, however, it is critical that there is also a shift towards employers and educational institutions beginning to recognize these credentials, and that more structures be put in place to bridge communication around digital credentialing between educational institutions, governments and employers. It is this scaling of more portable credentials, therefore, that has the ability to not only encourage students and life-long learners to pursue learning endeavors outside of formal education, but also to incentivize businesses, employers and organizations to align their education initiatives with a new common standard.
However, the question remains: despite the promise of a future of more personalized learning and learner-centered hiring processes, will this technology be able to gain acceleration?
There are challenges that need scalable solutions before digital credentialing can become widely implemented.
While digital credentialing is on the rise, the lack of momentum in implementing credentials and the relatively limited-scale of their implementation have left many job seekers wary of which credentials are of actual economic benefit to the person who completes them. Similarly, doubts on the side of companies and institutions have been raised as to whether or not their businesses will have the technology and capacity to implement digital credentials long-term—and whether or not it’s worth it.
• There still exists a gap between what employers want and what jobseekers can provide. Despite the fact that employers nowadays are looking for job seekers who are both broadly educated and specifically skilled, recent surveys reveal that higher education institutions show significant doubts surrounding the work readiness of university graduates. Indeed, with education often being considered as having either a college degree or alternative credentials—rather than the possibility of having both—it is important that emphasis be put on the ability to receive alternative credentials as a compliment to college degrees, rather than as a standalone certificate. In fact, a recent Kaplan survey of two thousand college students found that when asked if their college or university provides alternative credentials, only 14% said yes—but when asked if they would like to achieve an alternative credential if offered by their university, 72% of all college students surveyed said yes, showing that while alternative credentials at the higher education level may not be broadly available just yet, implementing more credentialing may greatly benefit college students.
• Digital credentials are still limited to certain countries. While the US has been a leader in developing and investing in potential solutions in the digital credentialing space, there is still a lack of digital credentialing initiatives globally—and therefore, an enormous opportunity for leadership in regions around the world that have not yet tapped into the technology. However, with technology still remaining relatively limited, many institutions have raised concerns about the portability and long-term costs of these credential systems. Luckily for jobseekers, with advancements in digital credentialing technology—such as technology that has enabled data in the form of a QR code to be printed out on a piece of paper that can create accessibility to digital credentialing for individuals with a lack of access to technology—implementations are slowly being put into place to encourage better access to digital credentialing for everyone.
• Technology in digital credentialing is still limited—but growing. There is a need for more interoperability between different technology systems that would allow digital badges to become more portable between different providers, as well as a need for more integration of digital credentialing with job recruitment platforms, HR providers and other related organizations. However, while bringing the digital credentialing technology to scale may still take some time—and building out the technology on a single company level may prove a difficult task—there are many groups today developing technology platforms that are open sourced or accessible in some way for organizations wishing to create digital credentialing to partner with, such as the Velocity Network Foundation and the T3 Network Hub.
Various forms of digital credentialing are being successfully implemented.
• The LER hub is promoting the digital resumes of the future. Learning and Employment Records, also known as LER’s, are a subset of a form of cryptography-protected credentials that are being developed by the LER hub created to recognize achievements and skills that are digitally-linked to an individual in order to prove that whatever has been awarded to an individual is in fact that which the individual is claiming in that credential. Even more promising, LER’s can be used as a way to promote lifelong learning not only through formal education, but also through skills and attributes gathered in our jobs, in the community and throughout the course of our life that can be stored in the LER and credibly validated and endorsed.
Indeed, while LER’s can be viewed as a sort of in-depth digital resume that incorporates evidence-based attributes such as badges, certificates and work and education history, they also give the individual the opportunity to curate and rearrange their data in order to tell their narrative in their own personal way—and more importantly, give individuals the peace of mind that this data has not been modified or manipulated.
• Digital credentialing isn’t only for digitally advanced institutions. While there may be a misconception that institutions need to be farther along in digital maturity to get started in digital credentialing, there are a lot of digital credentialing initiatives where organizations are starting anywhere along the digital maturity spectrum. One example is Southern New Hampshire University who uses digital credentials to automate how the institution gives credit for learning that’s happened someplace else, such as post-secondary institutions, work and even less-formal settings. Similarly in Haiti, there is a team who is taking steps to lay the foundation of digital credentialing in the textile industry. In order to implement digital credentialing mechanisms, therefore, it is important to look at the digital transformation initiatives they already have underway and then fit digital credentialing into the already existing technology and initiatives.
Digital credentialing provides the opportunity to re-introduce the human element into the hiring process.
• Digital credentials help verify work products, not just content learned. More than just the work history and educational background that traditional resumes provide, digital credentialing also allows learners to represent the work that they have undertaken, the kinds of activities the student is doing, and the evidence that is generated from these activities to demonstrate that achievement.
• Endorsements in the digital space can help bring back the human element. While networks of personal interactions and trust existed long before technology, rapid advances in technology having abstracted many aspects of our lives and our ability to connect with one another. However, with digital endorsements from colleagues, professionals and other people in one’s network, people can now express their support and affirmation that someone has done something valuable—and there within creating new digital networks of trust that didn’t exist in the past.
Digital credentialing allows individuals to take ownership of their data.
• There is a shift in the information economy. While we currently live in a world where personal data is a commodity to be sold, digital credentialing may be part of a shift towards a new data economy where the individual has complete agency and ownership of the data—and can therefore decide what part of the data can and cannot be sold and maintain complete privacy.
• As a global community, we are in the middle of renegotiating our digital social contracts. With society as a whole trying to re-figure the rules of the digital world, the principles of privacy and individual ownership of data need to come first, and there needs to be full visibility of who’s doing what with one’s data. While it may be difficult to implement the principles of privacy and ownership of data due to the current system of financial incentives, partnering with organizations that also put privacy and ownership of data first can help promote these principles for the future.
