The 1EdTech Digital Credentials Summit brings together educators, employers, and talent/HR professionals for two action-packed days of collaboration and innovation.This is the only annual cross-sector leadership event focused on advancing a learner-centered digital credentials ecosystem and shaping new educational models that bridge learning and career.
Join 1EdTech Consortium, 11-12 February 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Perimeter at Villa Christina in Atlanta, Georgia, to hear about the exciting initiatives and programs that are helping students and workers connect education with employment opportunities. Participation in the Summit is open to all individuals and organizations interested or engaged in breakthrough work with digital credentials and workforce partnerships to support lifelong achievement and learning.
THANK YOU
Digital Credentials Summit 2020 Sponsors
AGENDA & PRESENTATIONS
Tuesday – 11 February
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
AZALEA FOYER (Second Floor)
Registration
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
MAGNOLIA BALLROOM
Breakfast
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM
Welcome
AZALEA BALLROOM
Innovations for Lifelong Learning
Rob Abel
Chief Executive Officer
1EdTech Consortium
9:10 AM – 10:00 AM
Keynote
Credentials, Education, and Workforce: A Look at the Future
Perhaps like no other time in our world’s history has it been so imperative for education to play such a significant role in the lifetimes of an educated society amid rapid change. Higher education is under increasing pressure to deliver work-ready graduates while preparing them for an uncertain future. How do credentials play a role in this future? What can standards do to enable a global conversation and engender mobility of workers to be valuable, wherever and whenever they choose? How do we include everyone in the conversation—but more importantly—keep them engaged and participating in their learning journey? How can this be done in the current system of higher education? Download presentation.
Nelson C. Baker, Ph.D.
Dean of Professional Education and Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Panel
The Intersection of Work, Education, and Technology
We live in a dynamic economy that competes on talent. This dynamism poses a unique challenge where companies need to manage constantly changing skill and credentialing requirements in order to stay competitive. The result is often a persistent skills gap that threatens the ability of companies to compete and grow. To address this, companies have become more agile in finding and sourcing top talent. Others are developing strategic partnerships with education and workforce providers to build robust and responsive talent pipelines. Employers are also increasingly becoming educators themselves as they invest more in training and credentialing opportunities for employees and front-line workers. Join a panel discussion to hear from leading employers and employer associations on how the business community is managing their workforce needs and how they are leveraging new and emerging data and technology to transform their talent pipelines.
Jason Tyszko (Moderator)
Vice President, Center for Education and Workforce
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
James Cross
Vice President, Product Strategy
Workday
Tracy DiSanto
Senior Manager Workforce Planning/Analytics and Co-Chair
Michigan Energy Workforce Development Consortium
Tamera Maresh-Carver
Managing Director of Global Learning and Development
FedEx Express
Richard Price
Research Fellow
Clayton Christensen Institute
11:00 AM – 11:15 AM
Lightning Talk
AACRAO’s Vision for Standards-based Digital Learner Records
What constitutes student learning in American higher education? Is it only those topics covered by the syllabus of a course, or does it extend to experiences and competencies mastered in and out of traditional faculty-student interactions? Since 2015, the AACRAO and NASPA, the National Association of Student Affairs have partnered on the concepts of a Comprehensive Learner Record and have achieved important milestones, now setting the course for 21st century student records. Download presentation.
Michael Reilly
Executive Director
American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
11:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Lightning Talk
Failure to Reflect is Failure to Progress: Uncovering the Superpowers of Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR)
The power of self-reflection is invaluable to one’s growth during an academic or professional career. Yet, learners need an intentional approach to self-reflection. The AEFIS platform provides and end-to-end solution to implementing Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) which provides verified, validated and self-issued achievements as visual display of artifacts and feedback in real-time. In collaboration with a diverse set of institutional partners, we will share use-cases of CLR and the powerful reflection processes that empower learners and earners with evidence of their achievements. Download presentation.
Related resource: Exploring A New Transcript for Lifelong Learning
Suzanne Carbonaro
Director of Client Success
AEFIS
11:30 AM – 11:45 AM
Lightning Talk
Equity, Competency, and the Whole Child Experience in K-12 Education
With student equity in high focus, the time is right for us to take the vision of a Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) into mainstream acceptance and adoption in K-12. Colleges are increasingly looking for more holistic validations of admission applicants and schools are more determined than ever to capture growth in learning across the whole child experience, from leadership to academic achievement. We are excited to marshall the national OESIS Network behind this worthy public-private partnership. Download Equity in K-12 presentation. Download PIVOT presentation.
Related resource: OESIS Network Report on the The Future of K-12 Transcripts
Sanje Ratnavale
President
OESIS Network
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM
1EdTech Update
How 1EdTech is Enabling the Lifelong Learning Ecosystem
1EdTech Consortium members, partners, and technical projects are at the forefront of lifelong learning innovation through digital credentials and skills-data interoperability. Progress milestones in 2020 include the final release of the Comprehensive Learner Record and Badge Connect, the next generation technology for learner's control of their Open Badges. Learn about the projects that are advancing digital learning credentials and aligning educational outcomes and workforce needs for the 21st century. Download presentation.
Mark Leuba
Vice President, Product Management
1EdTech Consortium
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
MAGNOLIA BALLROOM
Lunch
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Keynote
Follow the Data: What HR Leaders Want Educators to Know Today
Education credentials issued by colleges and universities are taking on added importance in a historically tight job market near full employment and where talent strategy has emerged as a top corporate priority. With college costs rising, many different parties have called into question the value of traditional academic degrees—and this is amplified by falling public confidence in higher education. What can data collected from 750 U.S. corporate human resources leaders tell us about the evolving value of educational credentials in hiring? How are employers interpreting new forms of educational credentials and micro-credentials? What are the key signals of quality; and what is the viability of various new credential constructs and degree alternatives? These perspectives from the employer community can and should influence the strategies of post-secondary institutions, policymakers, employers and all stakeholders in the ecosystem. Download presentation.
Sean Gallagher
Executive Director
Northeastern University’s Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy
1:45 PM – 2:00 PM
Lightning Talk
Applying the Network Approach to the Resume Problem
There's an old adage about job seeking that, "It's not what you know; it's who you know." It's time to update that adage—and the standard resume—to more accurately reflect the future of work. We believe it's a combination of what you know, how you communicate it, and who you can connect with. Digital credentials in isolation have laid the foundation of what's next for the resume. Join us to find out what Credly and it's robust network of credential issuers have planned for connecting industry with learning, and opportunities with qualified individuals. Download presentation.
Related resource: The Impact of Digital Credentials on the Future of Work
Alexander Hripak
Vice President, Technology
Credly
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
Panel
Great Educators are Better Collaborators
Educational models that will survive into the future will have collaboration at the core of their development processes, with the educator being a key player in a holistic view of work, life and education that cycles over a lifetime. Fundamental shifts in our economy are resulting in major changes to workforce development over a longer career and lifespan. These changes require systematic approaches to new models of education and career pathways stretching over an extended time horizon. Creating these pathways requires collaboration and creativity among a diverse set of organizations, critically K-12 and postsecondary education. This session will focus on the need for collaboration and other special qualities of educators who will thrive in this rapidly arriving future.
Marie Cini (Moderator)
President
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
Daniel Gohl
Chief Academic Officer
Broward County Public Schools
Richard Irwin
Executive Dean, Global and Academic Innovation
University of Memphis
Dr. Lisa Larson
President
Eastern Maine Community College
Nan Travers
Director of the Center for Leadership in Credentialing Learning
SUNY Empire State College
2:45 PM – 3:00 PM
AZALEA FOYER
Break
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Lightning Talk
Reconceptualizing Implementations of Digital Badging
Many people consider digital badging and micro-credentialing to be nascent practices in higher education. Though numerous institutions have engaged in efforts to leverage the technology and standards, several challenges—such as adoption practices, program-oriented thinking, and unfocused value expectations—persist and are hindering opportunities for broader adoption of Open Badges. Campus Labs will share its vision for helping institutions reconceptualize the implementation of digital badging and micro-credentialing in order to mitigate these challenges. Download presentation.
Related resource: Building a Digital Credentialing Program for Education
Chris Husser
Director of Product
Campus Labs
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Panel
The Future of the Registrar: 2020 and Beyond
The role of the university registrar sits at the intersection of academic and student records and technology. The challenge facing many major research institutions across the U.S. is how to integrate digital and alternative credentialing with traditional undergraduate and graduate programs. A panel of university registrars will share how their campuses are supporting this evolution as it impacts day-to-day operations and with a specific eye on the comprehensive learner record—all through the lens of the learner.
Scott Owczarek (Moderator)
University Registrar
University of Wisconsin
Thomas Black
Assistant Vice Provost and University Registrar
Johns Hopkins University
Tom Green
Associate Executive Director
AACRAO
Cindy Lyons
University Registrar
University of California, San Diego
Brenda Selman
Assistant Vice Provost, Enrollment Services and University Registrar
University of Missouri
4:15 PM – 4:45 PM
Discussion
A National Call to Action: Interoperable Learning Records
American workers who engage in lifelong learning deserve a way to translate their full education, training, and work experience to a record of transferable skills that will open the doors to higher wage occupations and careers. The current administration established the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board (AWPAB) to develop actionable recommendations for better information on workers’ skills attainment, employers’ skills needs and educational institutions’ programs. The AWPAB’s Data Transparency working group has identified interoperable learning records (ILRs) as a novel, technically feasible and achievable way to communicate skills between workers, employers, education and training institutions. Presenters will discuss the goals, objectives, and plans of the Policy Advisory Board.
Nina Huntemann
Senior Director, Academics and Research
edX
Quellie Moorhead
Special Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Policy Coordination
Executive Office of the President, The White House
4:45 PM – 5:00 PM
1EdTech Update
Day One Wrap Up
Jeff Bohrer
Technical Program Manager
1EdTech Consortium
Sean Murphy
Senior Manager
Walmart Foundation
Wednesday – 12 February
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
AZALEA FOYER (Second Floor)
Registration
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
AZALEA BALLROOM
Breakfast
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Using Badges to Build Student Capacity for Lifelong Career Success
The Career Readiness Badging Program provides a framework for students to connect their own personal career goals to the work and experiences they are completing while enrolled at USF. As our career services team assessed our students' performance in securing internships and entry into the workforce, we discovered that a communications gap existed around the ability of our students to articulate what they had learned to prospective employers. Our initial assessments of the new career readiness badge program indicate that students are getting hired faster, receiving better salary offers, and feeling more confident in navigating the job search process. We have also seen an increase in the level of collaboration with academic units and employers as we've helped faculty to connect what they are already doing in the classroom to the skills and competencies that employers are seeking through a common language.
Peter Thorsett
Director, Operations & Strategic Initiatives
University of South Florida
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
How the PIVOT Transcript Partnership Can Move the Ball on Student Equity
Schools are looking at learning more holistically, capturing skills and competencies across not only academic disciplines but also the co-curriculum. In this session, we look at the opportunities for student equity and how the suite of 1EdTech Consortium standards from CASE, CLR and Open Badges can help maximize student opportunity and agency. We look at how movements in programming from SEL, CBE and PBL increasingly rely on distributed pathways that need to be accommodated. We examine what the likely evolutions might be from hyperlinked transcripts, to badge embedded co-curricular records, deeper student profiles in college application portals, and ultimately to full holistic CLR records capturing learning within a school and in the networked ecosystems available to the learner. Related resource: OESIS Network Report on the The Future of K-12 Transcripts
Jonathan Martin
Director, K12 Professional Learning
ACT
Sanje Ratnavale
President
OESIS Network
9:45 AM – 10:30 AM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Crypto-Credentials: Education Blockchains and the New Currency of Opportunity
Are distributed ledgers the infrastructure of a new skills economy? The U.S. Department of Education, together with the American Council of Education and the President's Forum, is exploring the role of education blockchains in the changing education and workforce landscape. Join us in a lively discussion of policy considerations such as data protection, privacy, and individual agency. Download presentation.
Sharon Leu (Moderator)
Senior Policy Advisor, Higher Education Innovation
U.S. Department of Education
Ross Lemke
Manager, Privacy Technical Assistance Center
U.S. Department of Education
Louis Soares
Chief Learning and Innovation Officer
American Council on Education
Julie Uranis
Vice President for Online and Strategic Initiatives
University Professional and Continuing Education Association
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Utah Microcredentials: Building a State K-12 Digital Credentials System
The Utah State Board of Education has developed a statewide microcredential system. Utah Microcredentials launched on January 1, 2019, and focuses on best practices used by classroom teachers, administrators, school counselors, and other K-12 educators. Utah Microcredentials is an evidence-based system, i.e., earners must demonstrate competency in the target skill or concept by submitting evidence of success and consistent implementation. The system platform, MIDAS, mediates all microcredential interactions, including submission and storage of evidence, rubric-based evaluation and feedback from reviewers, notification of award, and microcredential transcripts. We address the challenge of how to allow credential flexibility, while also keeping credential standards rigorous by creating agreed-upon expectations for what kinds of evidence must be included and how much credit a credential is worth. Unique in the Utah Microcredential approach is the emphasis on these partnerships with Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) which can create their own microcredentials representing important professional learning goals within their agency. Download presentation.
Daron Kennett
Professional Learning Supervisor
Davis School District
Richard West
Associate Professor, Instructional Psychology and Technology
Brigham Young University
10:30 AM – 10:45 AM
MAGNOLIA FOYER
Break
10:45 AM – 11:15 AM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Recognizing Lifelong Learning with Stackable Credential Pathways
No credential exists in a vacuum. Each is a step in a lifelong learning journey. The Badgr team has created a rich visualization of a learner’s educational journey that combines both for-credit and non-credit achievements into a single holistic view. Combined with Badgr’s extensive network of stackable learning opportunities, this new feature gives learners shareable and verifiable records of their achievements and competencies—and helps learners discover the next steps in their journey. Download presentation.
Robert Bajor
Digital Credential Evangelist
Concentric Sky
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Competency-based Teacher Professional Development Supported by CASE and CLR
Core Learning Exchange and Public Consulting Group (PCG) partnered with K-12 clients, including Atlanta Public Schools, to develop a competency-based teacher certification test prep program to help address challenges with reliably passing the required tests. PCG’s highly effective program has achieved 97% pass rates for participants who were at high risk of not completing certification. This program both assures a sufficient pipeline of certified special education and general education teachers, but also improves the knowledge and readiness for those nascent educators. We will present the project, and feature the use of CASE to define the assessment skill hierarchies, and the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) to document, track and report on student accomplishments and growth toward mastery. Download presentation.
Jeffrey Katzman
Founder & CEO
Core Learning Exchange
Joshua Marks
Senior Advisor
Public Consulting Group
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Learning Models that Recognize Skills, Competencies, and Achievements for Lifelong Learning
Wichita State University is working in partnership with two national professional associations to develop digital badge programs to combat identified skill gaps and the resulting qualified worker shortage. The top area employer challenge is the inability to find, hire, train and retrain staff. For one employer who experiences an average turnover rate of 35-39% for key positions, many clients are left unserved. Open badges are seen as a cost effective and convenient way to provide training and support. Download presentation.
Kimberly Moore
Director, Workforce, Professional, and Community Education
Wichita State University
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Advances in Open Badges: Demonstration of Badge Connect API
This session—led by members of the 1EdTech Open Badges project group—will demonstrate the latest Open Badges 2.1 standard in action. This version provides a secure API for sending Open Badges between systems. Come see how early adopters of OB 2.1 are implementing the Badge Connect API. Download presentation.
Nate Otto
Director, Badgr Platform
Concentric Sky
Justin Pitcher
Development Manager
Campus Labs
Hady Rashwan
Software Development Lead
Badgewell
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
AZALEA BALLROOM
Lunch
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Thinking About Quality For Digital Credentials
Considering quality for digital credentials is important for both those who create them and those who consume them. Currently, there is no single set of standards, no mechanism or system to help workers, employers, policymakers, and educational institutions define quality or measure it. As a result, confusion about digital credentials and their value in educational and career pathways reigns. All stakeholders would benefit from the clearing of that confusion. The Rutgers University, Education and Employment Research Center recently developed a conceptual framework to help guide measurement and understand the components of quality for non-degree credentials. Our session will explore digital credentials and quality thinking through four aspects of credentials that contribute to determinations of quality: credential design, competencies, market processes and outcomes. This session will be helpful to organizations developing, offering and consuming digital credentials. Using real world examples of digital credentials, platforms and tools, we will examine how quality is currently thought about in the creation and consumption of those credentials by the many stakeholders of interest. Finally, we will address how notions of quality may be changing as digital credentials become more prevalent in the credential marketplace and what this means for those in the field. Download presentation.
Josh Johnson
Senior Director, Learning Product Owner
Walmart U.S.
Heather McKay
Director, Education & Employment Research Center
Rutgers University
Michelle Van Noy
Associate Director, Education & Employment Research Center
Rutgers University
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Credentialing Online: Compelling Stories of Three Online K-12 Programs
In this panel conversation, three statewide virtual schools will share their vision for moving from a course-completion model to competency-based learning for students, teachers, and administrators. These organizations are leveraging Open Badges (OB), Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR), Competency & Academic Standards Exchange (CASE), and CASE Network to empower the digital credentialing happening in their states. In this session, participants will discover how each organization takes a unique approach to credentialing to realize a shared vision for CBE transformation. For example: Georgia Virtual is qualifying and quantifying teacher credentials for teaching online, making it easier to identify, recognize, and align its human capital. Idaho Digital is launching a computer science credentialing program that enables dual enrollment credit at the competency-level. Michigan Virtual is supporting statewide efforts to address early literacy challenges and offering alternative recognition for school leaders through credentialing. Get your questions answered and leave inspired on how digital credentialing can empower your K-12 programs to achieve mastery- and competency-based digital transformation.
Bruce Umpstead (Moderator)
Director, State Programs
1EdTech Consortium
Richard Copeland
Supervisor of Teacher Quality, Georgia Virtual Learning
Georgia Department of Education
Ken Dirkin
Executive Director, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
Michigan Virtual
Bret Morgan
Software Architect
Idaho Digital Learning
1:45 PM – 2:30 PM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
The CLR: A Scalable, Portable Solution that Provides the Learner with the Narrative They Deserve!
The Comprehensive Learner Record provides students with a greater understanding and narrative of their educational experiences in a secure, portable, verifiable, and easily understood format. This project demonstrates how students’ skills, competencies, and achievements are presented within an institution-verifiable digital credential using the CLR standard. The CLR standard allows for true scalability within and across institutions, and it also aligns the learner with the workforce by providing a machine-readable JSON export.
Christopher Jackson
CEO
Paradigm
Thomas Black
Assistant Vice Provost and University Registrar
Johns Hopkins University
Mark McConohay
Associate Vice Provost and Registrar
Indiana University-Bloomington
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Open Badges & CTE: Explore the Missing Link in the Earning Ecosystem
Practicing digital credential issuers and instructional designers have spent the last several years working to gain traction in connecting K-12 earners to the higher ed and industry ecosystem. Our project empowers the open badge earner to articulate unique and desirable professional skill sets that directly connect to the job market needs. By partnering with local organizations and employers via the Chamber of Commerce, joint pathways of learning are identified and reinforced by local Career and Technical Education programs. This ensures direct ties between K-12 earning and both personal and professional impact beyond. In addition, it supports efforts throughout the Open Badge community to demonstrate real-world application of open badges to professional opportunities.
Cate Tolnai
Co-Founder
BUOY Consultants
2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Leveraging an Entire Institution to Design a Scalable Credentials Strategy
The prevalence of digital credentials, or badges, is increasing across institutions of higher education due to their ability to demonstrate students' intermediary skills and knowledge obtained on the way to earning a degree. The majority of credentialing programs focus on specific curricula, extra-mural, or continuing education endeavors. However, few institutions have a cohesive credentialing approach that can address the learners' needs across their lifespan. Drawing on its inclusion-based charter, Arizona State University (ASU) has established an initiative known as the Learning Futures Collaborative (LFC) that catalyzes collaboration amongst all of its constituents. One of the LFC's primary charges is to design a credentialing strategy that serves anyone at any point of their personal learning spectrum. This session will share the lessons learned from one university's exploration into a collaborative approach to design a scalable credentialing system hand in hand with a vendor. Download presentation.
Allison Hall
Senior Instructional Designer, Herberger Institute of Design and Arts
Arizona State University
Christopher Sheehan
Manager, Digital Portfolio Services
Arizona State University
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Upskilling Employees
Upskilling is a hot term, but it is also higher education’s moral imperative to ensure broad access for all to learning that is in step with market trends and needs. Many colleges are launching digital badging initiatives in an effort to offer smaller chunks of industry-recognized learning, which could benefit historically marginalized populations who lack time and money to build their skills and be viable in a competitive job market. But if colleges want to do this in a way that meets the needs of all stakeholders, they should engage in a thorough design process to unbundle, map and re-bundle competencies, in collaboration with employers. Over the past 6 months, Education Design Lab has built an exciting program as a part of the Upskill SA! Project. In collaboration with Alamo Colleges Online, Palo Alto College, and Goodwill San Antonio, the Lab has designed and implemented a program that will best meet the needs of Goodwill San Antonio incumbent retail workers. Download presentation.
Isaac Agbeshie-Noye
Education Designer
Education Design Lab
Jessica Greenway
Director, Training and Development,
Goodwill Industries of San Antonio
3:15 PM – 3:30 PM
MAGNOLIA FOYER
Break
3:30 PM – 4:15 PM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Opportunity Ready: Microcredentials to Engage the Incarcerated Population
Eastern Maine Community College, in partnership with the Maine Department of Corrections, created the Opportunity-Ready micro-credential pathway for delivery to incarcerated individuals through MDOC's secure tablet vendor Edovo. It is designed to address life-readiness, education-readiness, and work-readiness skills. The pathway encourages individuals to explore their strengths, needs, and future goals through storytelling. Upon completion of the full pathway, learners have the opportunity to present their full portfolio for Prior Learning Assessment review and receive college credit. Over 200 individuals in MDOC facilities have accessed the curriculum independently. This session will describe the program goals, scope, partnerships, and the significant impact it is already having on learners. Download presentation.
Katy Grant
Education Director
State of Maine Department of Corrections
Joseph L'Africain
Curriculum Designer
Maine Community College System
Megan London
Curriculum Designer
Eastern Maine Community College
Nicholas Runco
Instructional Technologist
Eastern Maine Community College
Claire Sullivan
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Innovation in Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials
University of Maine System
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Connecting People to Jobs: National and International Initiatives
Employers are facing unprecedented challenges discovering, retaining, and upskilling employees in an era of rapid change. National initiatives in the U.S. and across Europe are addressing these challenges through competency-based practices, technologies, and projects. This session will spotlight the impact being made through the T3 Network, Job Data Exchange, ESCO, Europass, and other efforts, as well as discuss the role that 1EdTech standards such as Open Badges, Comprehensive Learner Record, and CASE play in this ecosystem. Download USCC presentation.
Simone Ravioli
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Digitary
Jason Tyszko
Vice President, Center for Education and Workforce
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM
Track 1
MAGNOLIA A
Blockchain-Based Academic Credentials at Georgia Tech
The Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U) at Georgia Tech has been exploring the use of blockchain to create distributed transcripts that allow users to combine evidence of learning and achievements into credentials that are relevant to employers. This session will provide an update on our work and describe the exciting possibilities of blockchain-based academic credentials. We have been using Blockcerts, the open standard for blockchain credentials. Blockcerts aligns with the Open Badges standard. We are also involved with the MIT Digital Credentials initiative. This group is working towards building an infrastructure for digital academic credentials.
Matt Lisle
Director of Digital Learning Technologies
C21U at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Track 2
MAGNOLIA B
Comprehensive Evidence of Learning: Evidence, Artifacts, Signals
The University of North Texas issues digital, marketable skills badges and micro-credentials (sets of badges), and will issue digital credentials (sets of micro-credentials) that demonstrate student competency and proficiency in a variety of marketable skills. Students attain badges in each skill based on the high-impact practices they engage in, the skills introduced and/or assessed in those experiences, the overall rigor of the experience, and a demonstration of skill. In order to award credentials with evidence, Career Connect collaborates with university stakeholders to catalogue supporting student, faculty, and staff learning activities, materials, ratings, and artifacts in marketable skills pathways. Connect participation is expected to positively impact student outcomes every semester and has already impacted student retention and GPA. Connect allows UNT students to keep track of and showcase—in real time and after college—their progress towards multiple, marketable-skills credentials. These efforts will also allow UNT to rigorously test Connect's impact on student outcomes every semester, across semesters, and under the diversity settings that Connect is being implemented. Download presentation.
Mike Simmons
Assistant Vice President, Academic Affairs
University of North Texas
