Learn It, Perform It, Display It – The Power of Digital Credentialing for Workforce Acceleration

Final Presentation: 
Audience Level: 
All
Session Time Slot(s): 
Institutional Level: 
Higher Ed
Special Session: 
Community College/TAACCCT
MERLOT
Abstract: 

As individuals secure their learning from multiple sources across their lifetimes, communication and certification systems are evolving to enable the efficient and reliable communication of skills. As leaders in the digital badge space, we will discuss the value of digital credentialing, help the audience develop their own best practices and showcase case how institutions and companies, are empowering individuals through recognition of achievements demonstrated both inside and outside of traditional education.

Extended Abstract: 

As individuals secure their learning from multiple sources across their lifetimes, communication and certification systems are evolving to enable the efficient and reliable communication of skills. Digital badges help connect talent to opportunity at scale, using digital evidence of achievement to build an education-to-workforce pipeline among participating institutions and businesses. Audience members will gain valuable knowledge about how their institution and companies can empowering individuals through recognition of achievements demonstrated both inside and outside of traditional education.  As we discuss best practices in the development of a digital badge ecosystem,  we will engage audience members in hands on exercises to design appropriate competencies within programs, courses and trainings which can be captured with digital badges to document skills and applied learning. Audience members will engage in discussions about the emerging role digital badges play in a learner/badge earner’s career and educational pathway. As leaders in the digital badge space, we will use examples of how 2 different institutions, a 2-year and 4-year, helped create a digital badge ecosystem model which encourages badge earners to claim digital badges and share them on social media. Our work has also helped to inform program development in both credit and non-credit course design.  

Conference Session: 
Concurrent Session 1
Conference Track: 
The Education-Workforce Continuum
Session Type: 
Education Session
Intended Audience: 
Administrators
Design Thinkers
Faculty
Training Professionals
All Attendees