This post reflects on a London 1Edtech gathering and the work of the UK Digital Badging Commission.
Pre #Bett24 I was kindly invited to contribute to cross sectoral meeting with 1Edtech along with delegates from across the UK University and College landscape. Thanks to Gill Ferrell who now leads for 1Edtech in Europe for kind invitation.
As an aside, I was amazed by transformation of StErmins Hotel a far cry when it was a run down hotel and the cheapest option for Westminster meetings.
The meeting in London was excellent for highlighting the adoption of open standards around the world and the relative intransigence of the UK as a whole. It is worth having a dig into these slides from CEO of 1Edtech Curtis Barnes. There were some other really excellent presentations and great discussion on day. If you really don't know what I am talking about here have a look at the standards themselves. Open standards are important - what allows you for instance to get emails on lots of devices.
I led some national policy developments here from 2013 and I carried the lessons forward into my practice. In a College setting we adopted Canvas partly as Canvas Credentials (formerly Badgr) brings open recognition for all learners. Having awarded badges to students and lecturing staff for two years I moved on just as our curriculum team were rolling out badges for meta-skills to the students.
It will be interesting to see how this approach develops and what reception this has from our learners. There is huge scope here, if the College can push this on. Interesting too to see that Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities have adopted Canvas to support their micro-credential initiatives.
It is concerning to see how slow progress has been around adoption of open standards for digital certification. I am glad to be a contributor to the UK Digital Badging Commission. Being well led out by Patrina Law.
In a global first, Ufi VocTech Trust and The RSA have launched the Digital Badging Commission to broaden the understanding, development and adoption of digital badges by accrediting organisations and employers.
Have a look at work to date of the UK Digital Badging Commission and you will see some green shoots.
I was surprised and pleased to see developments here between SQA and Skills Development Scotland around ways to display credentials in MyWorldofWork. But perhaps more impressed by the nascent Department for Education record of Post 16 learning. The vision is that a learner can enroll on a course simply by a scanned QR code and can maintain their own record of achievements. See presentation above for details on these projects in development.
I think biggest blocker here are the policy makers. A special shout out to City and Guilds and NCFE in England who have pushed on with developments in this space and as a Scottish Employer SCCC for pushing on badges for workforce accreditation. It would be good to see a fresh vision piece in this space from Scottish Government.
The Digital Badging Commission includes representatives from educational organisations, awarding bodies, tech companies, and others interested in the future of learning and skills recognition.
Key themes and points discussed recently -
Opportunities for Acceleration: The group discussed policy developments that could accelerate the adoption of digital credentials, including the potential of a national digital learner record and linking it to work experience data. DfE's "Project Titan" and the "Digital Wallet" work by DSIT were mentioned as relevant initiatives.
Barriers to Adoption: Several barriers were identified, including:- Familiarity with paper-based credentials.
- Lack of a centralized wallet/store - perhaps not needed.
- Complexity and intelligibility for users.
- Perception that the metaphor of badges is not useful and devalues qualifications. The need for clearer definitions and a unified taxonomy was emphasized
- Confusion around terminology (badges vs. micro-credentials vs. qualifications).
- Quality assurance challenges.
- Employer scepticism and or lack of awareness.
- Recruitment processes lagging behind in recognizing digital credentials.
- And or many HR and OD systems don't use open standards.
- Lack of joined-up thinking across the UK's different educational systems.
- Regulatory mandates for awarding bodies to provide digital certifications and wallet adopting open standards.
- Starting with smaller-scale projects (e.g., Foundation Apprenticeships) to test and build infrastructure.
- Focus on qualifications issued to schools, colleges, and work-based learning providers.
- Developing case studies showcasing the real-life use of digital credentials.
The ongoing conversation highlights the potential of digital credentials to transform learning and skills recognition, but also captures the challenges that need to be addressed to achieve widespread adoption and ensure that these credentials are valuable for both learners and employers.
I know Patrina and team are keen to talk to employers large and small about their view of digital certification. If you are a Scottish employer please reach out to Patrina using LinkedIn contact above.
My own view it should be digital qualifications supported by open standards for all. You don't need a centralised store just verifiable credentials. Learners without digital access should always be able to access a paper or alternative format.
