Trust in the Digital Credential Age

Inspired by a session at the Convergence conference co-sponsored by AACRAO and UPCEA, this episode delves into questions of trust in the digital credentials higher education is moving quickly toward–and is in fact already awarding in droves. The Trusted Learner Network (TLN) is the focus of the conversation and ways that the TLN is designed to tackle core challenges of quality, accessibility and value in the world of digital credentials by developing governance frameworks, technologies to onboard institutions into the world of digital credentials, and a community to explore and advance the ecosystem. Also, you’ll hear about an “unconference” where all the sessions are planned on the spot. 

Key Takeaways:

• The TLN is more about trust than about technology; the technology is a tool, but the exchange of ideas, support, and the governance framework is critically important for moving microcredentials forward. 
• There is an inherent tension between what we (as institutions) decide is “trusted” versus what we leave out of the trusted category; we (as institutions) need to be conscious of that gatekeeping and not perpetuate prior equity discrepancies. 
• We are still working through all of the complicated questions about non-credit, credit, blends of each; what’s included on the transcript; whether the transcript is still the appropriate place to represent student learning (or if it ever did!); and want you to join the conversation. 

Host:

Doug McKenna, University Registrar
George Mason University
cmckenn@gmu.edu 

Guests:

Insiya Bream, Registrar & Associate Vice President
University of Maryland Global Campus

Meena Naik, Director, Skills First Design
JFFLabs

Noah Geisel, Microcredentials Program Manager
University of Colorado

Kate Giovacchini, Executive Director, Trusted Learner Network
Executive Director Engineering, Enterprise Technology - Engineering Core
Arizona State University

References and Additional Information:

Trusted Learner Network

The Badge Summit

https://conferences.upcea.edu/convergence2023/ 

https://www.aacrao.org/signature-initiatives/learning-mobility/digital-credentials 

https://academicaffairs.rutgers.edu/microcredentialing-and-digital-badging