Digital Credentials: A Better Way Capture And Communicate Learning

For hundreds of years we’ve relied on time as the primary measure of learning. Sit through a class and get credit. Accumulate enough credits and you get a degree. But a list of classes passed (a transcript) tells little about what a learner knows and can do. Add grades and the reputation of an institution and you get a little signaling value but the standard high school or college degree is a terrible communications of capabilities.

There is an invention opportunity to better credential units of learning, to open up individual learning pathways, to better communicate capabilities, and to reduce friction in talent transactions.

The pandemic is accelerating this shift to verified credentials. Enrollment in short-term credential classes increased by 70% over last year while freshman college enrollment dropped by 16%.

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