1EdTech releases updated standard for digital credentials to the public for certification
LAKE MARY, Florida, May 29, 2024 — The latest version of 1EdTech’s Open Badges standard for digital credentials is now publicly available after earning final approval from the 1EdTech community.
The Open Badges 3.0 standard marks a major leap in empowering learners, educators and employers to recognize lifelong learning with enhanced security, learner ownership and interoperability.
Open Badges are verifiable and shareable digital credentials that can help power learner potential across K-12, higher education, and professional learning and development. Following the latest version of the standard allows issuers to embed detailed information, including the criteria that the badge was assessed against, evidence of skill, when the badge was issued, a verifiable reference to the recipient and user, and more.
Open Badges 3.0 is designed as a Verifiable Credentials (VCs), as defined by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web, making them more tamper-proof and trustworthy.
The 3.0 version also supports a wider range of badge types and data content, making them more versatile and informative while also allowing for greater interoperability across different platforms and applications.
Finally, Open Badges 3.0 integrates with skills frameworks, so badges can be aligned with specific skills and competencies, including academic and industry-recognized standards.
“1EdTech is committed to supporting learners and helping them showcase their knowledge and skills through digital credentials, that can be trusted and shared worldwide, to achieve their goals,” said Rob Coyle, 1EdTech technical program manager for digital credentials. “That’s why we partner and work with a variety of organizations, institutions and companies, not just in creating the technical standard, but also through collaborations that support wide-scale adoption and creating a credential ecosystem that helps all learners become successful, such as our TrustEd Microcredential Coalition, and partnership in the LER Accelerator Coalition.”
“This focus on the quality of micro-credentials is something IQC has been pursuing for a long time, actively participating in working groups and contributing to the definition of national pre-normative standards,” said Monica Trippodo, research and development project manager for Italian Quality Company (IQC). “At IQC, we are committed to developments that put the individual at the center and promote a skills-based economy: being the first in Europe to achieve Open Badges 3.0 certification is a source of great satisfaction and confirms our dedication to offering configurable open badges in micro-credentials that are always up-to-date with market and individual needs.”
“As an early implementor of the Open Badges 3.0 standard, we are excited about its finalization and the promise it brings to exchange detailed and validated metadata about a learner’s achievements aligned to learning outcomes and skills. This presents a true step forward for employers and admissions officers, who will now have the necessary context to rely on digital credentials to verify skills and competencies,” said Heather Carle, senior product manager at Territorium.
"eLumen is proud to be an early adopter of the Open Badges 3.0 standard. Our work on bringing sustainable competency-based assessment to higher education wouldn't be complete without the ultimate recognition of success: students with credentials. We look forward to continuing our work with the broader community on driving transparent student success with interoperable solutions, especially 1EdTech's CASE, CLR, and Open Badges, which are essential to making the overall transformation sustainable," said Joel Hernandez, chief technology officer for eLumen.
For a short video about Open Badges 3.0, click here.
Other early adopters include MarkAny Chainverse, Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), SWEMPIRE, NetLearning Holdings, and Sparkplus Technologies.
The Open Badges 3.0 standard was developed alongside the Comprehensive Learner Record Standard™ 2.0 to improve interoperability and ease of implementation. It is part of the larger digital credentials workstream at 1EdTech, which also includes the CASE® standard, TrustEd Microcredential Coalition, and the Wellspring Initiative.
About 1EdTech
1EdTech is a member-based non-profit community partnership of leading education providers at all levels, government organizations, and edtech suppliers who collaborate to accelerate an open, trusted, and innovative digital learning ecosystem. We power learner potential by creating the foundation for a learner-centered and future-ready ecosystem where products work together to improve teaching and learning for all.
1EdTech hosts the annual Learning Impact Conference, Digital Credentials Summit, and other engagement opportunities to advance the leadership and ideas that shape the future of learning. The 1EdTech Foundation, an affiliated public charity, puts philanthropic funds to work in support of 1EdTech's vision. Visit our website at 1edtech.org.