In 2022, The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO) released Alternative Credentials: Considerations, Guidance, and Best Practices. The report begins by calling for a set of shared definitions by all parties engaging in microcredentialing and digital badging. Many of the definitions below are provided from that report:
Alignment
The alignment field can be used to describe any objectives or educational standards to which a digital credential (such as an Open Badge) can be aligned. A badge can be aligned to recognize academic or professional standards and competency frameworks. A badge aligned to recognized standards is easier for badge consumers (e.g. hiring managers) to find and understand, which adds value for badge earners, consumers, and issuers. The contents of the alignment field should consist of a URL/URI that points at an element of an educational or professional standard, or at a competency definition used by multiple organizations. This will ensure alignments are machine-readable.2
Alternative Credential
Non-traditional (non-degree) credentials offered by institutions of higher education may include a myriad of credit alternatives including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), micro- credentials (badges), credit- or non-credit bearing certificate programs and various other opportunities. Typically issued in a digital format.1
Artifact
An object that is issued to learners upon successful completion of a program, demonstrated accomplishment or skill, including diplomas, digital badges or certificates.1
Assertion
An assertion is the actual digital credential or claim the earner receives and serves as the record of their achievement. In addition to containing all the general information of the badge class (data that is common to all instances of the particular badge), the assertion contains all the information that makes it a unique instance of the badge, e.g., the identity of the badge recipient, and optionally a link to evidence, a narrative, and an expiration date.2
Assessment
A process that ensures appropriate rigor and expertise to evaluate a learning activity to determine to what extent learning may have occurred.1
Authority
The governance structure that stands behind a credential; these may include (but are not limited to) state education agencies, accreditors (institution and program-level), and a specific college or department within an institution.1
Badge / Digital Badge
Online (visual) representations that recognize skills, achievements, membership affiliation, and participation. Open Badges are a type of digital badge.1
Badge Taxonomy
Digital badge can be used as a container to represent successful completion of a degree program or as a module in a course with a single competency. The digital badge taxonomy supports both the classification and the description of the achievement in language that has consistent meaning inside and also outside of academia—and anywhere else along the lifelong learning continuum where badges are earned and awarded. Examples of the badge taxonomy includes engagement, awareness, proficiency, and mastery.5
Certificates
Certificates are academic programs (undergraduate, graduate or professional levels) based on a free-standing body of knowledge, often interdisciplinary in nature. They typically have a minimum number of credits, and are smaller than major programs of study. Completed certificates typically are recorded in academic records and displayed on transcripts. Note: Some campuses may offer unofficial certificates that do not meet the criteria for inclusion on transcripts. In some cases, these may be reconsidered and offered as micro-credential programs.1
Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) / Learning and Employment Record (LER)
A CLR is an official document that seeks to capture, record, and communicate learning when and where it happens in a student’s educational experience. This includes learning outcomes from courses, programs and degrees, as well as experience they have outside the classroom that help develop their career ready skills and abilities. A CLR may contain one or more other credentials (badges, degrees, certificates, courses, experiences, etc.) that have been validated and recorded on behalf of the student. CLRs are a type of Learning and Employment Record (LER). See AACRAO’s Implementation of the IMS Global Comprehensive Learner Record Standard: A Practical Guide for Campus Personnel.1
Criteria
Criteria are all of the detailed requirements that a learner had to meet in order to earn a given badge. A badge may be associated with multiple criteria, and the criteria may specify the evidence needed in order to demonstrate that criteria was met. Criteria should be measurable.2
(Digital) Wallet / Backpack
A wallet, also known as a backpack, stores badge award data on behalf of recipients, making it possible for those recipients to organize and manage the badges they have earned. Wallets may allow sharing to social media sites as a means of transmitting information about the achievements that a learner has gained.4
For-credit
Courses or other learning experiences resulting in a learner earning academic credit which displays on an academic transcript upon completion.1
Issuer
The name of the individual, entity, or organization issuing the badge.2
Learning Outcomes
Measurable assessments and standards that articulate what earners have learned or can demonstrate upon completion of a credential.1
Metadata
Described as “the guts” of a digital badge which provides information regarding the requirements a learner demonstrated to earn the credential along with evidence of completion. Metadata, at a minimum, should include information regarding the learner, the issuer, the purpose of the credential.3
Microcredential
A competency or skills based recognition that allows a learner to demonstrate mastery and learning in a particular area (Digital Promise). A microcredential is generally a subset of learning achievements or outcomes that is less than a full degree or certificate. A micro-credential offered by an institution of higher learning should be asserted by a recognized campus authority.1
Not-for-credit
Courses or other learning experiences that do not result in a learner earning academic credit, and which do not typically appear on an academic transcript, yet may be recognized through other means.1
Open Badges
A type of digital badge, open badges conform to the Open Badges standard, and can serve as portable credentials containing metadata that offer detailed information about the achievements being credentialed. Open badges contain metadata which provides additional information about the credential and how it was earned.1
Self-Sovereignty
The ability of a learner to control the sharing of their credentials without a required intermediary (i.e., registrar’s office), while maintaining trust.1
Stackable Credentials / Pathways
A modular approach in which credentials are designed to be combined or sequenced with other credentials, often in learning pathways.1
Validation
A process that ensures that the results of an assessment are legitimate and conform to expected standards specific to that activity.1
Verifiable
Confirmation that a credential is authentic, accurate, and legitimate and has been awarded by an institution to a specific learner. Verifiable credentials can protect against credential fraud and increase trust in the credential being awarded. Through the use of structured data, credentials can be verified and displayed in a consistent way.4
Verified Credential (VC)
A standard for exchanging and proving ownership of digital documents including government, health and education records. Open Badges and the CLR Standard can be transmitted as Verifiable Credentials.1
- American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers: Alternative Credentials: Considerations, Guidance, and Best Practices
- Badge Wiki: Home
- Credly: No Guts, No Glory: The Story of Metadata
- Badgr / Canvas Credentials: Glossary of Terms
- EDUCAUSE Review: Creating a Digital Badge Taxonomy to Foster Shared Meaning