8:30 am 

Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Rob Abel, Chief Executive Officer, 1EdTech

8:45 am 

Keynote: Toward a Common Language

• Chris Sturgis, Co-founder of CompetencyWorks and Founder of LearningEdge

Hear one of the country's leading experts on competency-based education who will share her experience and insights on the key challenges and great opportunities that are being uncovered as the education system transitions to one based on learning and competencies rather than using time as a proxy. Ms. Sturgis, who is an education innovator, author, and expert on competency-based education will offer encouraging findings, wisdom, and warnings for K-20, social agencies, and employers designing sustainable pathways for lifelong learning.

9:30 am

Partners in Talent Development
What new pathways are being developed for learners in the fast-evolving education and talent development sphere? How are barriers being broken down and new networks developing in support of lifelong learning?

• Moderator: Ryan Davis, CEO, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
• Barbara Hins-Turner, Executive Director, Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy
• David Leaser, Senior Program Executive, Innovation and Growth Initiatives, IBM
• Jeff King, Executive Director, Center for Excellence in Transformative Teaching and Learning, University of Central Oklahoma
• David Nyberg, Director of Corporate Engagement, Northern Michigan University
• Christine Shaw, Global Vice President-Sales Learning Strategist, SAP

10:30 am

10:45 am

Unlocking Opportunity with Open Standards
Hear a short update on the latest 1EdTech innovations supporting emerging models for education and talent development including an exciting announcement to break down silos between education and industry.

• Mark Leuba, Vice President, Product Management, 1EdTech

11:00 am

IMS Badge Connect - Enabling the Ecosystem
Learners earn quality microcredentials from many issuers along their pathway. See 1EdTech' latest innovation in action as member-suppliers demonstrate Badge Connect, which enables the digital badge ecosystem by allowing learners to designate their preferred host platform to receive and manage a copy of their badges. Demonstrations from:

• Badgr from Concentric Sky
• Credly
• MyMantl from Campus Labs

11:30 am

Embracing Open Standards at Scale 
In the near future student’s records of achievement will travel with them from K-20 and into their working careers, available for a learner to share their verifiable achievements online with others at their discretion. Scaling support for digital credentials toward this bright future requires a robust, reliable infrastructure built on open standards.

• Feng Hou, CIO and Chief Digital Learning Officer, Central New Mexico Community College
• Alex Kaplan, Global Leader, Strategic Deals, IBM Watson Education at IBM

12:00 pm

1:00 pm

Is Your Organization Ready for the New U?
In his latest book, A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College, Ryan Craig documents the early days of a revolution that will transform—or make obsolete—many colleges and universities. Alternative routes to great first jobs that do not involve a bachelor’s degree are sprouting up all over the place. Bootcamps, income-share programs, apprenticeships, and staffing models are attractive alternatives to great jobs in numerous growing sectors of the economy: coding, healthcare, sales, digital marketing, finance and accounting, insurance, and data analytics. Come and hear Mr. Craig’s analysis and the prescription for the New U.

• Ryan Craig, Managing Director at University Ventures

1:45 pm

The Evolving Role of the Registrar - Scope and Governance in a Digital Credentials World
With the growth of digital microcredentials and the emergence of a Comprehensive Learner Record that captures a 360-degree view of student achievements crossing academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular domains, institutions face the challenges of governance. The University Registrar, as the natural coordinator for overseeing the institutions' credential processes and products, is responsible to ensure accuracy and security of the record as well as to enforce academic policies. How do registrars embrace this expanded responsibility? What impacts and implications follow? How will the traditional function of transcripting evolve to credentialing, including not only course completion records—but the learner's acquired skills and competencies?

• Moderator: Tom Green, Associate Executive Director, AACRAO
• Theresa Jacques, Registrar, Michigan Technological University
• Mary Beth Myers, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Registrar, IUPUI
• Scott Owczarek, University Registrar, University of Wisconsin Madison
• Mike Flanagan, Chief Product Officer, Mastery Transcript Consortium

2:45 pm

3:00 pm

Learn from the Leaders 
As educators and corporate chief learning officers guide the increasing transition to digital, skills-based credentials there are inevitably valuable lessons to be learned and preferences among the alternative paths forward. Worldwide, there is no more experienced group of experts than those leading the digital credentialing platforms and 1EdTech has assembled the leading platforms in the space to share their respective wisdom and advice.   

• Danny King, Co-Founder and CEO, Accredible
• Mustafa Sualp, Founder and CEO, AEFIS
• Wayne Skipper, Founder and CEO, Concentric Sky
• Peter Janzow, Vice President, Credly
• Matthew Pittinsky, President, Parchment
• Jim Milton, Executive Vice President, Portfolium

3:45 pm

Essential Elements for Success of New Models

Leaders in education and workforce share their deep experience, observations, and guidance for moving forward with new education and talent development strategies that count digital credentials as a key building block.

• (Moderator) Jonathan Mott, Founder and CEO, AspireAbility
• Sarah Godsey, Director of Learning Evaluation & Innovation, The American Council on Education
• Jennifer Mellor, Chief Innovation Officer, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce
• Charla Long, Executive Director, Competency-Based Education Network
• Scott Cheney, Executive Director, Credential Engine

4:45 pm

Track 1

Room: Fiesta I/II

Track 2

Room: Fiesta III

Employer Perspectives on Digital Badges and Learner Records

The Education Design Lab's 21st Century Skills badges are a suite of digital badges that represent the most in-demand skills employers are seeking but struggle to identify in college graduates. The Lab created the suite, over a three year period, in collaboration with over 30 employers and 13 institutions and recently published a free toolkit containing curricula and assessments. In only a few months, the toolkit already has 600 members from over 300 colleges, universities, organizations, and businesses around the world who have agreed to use the Lab's framework, language and assessments. The next phase, #TeeUpTheSkills, is aimed at employers to measure the impact on the hiring process. Learn about employers’ perceptions of these badges and other findings to date.

• Don Fraser, Director of 21st Century Skills Badging, Education Design Lab
• Asa B. Stone, Ph.D. Presidential Fellow of Micro-Credentialing Central New Mexico Community College
• Jen-Beth Ball, Senior Multimedia Specialist, Alamo Colleges District

Redefining What Counts: Building Pathways to HigherEd for Opportunity Youth

What if there was a way for youth to gain work experience, obtain valuable career readiness competencies and make those achievements and how they relate to one another visible and meaningful? What if those achievements flowed along a pathway that earned youth college credentials, job certifications and more? In 2019, LRNG and SNHU will work with leaders, employers, and community members to reimagine the learning ecosystem and create seamless pathways utilizing digital badges to unlock access to learning and opportunity for all youth. We know that fragmented systems are a huge barrier to entry to post-secondary schooling for opportunity youth. The goal of this pathway work is to create frictionless transitions between the LRNG ecosystem and that of SNHU and higher education for young people. Always with an eye toward equity, the goal of this collaboration is to increase the number of opportunity youth attending college and/or accessing successful careers and a living wage. Join digital badging and higher ed leaders for a lively discussion on how we connect opportunity youth to higher education with badges and pathways.

• Megan Madel, VP of Product Management, LRNG
• Faby Gagne, Executive Director of Research and Development, Southern New Hampshire University

Employers All In on Digital Credentials

How impactful are digital credentials to global employers? Join panelists from industry-leading employers and employer partners to learn how employers are not only consumers of digital credentials but are devising their own badge programs to fill urgent labor needs. Panelists will address how to create an employment-focused badging infrastructure to attract, engage, develop and retain top talent. Panelists will share success realized, lessons learned and their visions for the future of digital credentials.

• Rob Shook, Program Director, IBM Training and Skills, IBM
• Stephanie Owen, Director Of Education, National Wood Flooring Association
• Pete Janzow, Vice President, Business Development, Credly

Competencies as Currency: Is Your Organization Ready?

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce has just launched a center called, The Competency Project with the mission of accelerating the use of competencies as the primary currency people and organizations use in work and learning. Using competencies as the new 'method of exchange' in the labor market will increase opportunities and economic mobility. Technology will enable and accelerate the use of competencies as the currency in the labor market. The Beta Credentials Framework, which was created with Lumina Foundation support is an 8-level competency calibrator that enables leveling of any credential, job description or set of competencies across all industries, disciplines and stakeholders. It is free and open source and is being turned into a digital application and profile bank currently. thecompetencyproject.com

• Ryan Davis, CEO, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

Talent Stream: From Digital Credentials to Hiring

See the future of hiring: recruiters and hiring managers evaluating candidates based on the contents of their digital credentials and badges!

In this proof of concept session, “Talent Stream” shows what’s possible with 1EdTech open standard APIs using today’s OBv2 and Comprehensive Learner Record.  

• Justin Pitcher, Development Manager, MyMantl, Campus Labs
• Mark Leuba, VP Product Management, 1EdTech

Momentum in Micro-Credentialing: The New Era of Educator Growth and Advancement

Hear how different organizations are incorporating micro-credentials into their educator talent management strategies. Fourteen states have launched micro-credential initiatives as well as hundreds of districts across the country. While many think of micro-credentials as an alternative form of professional development, they are being leveraged for so much more. In this session, you’ll hear how organizations are using micro-credentials to help recruit, retain, and develop effective educators. We will discuss how they are implementing micro-credentials, not just as a mode of professional learning, but as the building blocks for career advancement, certification, and licensure. By the end, you'll walk away with a better understanding of how micro-credentialing works, why states are building incentives for them, and the implementation and structural changes required to make a shift towards micro-credentialing.

• Dr. Kristie Jackson, Professional Learning Coordinator, Dysart Unified School District

• Dr. Allison Powell, Senior Learning Strategist, BloomBoard

Improving Student and Faculty Success through Comprehensive Learner Records

In higher education, receiving continuous and real-time feedback of learning is essential for students, faculty, and administrators as they strive for success and meet academic goals. To help all students meet their learning goals, educators need to systematically collect and use data to guide instructional decisions in order to foster student growth and achievement. To make the data actionable, they need to be visible to all stakeholders through a structure that supports an ongoing cycle of improvement. This includes collecting data from multiple sources and providing guidance in formulating academic strategies to support lifelong learning and instructional change.

Comprehensive learner records are an effective approach to demonstrating achievement that transcends individual courses and educational experiences. By providing developmentally relevant feedback to students in real-time, comprehensive learner records promote significant student and faculty ownership of learning goals, creating a stronger sense of purpose and curricular meaning. These, in turn, promote more effective student learning and academic performance. Beyond graduation, comprehensive learner records are exportable and therefore can be shared with potential employers as authenticated evidence of student achievement and verified skills, directly connecting learners to employment opportunities.

• Suzanne Carbonaro, Director of Assessment, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, University of the Sciences
• Mustafa Sualp, Founder & CEO, AEFIS

Digital Badges at Scale: Statewide Micro-credentials to Achieve Strategic Outcomes

How can strategic goals be met through statewide programs? Learn how two leading state systems of higher education are using digital badges to further student achievement.

Through the Badging Essential Skills for Transfer (B.E.S.T.) initiative, the University System of Maryland's Kirwan Center is working in partnership with Portfolium to address employer perceptions that college graduates lack the skills needed for workplace success.

At SUNY, a system-wide policy sets a new standard for developing high-quality micro-credentials - demonstrated through Open Badges - that recognizes faculty authority over curriculum, requires institutional endorsement, and ensures that credentials are meaningful and in students' best interest (portable, stackable, aligned to standards). The policy recognizes the many uses of micro-credentials and is both flexible and exacting, supporting innovation while assuring quality.

• MJ Bishop, Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, University System of Maryland
• Cynthia Proctor, Director of Communications & Academic Policy Development, Provost's Office, SUNY System Administration

Digital Credentials in Michigan: A K-to-Career Perspective

The State of Michigan is on a badging odyssey to determine how best to effectively recognize, reward, and represent effective learning for students when and wherever it happens across the kindergarten-to-college-and-career spectrum. The effort is now expanding to include teacher professional development. In this panel conversation, the Michigan Department of Education, the Michigan Afterschool Partnership, and Michigan Virtual will discuss how their coordinated micro-credentialing initiatives have changed the career-ready conversation in the Great Lake State and make the case for Comprehensive Learner Records (CLR) for every student and educator in the Mitten.

• Jeff McNeal, Educational Consultant, Competency-Based Education, Michigan Department of Education
• Mary Sutton, Executive Director, Michigan After-School Partnership
• Ken Dirkin, Director of Online Professional Learning, Michigan Virtual 

   

   

   

               

Rethinking Recognition with Open Badges 2.0: Endorsement and Collaborative Issuing Networks

eCampusOntario is the edtech network of excellence for Ontario's 45 publicly funded colleges and universities. The network has been working with its member institutions and CanCred.ca, the Canadian partner of Open Badge Factory (OBF), to "rethink recognition".

This rethink leverages some exciting features of Open Badges 2.0 implemented by OBF's 1EdTech certified technology, such as Alignment and Endorsement, along with other features native to OBF and CanCred, such as collaborative badge issuing. The result is an emerging badge network, where badges converge on a provincial recognition hub, the eCampusOntario Passport. Come see how we're building a regional recognition rethink north of the border!

• Michel Singh, CTO, eCampusOntario
• Don Presant, President, CanCred by Learning Agents

Achievement Assertions and Comprehensive Learner Records

This presentation will showcase Georgia Department of Education and the University System of Georgia efforts to work with CBEN, the Credential Engine, and the US Chamber of Commerce's T3 Network to develop a robust, extensible ecosystem to support learner achievement assertions produced as Comprehensive Learner Records.

• Greg Nadeau, Manager, Public Consulting Group
• Myk Garn, University System of Georgia
• Nate Otto, Director, Badgr Platform, Concentric Sky

• Michael Dugan, CIO & SVP Operations, FSMB
• Cyndi Streun, Assistant VP of Information Services, FSMB
• Chris Jagers, CEO, Learning Machine

Building a Successful Badge Program

Participants will walk through the steps of developing a badging program during this interactive session that will address design, assessment, and tools.

Leave this session equipped with a toolkit to begin creating, or building upon, your own badging program.

• Lesley Voigt, Faculty Director, Digital Credentials Institute, Madison College

Closing