5 key takeaways from community-led conversations
In keeping with the TLN’s ethos of increasing agency, participants helped create the agenda for the event, suggesting and self-organizing around the topics that mattered most to them. This resulted in more than 20 participant-led breakout sessions, tackling the complex and critical challenges at the intersection of learning, work and technology.
“In addition to creating space for conversation, we view these Open Space sessions as a listening opportunity,” said Brooke Lipsitz, Program Manager at the TLN and ASU Pocket. “When the community sets the agenda, we get a clear view into what’s top of mind — what challenges people are facing, where energy is building and what gaps still need to be addressed. These conversations directly inform how we shape our product development and resources.”
Based on the topics nominated by participants, the discussions revealed five key insights about where the digital credentialing community is headed:
1. Ecosystem coordination is critical for impact
With session titles like How can we create data sharing amongst all these groups to track outcomes, program alignment, feedback loops and How the SIS of the future can support and interact with a verified credential ecosystem, TLN Unconference participants called for greater alignment across credential issuers, employers and education systems. There was urgency around developing shared data frameworks, integrating student information systems with verified credentials, and solving persistent interoperability challenges. The community is eager for more connected, feedback-driven ecosystems that track outcomes and meaningfully link learning to opportunity.
2. Value must be evident to users
Despite the increase in credentialing activity, there’s concern about badges that are created but not used. Participants emphasized the need for clear value propositions, employer validation and better storytelling tools to help learners make credentials work for them with session titles like What to do when you're issuing a ton and not seeing implementation of badges in the ecosystem and How can we make digital credentials more valuable via structured data. Quality design, intentional implementation and real-world utility were surfaced as non-negotiables.
3. Human first, tech second
Amid conversations about data and platforms, participants returned to the critical importance of human experience. What do we do when the world is on fire? How do we connect the carbon-based person to an opaque digital identity? These questions asked during Open Space sessions reflected the community’s deep commitment to learner agency.
4. Equity, inclusion and global portability are front and center
From exploring Learning and Employment Records (LERs) for immigrant workers and global learners to proposing credentials for Some College, No Credential (SCNC) populations, the community is focused on broadening access and recognition. Digital credentials are seen as a tool for unlocking opportunity, especially for those underserved by traditional pathways.
5. Vision and courage will help us navigate what’s next
Unconference participants embraced the need to be audacious, including imagining statewide learning collaboratives and incorporating AI into personalized learning pathways while challenging existing systems. One of the topics asked, “What if we’re just creating a new iteration of an old problem?” Sessions offered a space for participants to dream big, confront uncomfortable questions and consider what steps are needed to move this work forward.
Those who attended the TLN Unconference left with new connections, renewed focus leading into the Badge Summit’s activities and a shared commitment to a credentialing ecosystem that works for learners, for employers and for the future of education.
“This year’s Open Space conversations proved just how much passion, creativity and momentum there is in the digital credentialing ecosystem,” said Giovacchini. “We’re proud to host a gathering that brings people together to intentionally ask ‘where do we go next.’”
Find out more about the TLN at tln.asu.edu.