Celebrating five years of scaling digital credentialing at the TLN Unconference

Five years ago, Arizona State University’s Trusted Learner Network (TLN) was created with the goal of putting learners at the center of education and giving them agency over their earned skills and knowledge. 

Fast forward five years, and more than 120 digital credentialing community members gathered at ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management for the fifth annual TLN Unconference — commemorating five years of coalition for scaled credentialing change.

“The Trusted Learner Network is here to develop technologies that will help springboard institutions and issuers into digital credentialing to create bridges with our technology that allow us to stand where we are and envision the future,” said Kate Giovacchini, Executive Director of the Trusted Learner Network and ASU Pocket.

Celebrating the trailblazers and technology

During the Unconference, ASU Chief Information Officer Lev Gonick presented Dr. Phillip Long with the first-ever TLN Founders Award. Dr. Long was integral in establishing the TLN, exploring emergent technologies like Web3 technology and blockchain and educating ASU colleagues on their importance.

“This process has been one of finding a community that made me think, made me think in ways that I didn’t when I came into it, and then hanging around because being in the presence of people like that because over time, serendipity is structured discovery,” said Long. “Being in a community like this is a place where nudges make a difference. And when you experience them, you don’t necessarily notice that they are happening, but they make the life that you’re living much richer for it.”

In addition to recognizing Long and his achievements to the TLN, Giovacchini and TLN Product Manager Brooke Lipsitz shared a demo of the latest iteration of the Trusted Learner Network technology, showcasing the platform’s seamless integration of credentials that are within the network. Additionally, Unconference participants were able to serve as alpha production testers for the latest iteration of ASU Pocket, downloading the app in the Apple Store or Google Play store and adding a TLN Unconference Change Agent credential to their wallet.

A preview of future projects

In addition to getting a sneak peek of the TLN technology, participants were able to learn more about the TLN Design Patterns, 10 repeatable solutions to commonly occurring problems that arise in the change management process. These patterns are intended to help those who are working to implement credentialing at their organization or higher education institutions.

“I have never felt so confident and excited about work that I’ve done before,” said Dr. Sheryl Grant, co-creator and lead researcher for the TLN Design Patterns.

She and fellow TLN Design Pattern co-creator Dr. Megan Workmon Larsen led an interactive activity at the Unconference to allow the community to learn more about the patterns and to facilitate an anti-pattern activity, trying to break the TLN Design Patterns to improve them.

Participants also learned more about the upcoming TLN Co-Designing for Equity Toolkit, which will give the community the resources to mitigate bias, implement inclusive design and understand data equity. “We recognize that we need to design for equity always,” said Giovacchini. The TLN team is collaborating with Dr. Kelly Page, who led an Open Space session on equity at the Unconference, to design this series of toolkits.

The value of partnership and collaboration

For the first time, the TLN Unconference partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (T3 Network), which hosted its annual Spring Meeting the day before the 2024 Unconference.

“The missions of the T3 Network and TLN are very closely aligned. While there are a lot of synergies between T3 and TLN, both networks attract different stakeholders to the conversation around digital credentials and LERs,” said Taylor Hansen, executive director, policy and programs, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s T3 Innovation Network. “This was a great opportunity for the T3 community to come to TLN and learn more from the digital credential community. At the same time, we feel that it is also a great opportunity for the TLN community to come and learn what digital credentials and LERs can offer to support skills-based hiring and advancement.”

Gaining traction

One thing that was obvious at the Unconference was the greater confidence exuded by the community, in the form of not just talking about the work that those in the field wanted to contribute, but in sharing the progressive projects that they are currently working on. “I think the depth and perspective of the questions being asked are one of the things that was a real ‘aha’ for me,” said Noah Geisel, micro-credential program manager at University of Colorado Boulder, TLN Governing Body member and Unconference participant. “It’s just light years from where we were just 24 months ago.”

Andrew Johnson, a member of the TLN’s Architecture Advisory Committee and lead software engineer at Fluree, agreed, explaining that the narrative has shifted. “I heard a question asked this year that was also asked last year, and the response last year was, ‘you know, we don’t know but here’s what we are thinking.’ This year, the response was, ‘We have a great way to get started with that and hit the ground running today.’ That’s exciting,” said Johnson.

What’s next for the TLN

After years of experimentation and demo implementation in badging and micro-credentialing, the next step for the Trusted Learner Network is production, shared Giovacchini. The team has been load testing, conducting security reviews, road testing the technology and is ready for the next phase.

To activate this next chapter in TLN’s journey, Giovacchini called for the partnership of the
community: “We’d like to ask for adventurous, innovative partners to become foundational network members with us,” said Giovacchini. This call for partnerships will allow the TLN the opportunity to collaborate on building systems that best support learners and achieve its goal of issuing 1,000,000 credentials in 2024.

Learn more about the Trusted Learner Network at tln.asu.edu.