- Everyone is empowered to access learning and earning opportunities based on what they know and can do, whether those skills and abilities are obtained through formal or informal education or training, work experiences, or independent learning.
- People can capture and communicate the skills and competencies they’ve acquired across their entire learning journey — from education, experience and service — with more ease, confidence, and clarity than a traditional resume.
- Learners and earners have persistant access to their information when they need it and control over its security and privacy and the ability to curate their skills and provide evidence of their achievements to take advantage of any opportunity they choose to pursue.
- Employers can tap into a broad talent pool that better matches applicants to opportunities by recognizing Verifiable Credentials that represent the skills, competencies, and achievements that they are seeking.
This is the world that we believe can be created with the adoption of Learning and Employment Records , or LERs, digital representations of a person’s skills and achievements obtained throughout their lifetime through education, employment and life experiences. LERs provide many advantages that can empower learners and job seekers as well as educators and employers alike. Compared to traditional resumes, LERs are:
- learner centered and controlled. Once a learner receives a credential, such as a degree, certificate, or training completion, they maintain access to their data and can curate their skills and experiences towards a desired learning or career opportunity.
- data-rich. LERs can include valuable information on learning objectives and outcomes, employers with more relevant and granular information about an individual’s skills and abilities.
- verifiable. LERs contain digitally signed information on the institution, organization, or individual who has attested to the learners achievement, such that regulated credentials like licensures can be proven valid.
LERs function within a broad, dynamic ecosystem, one that contains the learners themselves, employers both seeking skills in the workforce and endowing them on the job, education and training providers with a diverse set of delivery models, to name a few. An aligned, well-functioning LER ecosystem creates benefits for learners, earners, and employers. It offers opportunities for improving education outcomes and hiring processes, supporting meaningful careers, and promoting economic mobility.