North Dakota Information Technology Chief Information Officer Shawn Riley today announced the first state-developed digital credential publishing application for high school transcripts as a verifiable credential. It allows any high school graduate to present their transcript to an educational institution or employer digitally. Users of the technology can have all their degrees, certifications, badges and skills located in one accessible and secure location.
“These digital credentials are the future for North Dakota, and the nation, to allow individuals agency of their learner-employment-experience to gain access to employment opportunities," said Chief Data Officer Ravi Krishnan. “It’s a game-changer for students and lifelong learners of all ages and stages of their careers.”
Funding grants through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Walmart Corporation have helped empower North Dakota to become the first in the nation to publish credentials in a digital wallet to a high school student.
“Badging is exploding, we’re the first one to provide a real high school transcript application that will serve the citizen as we shift to a skills-based economy,” SLDS Program Manager and Architect Tracy Korsmo said. “This is about monetizing your skills and owning your credentials, with the convenience of having them on your personal device.”
The technology spearheads other forms of credentials (educational, certifications such as a certified nursing assistant (CNA), work experience, training and life experiences) as a form of recognized skills that a citizen holds, has private control of, and can easily share their skills with potential employers in an anonymous, equitable and inclusive manner to gain access to future employment and for employers to seek talent regionally.
This digital credential application will help high school students seamlessly transition to colleges and universities, allow adult learners to create skills and education portfolios and help those who want to transition or advance in the workforce by allowing them to map out necessary education and share it quickly, easily and securely with employers.
The project has expanded to include industry-recognized credentials through Open Badges representing credentials ranging from welding to cybersecurity and pathways from high school to community college certificates or bachelor’s degrees through a master’s degree at the University of North Dakota.
To gain access to a digital credential application and publish the credential a student needs only to access the student/parent portal in the educational portal to create their credentials in a ‘wallet’ that they own. Today the Digital Credential ‘wallet’ is accessible through the PowerSchool login and accessing the North Dakota Education portal.
C O N T A C T :
Alisa Cook | 701-328-7408
Jecca Geffre | 701-955-0304