Career Pathways Colleagues,
This was originally posted in the Integrating Technology group as part of a new discussion thread on how the future of technology may affect adult basic skills education. This may not be of interest to everyone, but those who have been struggling with how to connect a record of adult basic skills progress with industry-approved certifications may find some of this useful.
If you know about "blockchains" it's probably as "the underlying technology supporting Bitcoin digital currency transactions". A blockchain is "a digital ledger that uses cryptography to allow participants (each with a unique signature) on a network to use the ledger and record transactions to enable granular traceability" (from "Blockchain Goes Mainstream with the Announcement of the IBM Blockchain" ) There has been serious work done in the past two years by Badgechain Community, colleagues interested in how digital badges (micro-credentials) can be made secure and reliable using blockchain technology. Now, with the IBM Corporation committed to an internal company career pathway with digital badge stepping stones to certifications, I wonder if there are good applications for blockchain technology in realms of adult basic skills and career pathways learning. For example, could blockchain technology be the answer to how to create a lifelong learning transcript, ideally one that allowed learners to stack digital badges or micro-credentials toward a list of full, market-worthy certifications? If so, would high tech, health care, manufacturing, construction, and/or other industry sectors use these transcripts for hiring, in-house education and training, career advancement, and partnerships with community college and community-based adult employment training programs?
Your thoughts?
David J. Rosen