Definitions

In 2022, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO) released Alternative Credentials: Considerations, Guidance, and Best Practices. The report opens by calling for a set of shared definitions among everyone engaging in microcredentialing and digital badging. Many of the definitions below are adapted from that report.

Alignment

The alignment field can be used to describe any objectives or educational standards to which a digital credential (such as an Open Badge) can be aligned. A badge can be aligned to recognize academic or professional standards and competency frameworks. A badge aligned to recognized standards is easier for badge consumers (e.g., hiring managers) to find and understand, which adds value for badge earners, consumers, and issuers. The contents of the alignment field should consist of a URL/URI that points at an element of an educational or professional standard, or at a competency definition used by multiple organizations. This ensures alignments are machine-readable.

Alternative Credential

Non-traditional (non-degree) credentials offered by institutions of higher education, which may include credit alternatives such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), microcredentials (badges), credit- or non-credit-bearing certificate programs, and other opportunities. Typically issued in a digital format.

Artifact

An object issued to learners upon successful completion of a program or demonstrated accomplishment or skill, including diplomas, digital badges, or certificates.

Assertion

The actual digital credential or claim an earner receives, serving as the record of their achievement. In addition to the general information common to all instances of a badge class, the assertion contains everything that makes it a unique instance — such as the identity of the recipient, and optionally a link to evidence, a narrative, and an expiration date.

Assessment

A process that ensures appropriate rigor and expertise are used to evaluate a learning activity and determine the extent to which learning occurred.

Authority

The governance structure that stands behind a credential. This may include (but isn’t limited to) state education agencies, accreditors (institution- and program-level), and a specific college or department within an institution.

Badge / Digital Badge

Online (visual) representations that recognize skills, achievements, membership affiliation, and participation. Open Badges are a type of digital badge.

Badge Taxonomy

A digital badge can act as a container representing successful completion of a degree program, or as a module within a course tied to a single competency. A badge taxonomy supports both classifying and describing an achievement in language with consistent meaning inside and outside of academia — and anywhere else along the lifelong learning continuum where badges are earned and awarded. Examples include engagement, awareness, proficiency, and mastery.

Certificates

Academic programs (undergraduate, graduate, or professional) based on a free-standing, often interdisciplinary body of knowledge. Certificates typically have a minimum number of credits and are smaller than major programs of study. Completed certificates are typically recorded in academic records and displayed on transcripts. Note: some campuses offer unofficial certificates that don’t meet the criteria for inclusion on transcripts — in some cases, these may be reconsidered and offered as microcredential programs instead.

Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) / Learning and Employment Record (LER)

A CLR is an official document that captures, records, and communicates learning when and where it happens in a student’s educational experience — including learning outcomes from courses, programs, and degrees, as well as experiences outside the classroom that help develop career-ready skills and abilities. A CLR may contain one or more other credentials (badges, degrees, certificates, courses, experiences, etc.) validated and recorded on a student’s behalf. CLRs are a type of Learning and Employment Record (LER). See AACRAO’s Implementation of the IMS Global Comprehensive Learner Record Standard: A Practical Guide for Campus Personnel.

Criteria

All of the detailed requirements a learner had to meet to earn a given badge. A badge may be associated with multiple criteria, which may specify the evidence needed to demonstrate that criteria was met. Criteria should be measurable.

(Digital) Wallet / Backpack

A wallet, also known as a backpack, stores badge award data on behalf of recipients, making it possible for them to organize and manage the badges they’ve earned. Wallets may allow sharing to social media as a way of transmitting information about a learner’s achievements.

For-credit

Courses or other learning experiences that result in a learner earning academic credit, which displays on an academic transcript upon completion.

Issuer

The individual, entity, or organization issuing the badge.

Learning Outcomes

Measurable assessments and standards that articulate what earners have learned or can demonstrate upon completing a credential.

Metadata

Described as “the guts” of a digital badge, metadata provides information about the requirements a learner demonstrated to earn the credential, along with evidence of completion. At minimum, metadata should include information about the learner, the issuer, and the purpose of the credential.

Microcredential

A competency- or skills-based recognition that allows a learner to demonstrate mastery and learning in a particular area (Digital Promise). A microcredential is generally a subset of learning achievements or outcomes that is less than a full degree or certificate. A microcredential offered by an institution of higher learning should be asserted by a recognized campus authority.

Non-competency-based microcredentials

Verifiable digital credentials that recognize a learner’s participation, engagement, or completion of a learning experience or series of learning experiences, rather than their demonstrated mastery of specific knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies, or other dispositions. Unlike competency-based microcredentials, they are not anchored to formalized, discrete learning outcomes, and any associated assessment, if present, is not inherently designed to authentically evaluate competence. Non-competency-based microcredentials are awarded in recognition of a learner’s engagement with the experience itself, such as attendance, hours completed, or successful participation, rather than the verified acquisition of a specific skill.

Not-for-credit

Courses or other learning experiences that don’t result in a learner earning academic credit and typically don’t appear on an academic transcript, yet may still be recognized through other means.

Open Badges

A type of digital badge that conforms to the Open Badges standard. Open Badges serve as portable credentials containing metadata that offer detailed information about the achievement being credentialed and how it was earned.

Self-Sovereignty

A learner’s ability to control the sharing of their credentials without a required intermediary (such as a registrar’s office), while maintaining trust.

Stackable Credentials / Pathways

A modular approach in which credentials are designed to be combined or sequenced with other credentials, often along learning pathways.

Validation

A process that ensures the results of an assessment are legitimate and conform to the expected standards for that activity.

Verifiable

Confirmation that a credential is authentic, accurate, legitimate, and was awarded by an institution to a specific learner. Verifiable credentials protect against credential fraud and increase trust in the credential being awarded — structured data allows credentials to be verified and displayed consistently.

Verified Credential (VC)

A standard for exchanging and proving ownership of digital documents, including government, health, and education records. Open Badges and the CLR Standard can be transmitted as Verifiable Credentials.