Framework supporting the design of a digital workforce platform

1. Framework for Digital
Workforce Platform
Presented by Terry East
September 2020

2. Presentation Scope
This presentation is not all inclusive but will begin the conversation
covering three areas within the scope:
1. Describe the evolving career ecosystem
2. Overview of the Open Badges and Backpacks
3. Discuss the open pathway data model

3. 21st Century Career Drivers
• People entering the job force today are facing as many 6 major career transitions
— some of the jobs they will have don’t exist today.
• International offshoring/outsourcing competition — American workers at
disadvantage until global labor cost equilibrium is achieved… decades away
• Increased automation of work, including the introduction of artificial intelligence,
only non-exportable occupations may provide somewhat stable employment
• Shifting education return on investment resulting in Minimum Viable Education
(mini-certifications and nanodegrees) and Just-in-Time skills training
• Educational methods like Lifetime, Situated and Constructivist Learning, and
career pathways

4. The Resulting Gig Economy
• Freelancers are taking the world by storm. Ditching
the nine-to-five life to set their own hours, nearly 53
million Americans today work as freelancers.
• Work has become more project-based.
• Within the next decade, 50% of the U.S. workforce
will be freelancers
• Currently the average job lasts 4.1 years,
decreasing annually.

5. JIT Career Transitions
Job Title 1
Prep for
Transition
Job Title 2
Prep for
Transition
Job Title 3
Prep for
Transition
…
Initial Entry
Training
Minimize the Gaps
Lifetime Learning Track
Job Shadowing
Internship
Situated Learning
Work-based Training
Portfolio Tuning

6. Portfolio Tuning
Current Portfolio
Next Phase
Requirements
Gap Fulfillment Strategies
Skill
Experien
ce
Certificat
ion
Skill Skill
Certificat
ion
Certificat
ion
• Courses
• Internships
• Projects
• Communities of Practice
• Micro-certifications
• Nanodegrees
• Volunteer/Pro bono work
Certificat
ion
Experien
ce
Skill
Gaps
Experien
ce
Experien
ce

7. Portfolio Elements
• Digital Badges
• Backpacks — badge storage
• Collections
• Pathways
}Groupings of Badges

8. What Are Digital Badges?
A digital badge is a validated indicator of accomplishment,
skill, quality, or interest that can be earned in many
learning environments.
Open digital badging makes it easy for anyone to issue,
earn, and display badges across the web—through an
infrastructure that uses shared and open technical
technical standards.

9. Open Digital Badges
• Open Badges comply with standard specifications
and are verifiable and portable with embedded
metadata to share across the web
• Anyone can issue a badge, receive one, verify a
badge is real, or inspect the metadata — stored
and exchanged via online backpacks
• Backpacks enable a user to move their badges
between different platforms as well as organize
and share collections.

10. Digital Badge Elements
Digital Image is
“baked” to data
BadgeClass
An badge issuance
is called an assertion
authority

11. How to Create a Digital
Badge
Partial List of Open Badge Issuers on the Cloud
Acclaim, Badgecraft, Badgelist, BadgeOS, BadgeSafe, Badgr, Bestr
CanCred Factory, Canvabadges, Credly, ForAllRubrics, Makewaves,
Moodle, Open Badge Factory, RedCritter, TopClass, Youtopia

12. Digital Backpacks
Earn badges from anywhere. Then take them
everywhere.
• Digital Backpack makes it easy to earn
badges from multiple sources, both online
and offline, then sort them into categories and
choose where they’re shared, through a
single interface.
• Badges stored in your Backpack are private
by default, meaning they are visible only to
you - unless you want to show them off!
• By managing your badges in your Backpack,
you can create meaningful collections and
display your badges on social networking and
job sites.
similar to merit badge sashes

13. Open Badge Backpack
Services
Mozilla Backpack
Open Badge Passport
Salava
Badgr
Badgr-server
CanCred Passport
CanCred Factory

14. Backpack Collections
Hard
Skill
Two
Hard
Skill
One
Backpack Storage
Hard
Skill
Two
Collection 1
Collection 2
Hard
Skill
One
Employer
Job
Application
Organized
Subsets
Within
Backpack
Professional
Certification/
CEU
- OR -
Linked

15. Example of Digital Badge on
LinkedIn

16. Digital Badge Flow
Stored in Backpack
Collection is made
Badges can expire
and be revoked

17. Brief History of Digital
Badges

18. BADGR Open
Pathways

19. Open Pathways

20. Cross Institution Standards

21. Intercompany Skill Transfer
Another Employer’s Training Accepted

22. BioTech AA Pathway 1

23. BioTech AA Pathway 2

24. BioTech AA Pathway 3
Attended Outside Seminar

25. Open Implementation

26. Objectives
• No one size fits all. Several methods to achieve a
standard set of achievement metrics support by a common
leveraged infrastructure.
• Achievement metrics that are recognized in the broader
job market (i.e., outside Woodland)
• Account for different cohorts (e.g., youth at risk, women re-
entering the workforce after raising children, professionals
over 35 years old recently laid-off, people with different
cultural and language requirements, different industry
requirements

27. 2.
Earn Job
Hunting
Skills
Badges
7.
Employer
Validated
Job
Readiness
Badges
5.
Industry
Approved
CTE
Pathway
Digital
Badges
6.
Job
Matching
8.
Performan
ce Data &
Analyses
The
Platform
9.
Employer
and
Trainer
CoP
Support
Workforce Readiness Platform
3.
Membershi
p Job
Readiness
CoP
4.
Issues Job
Readiness
Certificate
1.
Earn Soft
Skill
Badges

28. Process Flow Definitions
1. Issue Top Ten Soft Skills Badges: Stored in individuals’ profile.
2. Institute Job Hunting Skills Badges: Create badges for job hunting
skill classes (interview, resume, networking skills, LinkedIn-like
profile, etc.).
3. (Optional) Membership In Job Readiness Community of Practice
(CoP): Peer-to-peer sharing and reinforcement of successes in
the job search/maintaining employment; opportunities for job
shadowing, internships, community volunteer and involvement.
Can be Industry Specific. Very Scalable.
4. Issue Job Readiness Digital Badge with the completion of soft
skills, job hunting skills and tools, and mentoring in CoP

29. Process Flow Definitions
(con’t)
5. Digital Badges and Pathways representing a technical competence as
required by the relevant industry
6. Job Matching: Job hunt campaign; securing and maintaining
employment. Employer submitted jobs matched with job hunter profiles.
Available to both employers and applicants.
7. Employer Validated Job Readiness Badge: Soft Skills validated through
employment. Stored in individual’s profile.
8. Performance Analyses: Training/Job market demand and effectiveness
data analysis
9. Online communities supporting employer and educator/training
Communities of Practice.

30. Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs)
• Each of the process flow areas will be monitored to assess whether
desired outcomes in the form of metrics, called KPIs, are realized
• These KPIs will be used to determine whether the hypothesizes within
the process flow are performing as designed or improvements are instituted
• Using pathways allows for identifying suitable alternatives issued by other
organizations to satisfy individual elements of certification flow