Friday SLO Talk, March 28, 2025
by Jarek Janio, Ph.D.
What happens when a high school science teacher turned innovation strategist turns his attention to the most overlooked asset in education—Student Learning Outcomes? In his Friday SLO Talk, Robert Bajor, founder and CEO of Micro Credential Multiverse, took us on a fast-paced, data-rich tour of the current labor market and made one thing clear: if our SLOs aren’t connected to skills, they’re not connected to reality.
“How can we use technology and student learning outcomes to align the needs of learners with the needs of employers?”
This essential question framed Bajor’s entire talk. And by the end of the session, one truth emerged: the traditional boundaries of teaching, learning, and recognition are breaking down—and that’s a good thing.
The Case for Urgency: Skills Are Changing Fast
Bajor didn’t waste time warming up. He dove straight into the numbers:
“Three and four of the skills requested for the average US job have changed.”
“By the time you graduate, 75% of those skills that you thought you would need are completely different for the job that you’re going to try to get.”
And it’s not just a matter of shifting priorities—it’s about the introduction of entirely new skills into the workforce:
“One in four of those skills requested are brand new.”
This means that even students who complete degree programs in good faith may be entering a labor market with expectations that didn’t exist when they began.
Lifelong Learners Are Already Moving
Bajor made it clear that learners are not waiting for institutions to catch up:
“More than half of working adults are what we call professional learners.”
“Four in five adults consider themselves lifelong learners.”
These learners are pursuing professional development with urgency and intention, often outside traditional degree pathways. They’re responding to the pace of change with adaptability—and they’re expecting their credentials to keep up.
What Micro Credentials Offer That Degrees Don’t
The talk explored micro credentials not as replacements for degrees, but as necessary supplements to a more agile learning economy:
“Micro credentials aren’t the only game in town.”
“Micro credentials as small vehicles for skills make it possible to verify these sorts of things on demand.”
He emphasized that good micro credentials have two critical components:
- They are rigorously assessed.
- They are technically portable, interoperable, and verifiable.
“Those records are yours. They describe you. They should belong to you.”
“Ownership of that micro credential is exclusive to the earner.”
Whether awarded for credit or noncredit learning, Bajor argued, micro credentials provide transparency and trust in a language employers understand.
Rethinking Learning Pathways
While he acknowledged that not everyone in the room was exploring structured learning pathways yet, Bajor made a strong case for them:
“Discovery should be as easy within your college as on Spotify.”
Learning pathways—linear, clustered, or freeform—allow students to see how skills connect, stack, and lead to opportunity. Whether in manufacturing, health care, or IT, well-designed pathways help learners make informed choices.
AI and the Future of Institutional Design
Bajor also turned his attention to artificial intelligence and how it relates to student learning:
“In the next five years, AI is going to contribute between 15 and 20 trillion dollars to the US economy—sorry, the global economy.”
With this in mind, institutions must approach AI not just as a tool, but as a strategic response to increasing complexity.
“What should I be using AI for at my institution? Productivity, personalization, quality, and efficiency.”
He even offered an acronym—PPQE—to summarize the four key areas where AI can have an immediate, measurable impact on how institutions assess and support learning.
SLOs, Skills, and the Language of Employers
Throughout the talk, Bajor returned to one core idea: employers speak the language of skills. SLOs—if clearly defined and embedded in credentials—can act as the bridge between learning and labor.
He demonstrated this live by walking attendees through real digital badges that included detailed descriptions, earning criteria, and linked skills—showing how learners can track their own growth, and how employers can instantly verify what a candidate can actually do.
“These are high-resolution records. Not just that you passed the course, but you also have this particular skill.”
In Bajor’s view, this level of granularity is essential not just for employability, but for fairness and access. Many learners won’t follow a straight path through higher education. But with the right tools, their learning—formal or informal—can still be recognized.
Final Thoughts: From Recognition to Results
By the end of his talk, Bajor left the audience with more than a theory—he left us with a call to action.
“This is no longer a world where a single degree is the finish line.”
SLOs, he suggested, must evolve from internal academic tools to public-facing signals of competency. They must be embedded in digital systems, aligned with labor market needs, and written in a way that both learners and employers can use.
And, just as importantly, they must be shared, not locked away in course outlines or hidden in accreditation documents.