by Jarek Janio, Ph.D.
What if credentials weren’t just about certifying completion—but about catalyzing connection?
At a recent Friday SLO Talk, Noah Geisel delivered a compelling challenge to how we think about digital credentials, student learning outcomes, and the very role of recognition in education. In his words, badges and micro-credentials are not products—they are mirrors. They reflect back to learners what they are capable of. And when designed intentionally, they become magnets that pull people toward opportunity, community, and purpose.
This simple but powerful reframing changes everything.
It shifts credentialing from a compliance exercise into a deeply human endeavor—less about bureaucratic transcript-building, and more about relationship-building. When students can see themselves clearly, and when others can recognize their value, that is when the real work of education begins.
From Completion to Connection
For too long, credentialing has been dominated by static records and inflexible proxies: a GPA, a course title, a job title, a degree earned. These often fail to reflect the richness of a learner’s skill set, the nuance of their experiences, or their readiness to engage with real-world challenges.
What Geisel argued during Friday SLO Talks is that we are now in a moment where that can—and must—change. Through digital badges, micro-credentials, and well-aligned student learning outcomes (SLOs), we can document what students can actually do, not just what they’ve sat through. Even more importantly, we can design these recognitions to be discoverable—by people, by systems, and by AI tools that are already shaping hiring, admissions, and peer networks.
Instead of a student saying “trust me” on a résumé, they can now say “trust this evidence-backed credential that shows what I’ve demonstrated.”
That is not just a better system for students. It’s a smarter system for everyone involved in learning, employment, and advising.
Credentials as Mirrors and Magnets
The power of this idea lies in its dual function:
- As mirrors, credentials give learners feedback and confidence. A badge that says “demonstrated collaboration skills in a high-pressure team project” is not just an endorsement—it’s an identity-builder. It tells the student: This is who you are becoming.
- As magnets, those same credentials attract opportunities. They give advisors, mentors, employers, and even algorithmic systems a way to search, match, and connect learners with roles or communities where those same skills are needed.
In other words, credentialing becomes a tool for discovery. Not just academic discovery, but personal and social discovery. It helps us locate ourselves—and be located by others—within a broader ecosystem of opportunity.
Moving Beyond the Transcript
Geisel, who works in the registrar’s office at the University of Colorado Boulder, was clear: this isn’t about replacing transcripts. It’s about enhancing them with a more meaningful layer of insight.
A transcript is a powerful tool for credit articulation between institutions. But it was never designed to tell the story of a student’s creativity, persistence, adaptability, or digital fluency.
That’s where well-designed micro-credentials come in.
And design is the operative word. These recognitions must be:
- Aligned with observable, assessable student learning outcomes
- Embedded into the course and program structure, not tacked on at the end
- Transparent, with metadata that shows what was learned and how it was demonstrated
- Verifiable, so others can trust their credibility
When built this way, micro-credentials don’t just check boxes. They tell stories. They give learners a highlight reel—a living record of their growth and capability.
From Gatekeeping to Bridging
One of the most exciting implications of this approach is its potential to dismantle gatekeeping. For too long, access to opportunity has been shaped by things like zip codes, last names, alma maters, or family networks. These proxies are deeply flawed—but they’ve persisted because there hasn’t been a better system for discovery.
Credentialing for connection offers a path forward.
Imagine a hiring manager looking not at resumes filled with vague job titles and school names, but instead at verifiable badges that document collaboration, problem-solving, and digital skills. Imagine a student from a historically underrepresented background being matched to a research internship not because of who they know, but because of what they can show.
That’s the promise of this model. It offers a way to match talent with opportunity based on skills and evidence, not background or privilege.
It also gives faculty and institutions a more authentic way to fulfill their mission—not just transmitting knowledge, but amplifying the voices and talents of learners who might otherwise go unseen.
Designing for AI-Powered Discovery
As AI continues to shape the future of hiring and admissions, the stakes of credential design are only getting higher. Searchability, interoperability, and metadata now matter more than ever.
If badges and micro-credentials are going to function as magnets, they need to be readable by machines as well as humans.
That means embedding them with:
- Rich metadata: What learning outcome was demonstrated? In what context? What evidence is attached?
- Clear taxonomy: Using standardized skills frameworks (e.g., ESCO, O*NET, or Bloom’s Taxonomy)
- Interoperability with Learning and Employment Records (LERs) or Comprehensive Learner Records (CLRs)
This level of design ensures that student achievements don’t disappear into digital folders—they surface when it matters most.
What Happens Next?
If we accept that credentialing is about connection, not just certification, we must ask:
- What skills are most important to credential—not just for jobs, but for human flourishing?
- How can we ensure credential design is inclusive and student-centered?
- What are the risks of credential bloat—and how do we avoid devaluing recognition?
- And how do we build systems that help students carry these recognitions forward—into employment, graduate school, and civic life?
The conversation started at Friday SLO Talks is just the beginning. Geisel’s challenge to us is to think beyond administrative categories and toward a vision of education where students are seen, valued, and connected because of what they’ve shown they can do.
Credentialing, at its best, is not a transaction. It’s a form of care—a way of saying we see you, we value you, and we want others to see it too.