Building on Success: Setting the Stage for Micro-credentials 2025

As technology continues to reshape every aspect of education and career advancement, with micro-credentials evolving, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the milestones we’ve achieved together and share our exciting plans for 2025. Micro-credentials allow learners to demonstrate specific skills and competencies through digital badges and certificates and are at the forefront of this transformation. This year has been a period of growth, innovation, and impact, which set the foundation for what’s next in micro-credentialing at Digital Promise.

2024 Recap: A Year of Milestones

Last year was a transformative year for Digital Promise’s Micro-credential initiative. We celebrated increased user adoption by adding more than 4,000 users and awarding more than 4,000 micro-credentials. We added 72 micro-credentials to our platform, and more than 50 were updated to enhance the learner experience. As we worked to serve our learners, issuers, and partners, we achieved several milestones:

• Reaching New Learners: Digital Promise launched three new micro-credentials on global skills for youth. This work included a piloting component to learn more about designing micro-credentials effectively for K-12 learners.
• Engaging in New Partnerships: We collaborated with six new micro-credential issuing partners. Digital Promise became an associate member of the 1EdTech network and a member of the TrustEd Micro-credential Coalition. Likewise, Digital Promise also joined Velocity Network Foundation as a member.
• Enhancing Access and Engagement: We made a concerted effort to expand access and engagement by launching an updated website to provide more precise communication with our audiences. We also released our first eBook, “The Role of Micro-Credentials in Lifelong Learning and Development,” available for free in English and Spanish.
• Technology Releases and Updates: We also launched Digital Promise’s first open-source technology, Badge Engine, to award micro-credentials using digital badges that adhere to the most updated technical specifications. To continually improve the Digital Promise Micro-credential Platform, a new and more secure login process and database improvements increased platform performance.

Our Hopes for 2025

With the momentum of 2024 behind us, we are excited about the opportunities ahead in 2025 by prioritizing competency-based micro-credentialing experiences for learners in diverse sectors. We aim to build impactful partnerships and pathways to expand our offerings to meet emerging skill demands that support learners along their desired pathways. By fostering collaborations with industry leaders, educational institutions, community organizations, and learners, we can amplify the reach and create opportunities for learners in underserved and growing sectors. This commitment also includes continuous improvements to the Digital Promise Micro-credential Platform and Badge Engine by making earning, awarding, and sharing micro-credentials more seamless, rewarding, and inclusive.

Guided by the belief that micro-credentials are a powerful tool for empowerment and adaptability in an ever-changing world, we are committed to furthering competency-based pathways that allow learners to leverage their credentials.