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Our 21st Century Skills Micro-credentials
DetailsThe Lab is an Innovation Engine
By centering our learn-and-work solutions on the New Majority Learner, we discover new solutions, design them right, and validate they work before scaling them broadly. And when we scale them within an institution or across an ecosystem, (l)earner centricity equitably aligns the silos and breaks down the barriers that are the root cause of the skills crisis.
Examples of the Lab’s Innovation Engine at Work
Exploration
- Putting single moms at the center of design
- Helping employers move to skills-based hiring
- Designing the equity-based ecosystem with institutional change agents
Validation
- Making all (l)earner skills visible
- Tying together the data through the (l)earner journey
- Understanding the rural ecosystem
- Making transfer pathways seamless
Impact
- Micro-pathways that transform lives and institutions
- Credentialing the ‘soft skills’ employers seek
Explore recent releases and key initiatives
View Story- Publication
Design Insights Brief: Community College Growth Engine Micro-pathways: A Gateway to Community College Transformation
Design Insights: An Education Design Lab publication series. - Publication
Design Insights: Single Moms Success Design Challenge
Design Insights: An Education Design Lab publication series. - Publication
BRIDGES Rural Design Insights Part 2: Designing + Piloting a New Approach to Economic Agility in Rural Communities
Design Insights: An Education Design Lab publication series.
The Lab works on the ground with 1,040+ colleges and organizations, 560+ employers, 24+ regions, and thousands of learners, who need education programs and pathways that better serve their futures.
It's a time of transformation
Education outcomes are being measured by competencies, not degrees.
The lines between school and work are blurring.
Colleges, and even high schools, are starting to unlock skills from degrees, making them more explicit to learners and employers.
Learners are in the driver’s seat, getting credit and skills from many different providers, and credit for learning wherever it happens.
We call this the Learner Revolution.
Our Areas of Work
Design Shorter and Stackable Pathways
- Lower-cost degrees
- “Earn and learn” programs
- Micro-credentials and pathways
Catalyze the Transition to Skills-based Hiring
- Translate degrees to employer competencies
- Assessments to test and build skills
- Validate micro-credentials with employers
Train for Human-centered Design + Change Management
- Immersive workshops for learning institutions
- User-centered research
- Rapid prototyping tools + training
- Innovation capacity diagnostic + training
Scale Solutions with Equity at the Center
- Communities of practice
- Product laboratory
- Innovator Network
Featured Partners
Sample Funders
Latest News from Our Innovator Network
Montana launches first-of-its-kind, statewide micro-credential development initiative
The Montana University System partners with Education Design Lab to develop and scale skills-forward, short-term credentials in high-demand fields. SEPT. 20, 2023 – HELENA, MT – Education Design Lab (the Lab), the Montana Office of…View Story
Work Shift op-ed: What’s in your (skills) wallet?
Skills look to be the currency of the future. Creating wallets to hold them will mean breaking down a “labyrinth of silos,” writes Dr. Naomi Boyer of Education Design Lab. Aug. 16, 2023.View Story
We are in the field bringing models to life that are more affordable, portable, relevant, and visible for learners.