Using templates to create eLearning
By
Cath Ellis
In this episode of The Learning Pro Live, I caught up with an old university friend and education expert, Matthew Dale from Educonomy. Our topic? One of my absolute passions: digital badges and micro-credentialing.
While some might dismiss digital badges as just “gamified gold stars,” the reality is far more transformative. We are moving towards a world where your qualifications aren’t just a static PDF from a university but a dynamic, digital backpack that travels with you throughout your career.
Here are the key takeaways from our chat on why digital badges are the future of skills verification.
Traditional qualifications are often slow to adapt to industry needs. Matthew highlighted a critical gap: industries are moving faster than training packages can be written. Does every new skill require a full diploma? Probably not.
This is where micro-credentials shine. They allow for a curriculum-based approach where specific skills can be verified instantly. Whether it is learning advanced data analytics or mastering a new software tool, these “chunks” of learning can be stacked and recognised without the need for a multi-year degree.
One of the biggest frustrations in the corporate world is repetitive compliance training. You move jobs, and suddenly you are forced to sit through the same “Workplace Bullying” or “manual handling” module you have done five times before.
Imagine a system where your compliance history travels with you. A verified digital badge that says, “Yes, I completed this training six months ago, and it is still valid.” This portability saves businesses time and saves employees from mind-numbing repetition.
Matthew shared a brilliant example from the automotive industry in Victoria. When manufacturing shut down, workers weren’t just left unemployed. By using micro-credentials to verify their existing skills—like process management and sterile environment protocols—they identified an 85% skills transferability rate. This allowed workers to be rapidly redeployed into hospital sterilisation roles without needing to retrain from scratch.
We discussed the sheer volume of learning that currently goes unrecognised. My nephew finished high school with a certificate of grades, yet he had also mastered industry-standard tools like Final Cut Pro and the Adobe Creative Suite. Where is the record of that?
Digital badges offer a way to validate these 21st-century skills. They provide a more granular, accurate picture of a person’s capabilities than a resume ever could. As Matthew pointed out, this isn’t just about formal education; it is about recognising lifelong learning, whether that happens in a lecture hall, on YouTube, or at a community centre.
A recurring theme in our discussion was the role of bureaucracy. While government frameworks like the Unique Student Identifier (USI) in Australia are a step in the right direction, innovation often moves faster than policy.
Matthew’s advice? Don’t wait for permission. The current system already allows providers to issue digital badges. It is up to us, the educators, the L&D professionals, and the training providers, to be the trailblazers. We need to start building these frameworks from the ground up, proving their value to the industry before the “bean counters” catch up.
Watch the full interview above to dive deeper into the potential of digital badging and hear Matthew’s insights on the changing landscape of Australian education.
