Recognition and verification of credentials in open education

This report explores scenarios, stakeholders and guidelines to make online and open learning comparable and recognisable within higher education.

While formal recognition according to the Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC) is about recognising credits from accredited study programmes offered by different higher education institutions, open learning extends far beyond the realm of higher education. It includes different formats and providers in a wide range from formal to non-formal and even informal learning. We will propose a possible solution, which we call the Learning Passport, and lay out a system of technology, standardization, procedures and governance models to realize this solution. It aims at increasing trust in open and innovative practices, by providing valid pathways to recognition, at widening the scope of internationalisation and credit-mobility by fully encompassing virtual mobility experiences into Bologna-tools and lastly at improving the transparency and recognition of open qualifications. With the Learning Passport, we want to stimulate the development and discussion of such an open and interoperable system for digital credentials, building on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and on the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

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