By: Connie Yowell, CEO, LRNG and Executive Vice President, SNHU
Operating at the intersection of work, education, and community, LRNG builds technology-enabled, community-based work and learning ecosystems. Our goal is to enable young people to define their purpose and find paths to success. We weave together fragmented local education and workforce development systems into a dynamic ecosystem that prepares youth for jobs of the future. Through partnerships with communities, corporations, educators and young people, LRNG is building an equitable future of talent for the 21st century workplace.
The LRNG platform immerses youth in connected communities of practice. Through rich playlists and curated content, youth learn and earn digital badges that unlock opportunities like micro-scholarships, internships and employment opportunities.
By utilizing comprehensive credential data from the Credential Registry, LRNG has the ability to offer even more tools to our users. We’re developing an application to connect our badges to Registry credentials in order to help students better understand and articulate the skills and competencies they have gained through LRNG as well as see connections into credentialing pathways that may have been previously unexplored.
In addition, we recently announced an exciting merger to become the community impact arm of Southern New Hampshire University, the largest nonprofit online college. This merger allows us to work with local government, employers, the public library systems, community colleges, or other local partners to open the door to new opportunities and help close workforce gaps.
In cities across the country, more than 57,000 youth are engaging in-person and online experiences in playlists that result in a digital badges. The badges youth earn act as evidence of learning and provide meaningful information about learning. Our platform and badges allow us to work in non traditional learning experiences that extend when and where a student can learn.
In cities like Chicago, with community partners and companies we are forming relationships where credential data will matter more than ever. Being able to catalog learning any place it happens will be the key to providing equitable pathways for all youth. Providing currency for badges such as internships, scholarships and college credit will continue to require strong evidence of learning in shareable formats.
Credential data is more important than ever when working outside a school setting where learning data may be considered less credible than traditional settings. Our platform and open badges allow youth to share information about their learning experiences. Credential data allows someone to check who assessed and verified a youth’s learning no matter where the learning took place. Powerful click-through data shows learning experiences and assessments completed providing evidence of skill attainment and competence that traditionally may not have been acknowledged. By partnering with Credential Engine and the Credential Registry, we can provide our users with even more comprehensive data and context to help them find their path to success.
To learn more about our work visit LRNG.org.