Skybridge Skills
Community-powered recognition, built on open standards.
Skybridge Skills is led by Nate Otto, a driving force behind the Open Badges 2.0 standard and long-time advocate for open, community-driven credentialing. With a background spanning roles as VP of Badgr and Director of the Badge Alliance, Nate has helped shape the digital credentialing ecosystem from the ground up - with a focus on learner agency, interoperability, and recognition beyond formal education.
Skybridge Skills builds open-source tools to help communities, from employers and nonprofits to clubs and alternative education providers, recognise and celebrate real-world learning. Their platform gives each community a shared space to issue badges, run reflections, and design lightweight assessments that connect people with their capabilities.
In the Badge Sandpit, you’ll explore a quiz-based badging tool that makes issuing a badge as easy as answering a few well-crafted questions. It’s a simple but powerful way to experiment with evidence, outcomes, and the process of claiming recognition, all grounded in the open standards that underpin the next generation of credentialing.
Activity: Earn your Digital Credentials Fundamentals Badge
Digital credentials are becoming an increasingly important part of how learning, skills and achievements are recognised and shared. But what exactly are they, and why do they matter?
In this activity, you'll explore the foundations of the digital credentialing ecosystem through a series of short readings and an interactive quiz. Along the way, you'll discover how digital credentials can help build trust, support skills-based hiring, reduce credential fraud and create more transparent pathways between learning and work.
You'll also explore emerging concepts such as verifiable credentials and Learning and Employment Records (LERs), and consider how these innovations are reshaping the future of recognition.
Complete the quiz and earn your Digital Credentials Fundamentals badge as evidence of your growing understanding of the technologies, ideas and opportunities driving the future of learning and work.
Activity Snapshot
Estimated Time: 20–30 minutes
What You'll Do: Read three short articles, complete a quiz and earn a badge.
Who's It For: Anyone new to digital credentials and skills recognition.
What You'll Need: Internet access and a credential wallet.
What You'll Get: A Digital Credentials Fundamentals badge and an introduction to digital badges, verifiable credentials and LERs.
Tip: if you don’t have a credential wallet start with the DCC Challenge to set up a free Learner Credential Wallet (LCW). Make sure you use the same email for the LCW and this badge.
Step by step instructions
Step 2: Take the quiz to earn your badge
Click on the link to open the quiz and earn your badge.
Step 1: Read These Articles
How to Explain LERs + Skills-Based Hiring to Your Grandma Skills-based metaphor breakdowns for all audience.
Why the traditional resume is dead Why résumés are collapsing under AI, bias, and obsolescence.
Why we need verifiable skills in a world of spooky fakes Verifiable skills vs. fraud, deepfakes, and the need for digital trust.
Thanks to Robert Bajor and SkillsScoop for these articles - well worth subscribing to their newsletter
Need Support?
If you have questions, encounter technical issues, or would like help completing an activity, we're here to help.
Email us at badgesandpit@lifelonglearningpractice.com and we'll do our best to assist you or connect you with the activity provider.
Share Your Achievement
Completed the activity? We'd love to see what you discovered.
Share your badge, skills profile, wallet, insights or reflections on LinkedIn and help others explore the world of digital credentials and skills recognition.
Use #BadgeSandpit in your post so the community can follow your journey and discover new ideas, tools and opportunities.
