Credential Engine Technical Site

Welcome to the Credential Engine Technical Site where you will find complete documentation on our:

  • Credential Transparency Description Language open family of schemas
  • Data publishing tools including the Registry Publishing Assistant API
  • Credential Registry Handbook
  • Credential Registry Policy
  • Consuming services from the Registry
  • Learner and Worker Records Guide
  • Quick Start Guides
  • Other tools including those for mapping to the schemas, serializations.

To get started with using the Credential Registry data publishing and consuming tools, begin by setting up your Credential Engine account and let us know if you have any questions.

Technical Services and Advisory Group

Technical Services

We specialize in helping organizations define, implement, and derive value from general open data strategies as well as from the Credential Registry and other Credential Engine services. Our areas of focus include credentials, skills and competencies, education and career pathways, transfer value, and quality assurance.

CTDL Advisory Group

The CTDL Advisory Group is open to anyone interested in participating with feedback on development of the CTDL and other Credential Engine technologies and services and with supporting alignment with other standards.

Developers

Developers are able to leverage the the Credential Registry API to build applications that can read or publish as much or as little information about credentials as they need to.

The Credential Engine project's developers are using Dublin Core Application Profiles process to create systems that communicate all virtually all aspects of credentials.

Use the CTDL Schemas

The Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) is available to use with data design, with interoperable learner/worker records, and for publishing information as linked data.

Explore the CTDL Handbook, Terms, Serializations, LER Guide, and other resources for using CTDL on this site.

Publishing Options

Credential Engine offers the following options for publishing to the Credential Registry:

  • Registry Assistant Publishing API
  • Manual Entry
  • Bulk Upload

For more information on setting up your account and getting started with any of the publishing methods, click here.

Search Options

Credential Engine offers a robust search API to enable developers to leverage the wealth of data contained in the registry, using the CTDL and CTDL-ASN schemas.

Credential Engine offers a way for non-technical participants to enable a credential search on their own website. The Credential Finder Widget can be customized to match your site's theme and your preferences for automatic filtering, so that the results it shows can be more closely tailored to your site's purposes.

Join Credential Engine

Visit the Credential Engine website to:

  1. Learn more about Credential Engine
  2. Subscribe to updates
  3. Become a participant or partner

Get started with Credential Engine today by:

  1. Create or Login to your Credential Engine account
  2. Get your organization approved to publish and/or consume
  3. Learn more about CTDL, the Registry, and the publishing and consuming APIs

Announcements

Unlock Skill Assessment Potential with CTDL Rubric
Posted on 3/11/2024

Thank you to all who attended the February 29, 2024 CTDL Rubrics Webinar. The webinar via YouTube, audio recordings and presentation via Google Drive are available for your review.

CTDL rubrics offer versatility, applicable not only for assessing individuals' skills but also for evaluating organizational capabilities and assessing the quality or suitability of products, services, and more. The benefits of utilizing CTDL Linked Open Data Structure extend to all.

During the webinar, we delved into the CTDL update process and highlighted the latest enhancements supporting detailed Rubric descriptions. We introduced options for publishing and consuming rubric data:

  • Credential Registry Publishing Options: Bulk uploading via a CSV file and Publishing Assistant API
  • Credential Registry Consuming Options: Access records, perform search queries, download or import data for offline use, or utilize the credential finder widget.

A special thanks to our partners, the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), for sharing their Rubrics as CTDL Linked Open Data via the Credential Registry. Explore their Rubrics at https://credentialfinder.org/search?searchType=rubric.

Start Publishing and Consuming CTDL Rubrics: Feeling inspired to start publishing and exploring the Credential Registry data consumption options? Here's how to get started:

  1. Create or log in to your Credential Registry Account at https://sandbox.credentialengine.org/accounts.
  2. Begin publishing Rubrics to the Credential Registry. Refer to the Credential Registry Guidance Site for instructions for using the bulk upload CSV option and the Credential Registry Assistant API Handbook.
  3. Start consuming Rubric Data from the Registry at https://credreg.net/registry/handbook#consume.

This information is also available on our website: Unlock Skill Assessment Potential with CTDL Rubric | Credential Engine

For any inquiries or assistance, please contact publishing@credentialengine.org.

Request for Feedback: Updates to Course Minimum Data Policy and Benchmark Model
Posted on 3/7/2024

Credential Engine is proposing a revised Course Benchmark Model to refine the Required, Benchmark, and Optional CTDL properties published to the Credential Registry to better meet customer needs and leverage readily available course data from various sources.

Our objective is to streamline the process of publishing minimum data while recommending CTDL terms that provide essential information about courses, thereby removing barriers to publication.

We invite you to review the proposed updates and provide your valuable feedback. The feedback period will remain open until March 31, 2024. You can share your thoughts and suggestions by using the comments section or by emailing us at info@credentialengine.org.

Review the Draft Course Minimum Data and Benchmark Model Proposal

To delve deeper into the proposal:

This information is also available on the Credential Engine Website: Request for Feedback: Updates to Course Minimum Data Policy and Benchmark Model | Credential Engine

CTDL Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics Task Group: Invitation to Participate
Posted on 2/9/2024

Introduction: Transparent education and employment outcomes metrics empower people to make informed decisions about education and career paths. Stakeholders in credentialing ecosystems benefit from well-defined metrics:

  • employers can see which programs help people succeed
  • credentialing organizations can refine their offerings to meet industry demands
  • education and training providers can tailor programs to maximize student success
  • government agencies can make informed investments in workforce development

These benefits hinge on clear and explicit definitions of metrics. Understanding the precise calculation of metrics, based on open definitions in CTDL, enables broader benefits using data that is both humanly-readable and machine-actionable. Credentialing ecosystems include: education, training, workforce development, professional development, work-based learning, academic programs, non-credit opportunities, and more. Some examples of applicable education and employment outcomes metrics include:

Credential Engine is hosting a targeted Task Group focusing on the metrics used in determining outcomes in credentialing ecosystems, to further expand and refine the CTDL terms available to describe them. By participating in the CTDL Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics Task Group, you'll play a vital role in improving how the CTDL meets the evolving needs of credentialing ecosystems.

This Task Group will focus on education and employment-related outcomes metrics, sets of numeric values associated with various types of outcomes that can be described with CTDL Quantitative Data (QData). Relevant metrics include data sets that help people:

  • understand the characteristics of educational opportunities and students’ aggregate achievements
  • inform decision making about educational opportunities
  • compare outcomes resulting from participating in educational opportunities
  • gain insights about the relationship between educational opportunities and employment

At Credential Engine, we believe in a transparent and open process for evolving the CTDL as defined by our significant updates policy. We recognize that the world of metrics for education and employment outcomes is constantly evolving, and we're committed to keeping pace with these changes.

What to Expect: As a member of the CTDL Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics Task Group (E2OM), you'll participate as a subject matter and/or technical expert. Together, we'll generate use cases, define a CTDL model, and propose new terms to describe a wide range of metrics and their relationships to credential organizations, credentials, learning programs, assessments, and other relevant entities.

Your Contribution Matters: By joining our task group, you'll help ensure that the CTDL remains at the forefront of quantitative data representation, ultimately benefiting individuals, employers, credentialing organizations, educational institutions, and other stakeholders. Your insights and expertise will shape how education and employment-related metrics are integrated into the CTDL, making it a more comprehensive and adaptable resource. Join us on this exciting journey to enhance the CTDL and its role in the world of metrics.

Learn more via the Credential Engine Website.

Action Items and Follow-Up: CTDL Certificates Terms Proposal
Posted on 2/8/2024

Thank you to all who participated in the Certificates Task Group and attended the January 31, 2024 CTDL Certificates Terms Proposal Webinar. The webinar and audio recordings and presentation are available for your review.

Your input is highly valued, and we appreciate your contribution. Following the webinar today is a two-week comment period, so please provide feedback on the CTDL Certificates Terms Proposal by Friday, February 16, 2024 using any of the following options:

The CTDL Certificates terms updates are part of a process designed to facilitate organized changes to CTDL Linked Open Data. Credential Engine's plan includes updating the CTDL, with a February 2024 implementation of the changes within the Credential Registry Publishing System. We will provide further details on these updates.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@credentialengine.org.

This information is available on our website: CTDL Certificates Terms Proposal Webinar January 31, 2024

Assessing Skills with CTDL Rubrics
Posted on 2/2/2024

Rubrics enable clear assessment of skill levels. For assessing learning outcomes and evaluating job performance, rubrics provide transparent information about what a person knows and can do. The CTDL data model for rubrics makes this valuable assessment information human- and machine-readable and provides an open standard for connecting learning, skills, and jobs. CTDL rubrics are versatile and can be used not only for assessing a person’s skills, but also for assessing organizational capabilities and gauging the quality or suitability of products, services, and more. You can publish your rubrics as linked open data in CTDL and reuse rubrics that are published by others.

Credential Engine invites you to a webinar that covers updates in the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and the Credential Registry Publishing System focused on Rubrics. CTDL Rubrics have been seamlessly integrated into the Credential Registry Publishing System. This integration enables the publication of rubrics through API or bulk upload options.

During this webinar we will:

  • Provide an overview of the value of assessing skills with CTDL rubrics
  • Explain the CTDL Rubric terms implemented in September 2023
  • Demonstrate and provide step-by-step instructions for publishing Rubrics to the Credential Registry
  • Cover options for consuming Rubric data from the Registry.

CTDL Rubrics Webinar Details:

  • Date: February 29, 2024
  • Time: 1:00 PM EST
  • Location: Virtual via Zoom
  • Audience: Professionals involved in creating or storing rubrics; and/or in publishing rubrics to the Registry, and/or interested in consuming CTDL rubric data or reusing others’ rubrics, and anyone curious about how CTDL and the Registry support data for assessing skills with rubrics.
  • Registration: Click here

Stay ahead in the field of credential transparency by joining us for this informative session.

Visit the Credential Engine Website to view this announcement