The rise of the Learning and Employment Record (LER) ecosystem represents one of the most significant shifts in the history of credentialing. Educational institutions, training providers, licensing bodies, and community credential issuers now have the opportunity to shape how individuals represent their skills—not just within their programs, but across the entire labor market.

Yet the success of this ecosystem doesn’t depend only on standards, data formats, or the number of badges being issued.
It depends on something much more human:

Individuals must have a place to actually use those credentials.

And that is where Wallets and Passports—especially the emerging class of Universal Talent Passports (UTPs)—become critical.

If credential issuers want their learners’ achievements to matter beyond their institution, they must play an active role in helping those learners adopt the right Wallet or Passport tools.

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1. Schools Must Stop Thinking of Credentials as Symbols—and Start Treating Them as Evidence

Most digital badges issued today function like stickers: useful inside a single program or community, but rarely extending beyond it.

Yet the LER movement reframes credentials as:

• verifiable evidence,
• portable records,
• skill signals, and
• inputs into lifelong talent narratives.

When schools embrace this mindset shift, their role becomes far more impactful. They begin designing credentials that:

• align to real abilities,
• support translation into skills frameworks,
• function within LER-compatible ecosystems, and
• help students articulate who they are becoming.

In other words, institutions can transform from credential issuers into talent signal creators—but only if their learners have a way to collect, manage, and use those signals.

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2. Every Credential Issuer Should Choose and Support Preferred Wallet & Passport Partners

In 2023, the landscape of wallets and talent passports is emerging—but fragmented.
There is no single dominant application that individuals naturally gravitate toward.

This means:

If institutions don’t guide learners toward a high-quality Wallet or Passport, most learners will simply do nothing.

Credential issuers should thoughtfully select preferred partners based on:

• interoperability with LER standards
• user experience quality
• alignment with institutional values
• long-term ecosystem viability
• transparency around data use and privacy
• ease of onboarding for learners

A preferred partner strategy is not about exclusivity—
it’s about ensuring learners have a workable starting point.

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3. Schools Should Support Early Passport & Wallet Startups—Not Just Established Providers

The LER ecosystem is young. Innovation is happening at the edges—small teams experimenting with:

• new forms of evidence
• narrative-driven skill capture
• AI-powered reflection
• richer data visualization
• more human-centered design

Startups are disproportionately likely to produce the kind of delightful, intuitive experiences that lead to organic user adoption.

Schools can support them by:

• participating in pilots
• giving feedback
• providing real learner use cases
• helping validate UX assumptions
• issuing credentials in formats compatible with their approach

Supporting innovation isn’t just altruism—it ensures the ecosystem grows into something that truly serves learners.

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4. Institutions Must Actively Encourage Wallet & Passport Adoption

Even the best credential ecosystem will fail if individuals do not engage.

Institutions should help learners adopt Wallets/Passports through:

• onboarding support during programs
• issuing credentials directly into preferred wallets
• workshops and orientations
• encouraging students to build out their talent profile
• showing how credentials unlock opportunities
• integrating Wallet/Passport use into capstones, advising, or career services

Adoption must feel like part of student success—not an optional afterthought.

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5. Even If Schools Issue Their Own Wallet, They Must Support 3rd-Party Options

Some institutions may choose to develop an internal wallet-like tool for their learners.
This can support brand consistency, alumni engagement, or internal analytics.

However:

Internal Wallets cannot—and should not—be the only place learners store their credentials.

LER interoperability requires freedom of choice.
Learners must be allowed to:

• export their credentials,
• store them in independent Wallets,
• incorporate them into UTPs, and
• use them throughout their lives.

Supporting external Wallets and Passports ensures:

• ecosystem openness
• learner autonomy
• long-term credential relevance
• trust from employers who use different systems

A healthy LER ecosystem depends on this flexibility.

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Why All of This Matters: Credentials Only Become Valuable When They Are Used

The LER movement is not about badges—it is about people:

• people seeking opportunity
• people trying to articulate their growth
• people navigating nonlinear careers
• people needing tools that help them understand their own talents

Credentials have little value if they remain static artifacts on institutional servers or forgotten in inboxes.

By partnering with Wallet and Passport providers—and by guiding learners to use them—educational institutions unlock the true purpose of every badge, certificate, and competency they issue.

They turn credentials into active signals, not passive icons.

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The Future Is User-Centric, Interoperable, and Talent-Driven

As the LER ecosystem grows, institutions have a pivotal role to play.
They can either:

• issue credentials into a void,
• or issue credentials into tools that empower learners and feed a broader opportunity ecosystem.

By embracing preferred Wallet and Passport partnerships, supporting innovation, and encouraging adoption, schools help create:

• a more connected credential landscape
• more equitable access to opportunity
• stronger alignment between learning and work
• and a future where people can truly own and use their talent data

The LER era will not be shaped by standards alone.
It will be shaped by the relationships between issuers, tools, and learners—and by how these players collaborate to make talent visible and portable.

If institutions step into this role now, they will become architects of a more inclusive, interoperable, and human-centered future for education and employment.