Latest Comprehensive Learner Record Standard Improves Security, Portability and Verification of Digital Credentials

The CLR Standard 2.0 is now publicly available after a vote from the 1EdTech Community

BURLINGTON, Mass., March 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest innovation in digital credential technology is now available to all digital credential providers with the public release of CLR Standard® 2.0 from 1EdTech® Consortium.

The CLR Standard 2.0 is a major leap in empowering learners, educators and employers to recognize lifelong learning with enhanced security, learner ownership and verification.

CLRs allow learners and earners to showcase their many accomplishments through both formal and informal learning opportunities and group those achievements into a single credential that can be easily shared and understood. 1EdTech's CLR Standard establishes a common way to package those records, regardless of who is providing them to the learner, thereby reducing complexity and expanding possibilities for learners worldwide.

"At 1EdTech, our mission is to unite the education community in building an open, trusted, and innovative foundation for digital credentials that works better for everyone—reducing complexity, accelerating innovation, and expanding possibilities for learners worldwide," said Curtiss Barnes, CEO of 1EdTech. "With CLR Standard 2.0, we are taking a major step toward a future where technology seamlessly amplifies the power of learning. By making credentials more secure, portable, and universally verifiable, we are ensuring that every learner has the ability to own and share their achievements with confidence—empowering them to access new opportunities and thrive in an evolving global economy."

CLR 2.0 improves both portability and verifiability of the CLR, giving the earner control of their credentials, and the agency to store and share them when and where they want throughout their educational careers.

It does this in several ways. First, it uses rich metadata that is both human-readable and machine-verifiable. Thus, regardless of how the credential is received by an employer or educational provider, they will be able to process the information and see proof of the learner's achievements.

"At Territorium, we believe that interoperability is key to ensuring learners can seamlessly access and share their achievements across education and employment," said Guillermo Elizondo, CEO and Co-Founder of Territorium. "Becoming certified in 1EdTech's CLR 2.0 standard reinforces our commitment to building a robust credentialing ecosystem that empowers institutions and learners alike. This certification enhances our full-featured Learning and Employment Record (LER), making it easier for organizations to issue, manage, and verify credentials in a way that is transparent, portable, and aligned with workforce needs."

CLR 2.0 is also designed as Verifiable Credentials (VCs), as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web. These standards make the Web more tamper-evident and trustworthy. They are cryptographically signed and tamper-proof, meaning they are secure, and anyone receiving the CLR can trust and verify the information contained within.

The updated CLR also aligns with 1EdTech's Open Badges 3.0 standard, making it even easier to share credentials between wallets, and is recommended by AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

"As a vendor serving a range of higher education customers from US community colleges to international research universities, eLumen must be positioned to help lead efforts toward better interoperability and improved transparency of learning throughout the edtech ecosystem," said Joel Hernandez, Chief Technology Offer for eLumen. "We believe that starts with Comprehensive Learner Record and Open Badges: as learners look to institutions to improve curriculum to meet their needs as learners, as the workforce looks to better partner in the design and alignment of curriculum, eLumen must be there to help them achieve their goals. And we can't achieve those goals without the standards set by 1EdTech."

Other early adopters of the CLR 2.0 standard are Level Data and SPARK+Technologies.

According to a new 1EdTech report, "Six Steps for a Successful Credentialing Program: A Case Study Review," using credentialing platforms that adhere to open standards is one of six steps recommended by successful credentialing programs worldwide. Educational institutions, workforce and corporate learning organizations, and technology and service providers interested in furthering their digital credential programs can learn more about 1EdTech's digital credentials workstream, which also includes the CASE^® standard, TrustEd Credential Coalition, and the Wellspring Initiative.

About 1EdTech Consortium
1EdTech® Consortium is a global community committed to building an integrated foundation of open standards that make educational technology work better for everyone. Our mission is to reduce complexity, accelerate innovation, and expand possibilities for learners worldwide. Our members represent K-12, primary, secondary, and postsecondary education organizations, workforce and corporate education providers, and technology providers. Together, we create and evolve community-developed technical standards and practices that support learner success throughout the lifelong learning continuum. Our organization gives a voice to all stakeholders working to improve education. 1EdTech hosts the Learning Impact Conference, Digital Credentials Summit, Learning Impact Europe Conference, and other engagement opportunities to advance the leadership and ideas that shape the future of learning. Visit our website at 1edtech.org.

Contact: Nora Murray, [email protected]

SOURCE 1EdTech Consortium