Dr. Michael Torrence | Bending Credentials On Demand
“Our youth should not only be consumers of tomorrow but builders of the future as well.” — Michael Torrence, Ph.D.
From his views on the role of youth and employees in the codesign of our learning and work systems to his work on building platforms for ‘bending credentials,’ Dr. Michael Torrence, President of Motlow State Community College (MSCC), with his team and partners are creating a future everyone can see themselves as thriving in.
A visionary in the post-secondary education and workforce development space, Dr. Torrence is the opening keynote speaker for the 2023 Badge Summit.
“His ability to both inspire and provoke is one reason I’m so excited to see Michael Torrence, Ph.D. keynote at The Badge Summit this year.” — Noah Giesel, Summit Chair, Microcredential Program Manager, CU Boulder.
A Kinetic Thinker, Strategist, and Developer!
Dr. Torrence is a broker of meaningful conversations and a community organizer, he “walks the talk” for the re/design of systems for the success of everyone. He is especially committed to the role youth and people from marginalized communities can play in the design of recognition systems such as badges, micro- and digital credentials, and their value along the multiple pathways that serve their life.
Since Dr. Torrence’s appointment as President of Motlow Community College in 2018, he has curated an intentional path for the College to sit at the forefront of work on learner-centric skill-based information and has embraced multiple learning/earning pathways with digital credentials as social justice work.
He has created partnerships for mediated learning experiences supported by artificial reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), and network technologies (such as LERs and blockchain). Serving as tools for social learning and innovation, the College’s work on Metaversity in particular, is inspiring and provoking for a sector often very resistant to change.
I was fortunate to meet Dr. Torrence at the Trusted Learner Network (TLN) Annual Unconference in Arizona, where he serves as an active member of the governing body. We talked at length about the work Motlow State Community College is focused on, as well as the whys and ways of codesigning and building solutions with community members, not just for them.
A Web of Connection and Opportunity!
I caught up with Dr. Torrence this past week and asked him a few questions about the digital credential community, his team’s own learning journey, and his hopes for the communities future.
What is it about badges, micro- and digital credentials that drew you to this space as the right possible fit to meet learners’ and organizational needs?
Initially, the focus was an attempt to create space and develop matching credentials for recognized accomplishments of Veteran, Special Needs Students aging out of State care, and Returning Adult students. I believe this was circa the push for accentuating earned skills for transcript transferability and employability within high-need occupational areas.
As the space has matured the natural alignment has etched itself in a web of connection with information communication technologies and emergent tech. This is the space that keeps my attention because I find it to be distributive, open, and key to organizational development.
We can create more engaged employees by highlighting their skills and cross-training.
What is one theme you see emerging this year in the skills and credentialing space that is really important for us as a community to focus on and discuss?
Implementation is the theme. I believe we have spent the last decade speaking life to awaken broad-based systems of education at home and abroad … now is the time to actualize the brilliance of this community.
What new learning are you and/or your team focused on right now?
Continued learning is key to ushering in any avant-garde ideas. The work we are doing together at Motlow State is varied from the expanded capabilities of our health science & Mechatronics programs and their impact on small-town rural communities, the growth of dual enrollment and our middle college high school, introducing new programs in the spirits industry, and convening groups to discuss policy surrounding AI.
We also recognize the importance of developing our employees, which includes me as a learner, so that we all continue to evolve.
What is one misconception or assumption you see people having about digital credentials that you’d love the community to talk more about?
I think people believe it is in competition with what we have already established. Unfortunately, that perspective limits adoption and has in effect stunted possible emergent solutions for education systems.
When you consider where we are as a community today, compared to where we were about 5 years ago, what is one development that really gets you excited?
Application to scale of recognizable credentials and broadening the accessibility conversation to fruition.
Metaversity, Bending Credentials On Demand!
Dr. Torrence also shared about Metaversity, a project he is looking forward to sharing about at this year’s Badge Summit.
Metaversity is a ‘shared-skills data platform that ties together K-12 education to the higher education ecosystem and then transitioning to the workforce [1][2].
Dr. Torrence’s vision [2] was to create a digital wallet where individuals could access their skills data and personal credentials from their phones, on-demand, easily, and accessibly. This would save them time and money. It would also disrupt an outdated system requiring learners (and employers) to request transcripts, gather paper certifications, or manage paper files needed to match and verify learner skills to opportunities. This wallet would instead allow individuals to interact with employers in real-time, matching their learning credential data with job specifications and employers on-demand.
It is an extraordinary effort in vision, partnerships, and codesigning with people from across the college community focused on ways to increase accessibility to skills, credentials, and record data and information to those who might find value in it the most.
In less than one year [1]. Motlow College and partners, Learning Economy Foundation (LEF) and DXTera developed and piloted Metaversity, testing it with about 100 students. The project has shown how students can use the wallet to record all credentials, grade skills, and other information needed for making an application of work, directly from their phones. Its functionality also makes this information immediately accessible to those they choose to share it with.
“Metaversity and its partner organizations … what we have been able to do in one year is mind-boggling and a testament to our team at the college, partners, and funders.” — Michael Torrence, Ph.D.
With a successful pilot, Metaversity is now being trialed across the college. Phase two will also include plans to allow the digital wallet holder to use the app to search for jobs and job boards.
Metaversity could very much disrupt how we share credential data and information between post-secondary education and workforce contexts, and increase the value and use of this data by those who need the information most — — learners and earners. It also has the potential to alter the way business recruits and hires candidates for learning, work, and volunteer opportunities.
We look forward to learning more with Dr. Torrence about Metaversity, its design, and development at this year's Badge Summit as well as the great work the team and partners at Motlow State Community College (MSCC) are contributing to the community.
To learn more and connect with Dr. Torrence visit his LinkedIn profile where he shares his thoughts in a series of online papers on the Power of Synergy, AI, Higher Education, and Social Advocacy [Part 2], Power of Synegy: AI, Higher Education, and Social Justice [Part 1], Envisioning the Future of Network, Necessary Disruptions: Systems, Computing and Dual Enrollment, amongst others.
Sources
[1] Coffee, C., Fliat, L., Paz, M., Torrence, M., (2023). Metaversity: Digital Wallet — Bending Credentials and Everything, Motlow Community College. Paper. Pg. 1–8.
[2] Motlow News (2021). Motlow Adapting Virtual Tech for Immersive Learning. July 12th.
[3] Torrence, M., (2023). A Metaverse in Education: How AR/VR Can Deliver Learning Experiences Like NEVER Before!, Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) National Conference. Presentation: April 4.
[4] Rose, M (2022). Motlow State Community College (MSCC): Evolving the Local Landscape. Site Selection Magazine Workforce 2021 Guide.
