Personalized Learning with Education Elements - ft. Drew Schantz, Design Principal at Education Elements

In this episode of Illuminate Higher Education, podcast host Kiran Kodithala (CEO of N2N Services) welcomes a new guest: David Blake, Founder of Degreed. David and Kiran continue the discussion about determining the value of a college degree, and David reviews how his company Degreed is making it easier for employers to evaluate skills for non-traditional educational paths.

Both Kiran and David are self-professed lifelong learners. The problem is, currently only certain types of learning milestones are taken into consideration by employers, notably a four-year college degree. When companies eliminate job candidates based on this requirement, they are missing out on an unknown amount of talent. Meanwhile, countless skilled individuals who lack a college degree are losing years of increased salary, even if their skills and abilities exceed what their current job calls for, because they don’t meet this requirement.

It is within this context that David shares Degreed’s mission and goals. David believes that schools and employers often weigh learning inputs more heavily than learning outputs. Degreed seeks to change that by rewarding demonstrated mastery of certain skills, rather than simply rewarding someone for completing a class.

Listen now to hear how David began his journey in education technology, what Degreed has to offer both individual learners and employers, and why it’s so important to earn “credit” for self-guided lifelong learning that takes place outside of the classroom but doesn’t fit the mold for traditional educational background.

Discover more about Degreed by visiting their website and following on LinkedIn or @degreed on Twitter. You can also connect with guest David Blake on LinkedIn and follow @davidblake on Twitter.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

See you in the next episode.