2026-06-03 –, January Breakout Room
Millions of learners earn credits yet never receive the credentials they deserve. The barriers are infrastructural: transfer audits are laborious, systems remain siloed, and the communication gap between institutions stubbornly persists.
This session will introduce the Learner Information Framework (LIF), an open source approach to portable, learner-centered records. We treat credential portability as a semantic and trust problem as much as a technical one. We will share emerging use cases, early patterns, and open questions as well as how AI can accelerate data mapping between systems.
We will share how AI and large language models are accelerating schema matching and data mapping between institutional systems, reducing human effort while retaining human oversight at critical decision points. We will also need to engage honestly regarding the standards and governance layer that cannot be solved with technology alone but needs to include the wider community
This session will be grounded in a process that requires active partnerships with higher education systems and workforce development organizations. Attendees are invited to help shape shared infrastructure that turns fragmented records into meaningful, portable learner context.
Kelly Hoyland is Director of Strategic Project Management & Skills Ecosystem Strategy at Unicon, with over 15 years of experience advancing digital credentialing, learning records, and interoperability across higher education and K–12. She focuses on enabling trusted, portable representations of skills and achievements that support individuals across learning and employment ecosystems. Kelly has led cross-sector initiatives with institutions, employers, and technology partners to drive adoption of open standards and scalable credentialing solutions, bringing a collaborative, systems-level perspective to connecting education and workforce outcomes.