Edalex selected for multiple OSN Skill Collaboratives to explore rich skill descriptors (RSD) and skills framework alignment

Edalex, the edTech company on a mission to surface learning outcomes, digital assets and the power of individual achievement, is thrilled to announce that they have been selected as part of multiple Skills Collaborative Projects, an initiative led by the Open Skills Network (OSN). The Open Skills Network (OSN) is a coalition of employers, education providers, military, and other stakeholders dedicated to advancing skills-based education and hiring.

Collaborating with the Education Design Lab and the University of Melbourne, Edalex will lead a project titled “Spanning the Boundaries: Leveraging Existing 21 Century Rich Skill Descriptor (RSD) Libraries to Explore the Implementation of RSDs for the Australian Education and Employment Ecosystem.”

The project will provide a test implementation of a skills library to demonstrate how 21st Century Skills RSD’s can be integrated into technology to deploy and scale with partner learning institutions, such as The University of Melbourne. At a national level, the project will explore an Australian standards-based skills language and skills repository that can be mapped to Australian education frameworks. It is anticipated that this will provide a common skills “language” to inform and help unify numerous Government led skills initiatives and translate skills into RSD format for open access by all parties.

“The Melbourne School of Professional and Continuing Education (MSPACE), working as the key locus of professional and continuing education on behalf of the University of Melbourne, is delighted to partner with both the Education Design Lab and Edalex on this project,” said Associate Professor Josephine Lang, Academic Program Director (HASS) and lead academic for micro-credentialing at the School.

“This collaboration will enable us to leverage rich skills descriptor libraries to support the earners of our Melbourne MicroCerts, creating opportunities for them to clearly demonstrate the skills they attain through their study with us.”

“Education Design Lab is thrilled to partner on this exciting project to catalyse skills to the benefit of learners around the world,” said Naomi Boyer, Senior Director, Skills and Data Ecosystem at Education Design Lab.

“Working with Edalex and the University of Melbourne to integrate the Lab’s 21st century skills competency framework rich skills descriptor collection into the frameworks and digital micro-credentials offered by these partners provides a foundational demonstration of the emergent skills ecosystem.”

Edalex will also be involved in a second OSN project, titled “Korus Connect Perpetual Professional Development”, which will involve Flinders University, Intrinsic Learning, and KORUS Connect. The focus of this project will be to develop a skills framework using rich skills descriptors (RSD’s) and exploring implementation options for chaplaincy and community workers.

“Edalex is very excited to be chosen to participate in this round of collaborative projects with our partners,” said Dan McFadyen, Managing Director, Edalex. “Participation in these collaborative projects allows us to develop requirements for additional platform functionality against real skills data and established RSD libraries. The collective learnings from these projects will enable us to realise our vision of supporting and building a fluid, robust, and open skills ecosystem in Australia, and indeed globally.”

OSN’s aim for these projects is to help accelerate the momentum for creating a more equitable, skills-driven labour market that matches learners and workers with skills-based education and career opportunities to the benefit of the individual, employer and economy at large. Teams will begin working on their Collaborative Projects starting January 5th, 2022.

Media Contact:
Kristine Chompff
Marketing Manager for Edalex
+61 409 598 408
kristine.chompff@edalex.com