A professional certification for education leaders
TrustEd Apps Certified Leader (TACL) certifies people rather than products. It is designed for education and technology leaders who want a high-level understanding of how 1EdTech open standards are adopted and how they affect instruction.
Who issues this certification
1EdTech Global designs the programme and awards the certification. 1EdTech Korea does not issue certifications. Registration and enquiries go to 1EdTech Global, and there is no separate certification awarded in Korea.
Who it is for
TACL is aimed at people who shape digital learning environments in K-12 districts, higher education institutions, workforce organisations, and edtech supplier companies. It is not limited by education level or organisation type, and both those adopting standards and those supplying them take part.
Superintendents, chief information officers, instructional designers, and product managers all fall within scope. It is not product training. It deals with the perspective needed to judge what a standard makes possible and what it constrains.
It is worth stressing that this is not a technical implementation qualification. It does not evidence development capability. It recognises the ability to understand how standards affect education and to carry that into organisational decisions.
Five modules
The programme consists of five modules. There is no fixed order, so you can start with whatever is most pressing for your organisation. Each module covers a different area of decision-making around standards, and the numbering below is for reading convenience rather than a sequence to follow.
Data Privacy and Accessibility
Covers how to guide institutions and edtech suppliers toward secure data use, collection, and sharing, and how to meet accessibility requirements. The workshop focuses on determining the data privacy and accessibility posture of edtech suppliers.
Standards covered — Data Privacy and Accessibility Rubrics
Curriculum Innovation and Strategies
Covers how to deploy a wider set of best-in-class digital resources for more engaged learning. The workshop focuses on best practices in digital curriculum innovation, stakeholder engagement, and supplier partnerships.
Standards covered — Common Cartridge®, CASE®, Resource Search
Designing the Digital Learning Ecosystem
Covers how to achieve an innovative, agile, and scalable edtech ecosystem. The workshop focuses on building a foundation of interoperability within your current ecosystem design.
Standards covered — OneRoster®, Edu-API™, LTI® Advantage
Data Insights for Learner Success
Covers how to redesign equitable assessment to improve progress and personalisation. The workshop focuses on identifying use cases and designing dashboards for meaningful insights from student data.
Standards covered — QTI®, Caliper Analytics®
Learner Achievement and Opportunities
Covers how to inform decisions with data and insights across your digital ecosystem. The workshop focuses on defining use cases for digital badges, learning and employment records, and other microcredentials.
Standards covered — Open Badges, CASE, CLR Standard®
Modules run in any order, but all five are required
You can take the modules in any order. What each completed module earns is a badge, and collecting badges is not the same as being certified. The TACL certification requires successfully completing all five.
All five modules must be completed within eighteen months. Each module also has its own deadline for submitted work, so whichever order you choose, it helps to plan the whole schedule in advance.
What completion requires
Each module has three parts and takes about ten hours. The three parts are as follows.
Synchronous learning — about two hours
You start each module with a workshop, held in person or remotely, where you learn new material and collaborate with peers.
Asynchronous learning — about three hours
This is the online component: lessons, activities, and resources that build on the content and skills from the workshop.
Assessments — about five hours
You complete an individual project applying what you learned to your own digital ecosystem, together with a remote assessment.
The three parts come to about ten hours per module, so all five together come to about fifty hours. This is coursework with real deliverables rather than a short seminar. Work is due within ten weeks of the corresponding workshop.
Certification expires three years from the date of issue. To stay certified, you complete the recertification module and assessment within one year of expiry.
Read the 1EdTech Global TACL programme guidance ↗Where TACL sits in the TrustEd Apps programme
TACL is one of the four components of the 1EdTech TrustEd Apps programme. The other three deal with products and procurement, and TACL is the one that deals with people. Taken together, the programme aims to raise both the trustworthiness of products and the judgement of the people choosing them.
- TrustEd Apps Pledge
- TrustEd Apps Product Vetting and Certification
- TrustEd Apps Management Suite
- TrustEd Apps Certified Leader (TACL) Program
Registering and costs
Workshops are scheduled around 1EdTech events, and you join through the registration for that event. There is no separate application review, so taking part is a question of scheduling and module choice.
Not all five modules run at a single event. Completing them usually means taking part across several events, so it helps to look at the annual event calendar as well.
Each module carries a fee, and the terms depend on membership status. A recertification assessment is also run separately to maintain the certification. Please contact 1EdTech Global for specifics.
If you would like to know how to prepare for TACL in Korea, see our membership guide. 1EdTech Korea helps with schedules and process guidance.
Membership guide