Thank you Bonnie for expressing some confusion about the twist in topics towards credentialing. It also confused me.
I have doubts on the value and quality of current models of evaluating formal learning and was a bit distressed to see the attempts to impose those models onto informal learning.
It seems to me that most formal learning models don't allow the learner to evaluate the learning resource, while the usefulness of informal learning resources are constantly evaluated by learners. Learners that don't find an informal resource useful will simply ignore it. That's not an option in formal learning environments.
Perhaps the question should be "How can we apply the methods of evaluating informal learning resources towards improving formal learning models?"