Reading the Tea Leaves: WCET, the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library, and the Power of Information

In today’s post, Holly Zanville, founder and lead of the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library, reflects on WCET’s origins and draws a line to the present. Thank you, Holly, for the wonderful walk down memory lane and for introducing us to the amazing work of the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library.

Speaking of collaboration, make sure to join us for this month’s events, offered in partnership with the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library:

• WCET Closer Conversation: Making Sense of Microcredentials with the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library – November 7, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
• WCET Webcast: Innovating with Information: Microcredentials, Badges, and the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library – November 12, 2025 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Enjoy the read,
Lindsey Downs, WCET

The Day WICHE Read the Tea Leaves

Not many people know this, but I was in the room when WCET was born. Back in the 1980s, leadership at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) was “reading the tea leaves” about technology’s rapid impact on higher education. Could institutions, especially those in Western states, form a network to help them navigate emerging technologies and serve learners in new ways?

That question sparked the creation of the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, now WCET. From the beginning, WCET was about more than technology; it was about connection, collaboration, and foresight. WCET also eventually changed its name to the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies.

In the 1980s, higher education was grappling with a confusing mix of video, audio, and computing technologies that promised new ways to reach learners. WICHE, already fostering interstate collaboration on issues like student exchange and supercomputer access, recognized the need for a more formal network. Surveys of institutions confirmed the interest: colleges wanted information-sharing, networking opportunities, faculty training, and strategies to support all learners, including those studying at a distance. Those needs became the backbone of WCET when it launched in 1988.

Decades of Connection and Collaboration

Over the past 30+ years, WCET has grown alongside the very technologies it helped institutions adopt. From supporting early distance education to guiding members through the rise of the Internet, broadband expansion, online learning policies, and beyond, WCET has been a steady partner to colleges, universities, and policymakers. Its collaborative model has allowed thousands of professionals to compare notes, test new approaches, and create solutions that stretch far beyond any one campus or state.

Fast-forward three decades, and the need for trusted information-sharing networks has only multiplied. Enter the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library, in its fifth year of operation.

Where WCET was born to help higher education institutions navigate technology, the Library was created with a broader, complementary purpose: to map, explain, and connect the rapidly growing ecosystem of credentials, pathways, technologies, and policies that shape learning and work.

From Complexity to Clarity

Like WCET in its early years, the Library emerged as a response to fragmentation and confusion. Employers, educators, policymakers, and learners alike were searching for clarity in the midst of an explosion of new credentials, digital tools, and skills-based hiring practices. The Library works to provide that clarity by curating trusted information (definitions, topic briefs, initiative descriptions, and organizational profiles) so stakeholders can see the bigger picture and make more informed decisions.

The Library has also become a hub for collaboration, linking colleagues across education, workforce, and policy who are tackling shared challenges such as digital wallets, credential quality, and workforce board strategies.

Seen side by side, the stories of WCET and the Library illustrate the enduring power of information in shaping the future of learning and work. WCET has guided institutions through the early waves of educational technology and remains dedicated to helping their members use digital learning technologies to enhance access and opportunity in higher education. The Library now seeks to extend that same spirit of collaboration and clarity across the broader ecosystem of education and employment.

The Power of Shared Knowledge

Both organizations prove that staying current and having colleagues and special projects to call on can accelerate progress. Technology may be the driver, but information is the fuel.

Here we are, decades later, still gathering to share information about how best to gather and use information. WCET and the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library represent different generations of this work, but our missions align: to ensure that educators, policymakers, and employers can anticipate what’s coming, focus on what matters, and work together to shape a better future for learners.

By Holly Zanville, Founder/Lead, Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

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