Atoms are small items of learning which, when added together may make a qualification. The portfolio of atoms an individual acquires will contain atoms that are part of qualifications as well as those that are "free floating". The free floating atoms will be those that the individual has completed because they felt like it. So someone may take the atom on the Plesiadapis merely to find out what it was and why people are interested in it. This achievement should be recorded and acknowledged. It shows a breadth of thinking that someone less employable may not show. The current educational system excludes that.
Qualifications are useful when assessing competence in specific areas, but they cannot represent the total knowledge gained. We learn through play, experimentation and discussion - none of which appear on a CV - and which will be quite extensive in many non-examined areas. In fact it would be possible to argue that only a small fraction of learning appears in our qualifications. Surely there is room for demonstrating non-examined knowledge.
An aPage (an atomic web page) is where the materials on an atom of learning are presented. To be complete, an aPage should have the text on that subject, links to a video, an MP3 file and a PDF version of the text as well as a quiz on that topic. Accessing an atom should make it appear on your list of materials viewed, but completing the quiz with 100% (it can be retaken as often as required) will move it into the Completed list. Yes, this is self-certification and, yes, your friend could complete it for you. But it is not a qualification - it does not show competence, it shows interest. Given that this process will cover a life time, a few extras here or there will not change the overall view significantly.
Completing atoms would be entirely voluntary. This will make completing atoms on complex or esoteric subjects more fun - and therefore more learning will take place - a good thing. It is also intended to build a reward system onto the O-VL website. The style and size of the student office will improve as the number of atoms earned goes up.
You would not want to visit a doctor who has merely completed atoms, though. The next step up the ladder is to have Certified atoms. Here, tutors of a course have put together a schedule containing all the atoms to be completed for one awardable qualification. For example, a degree programme is split into many courses. Each of these courses is a separate qualification in its own right. Each course would have a schedule of atoms which the student would need to demonstrate. It is up to the tutors to decide what constitutes a pass or better and not O-VL. Some of the courses may be practical (being able to perform minor surgery, for example). Courses like that would be outside the scope of atomisation, but the results can still be recorded by the tutor.
Examinations are another staple of the educational system. There is no requirement for all achievement to be demonstrated on O-VL. An atom achieved in an exam could be certified by an appropriate tutor. We do not want people to change their courses, merely add atomisation into the mix where approriate so as to give their students extra options to succeed.
Please see the blog on Atoms and Qualifications for a more in-depth analysis of this area.