Searching for "microcredent"

microcredentials and higher ed

Are microcredentials the future of higher ed?

Canada has reflected that global interest, with major government investment over the last two years: $59.5 million announced by the Ontario government in late 2020 to fund microcredential development and related student loans; $9 million announced by British Columbia’s government since 2020, with federal support; and $5.6 million announced by Alberta’s government last August for microcredential pilot projects after the Business Council of Alberta (BCA) issued a report in 2020 urging the provincial and federal governments to expand microcredential opportunities. Ontario’s government-backed digital learning organization, eCampus Ontario, has been working in this area since 2017. Microcredential development is included in the strategic plans of the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University. As far back as 2015, the University of British Columbia promoted the use of “open badges” to recognize discrete skills that students had acquired within for-credit courses. It started running several non-credit microcredentials in 2021, thanks to provincial funding.

+++++++++++++

What Are Micro-Credentials And Why Are So Many Universities Talking About Them?

https://www-suitable-co.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.suitable.co/knowledge-center/blog/what-are-micro-credentials

https://www.suitable.co/knowledge-center/blog/what-are-micro-credentials

++++++++++++++
more on microcredentials in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredential

Microcredentials skills gap and accessible education

Micro-credentials: The solution to the skills gap and accessible education

By reformatting existing programs into micro-credentials and certificates, you can market these new programs to employers and bring new learners through your doors.

At the end of 2020, 80% of U.S. employers said they had more difficulty filling job openings due to skills gaps compared to the year before — and the skills gap isn’t going away anytime soon.

In fact, a recent Gartner survey found that 58% of employees need new skills to successfully do their work.

To start offering micro-credential programs:

  • Identify gaps: You don’t have to start from scratch to create a micro-credentialing program. Instead, take a proactive approach by comparing the skills offered in your existing courses with the abilities and expertise employers are searching for in their job postings and identify any gaps that micro-credentials can fill for organizations. You can then align the skills offered in your current course offerings with organizations’ needs.
  • Create stackable degree programs: You can also make your micro-credentials stackable and build them into a larger qualification (e.g., offer them as degree credits) to entice employees to further their education at your university. This elevates the overall value for learners who may want a degree down the line.

microcredentials and faculty

Why faculty need to talk about microcredentials

There is reason to believe that shorter, competency-based programs will play an important role in the university landscape in the coming years.

 Australian commentator Stephen Matchett expands: “MCs are the wild west of post-compulsory education and training, with neither law on what they actually are or order as to how they interact with formal providers. … Until (or if) this is sorted by regulators there needs to be a sheriff providing workable rules that stop the cowboys running riot.”

The lack of standards is also an issue in Canada. While  degree standards have been agreed upon – the Canadian Degree Qualification framework, contained in the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC)’s 2007 Ministerial Statement on Quality Assurance of Degree Education in Canada, outlines expectations for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees – the CMEC has yet to issue a pan-Canadian framework for microcredentials.

In the absence of a pan-Canadian model or definition, for the purposes of this column I will use the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO)’s definition, put forward in its May 2021 report, Making Sense of Microcredentials:

“A microcredential is a representation of learning, awarded for completion of a short program that is focused on a discrete set of competencies (i.e., skills, knowledge, attributes), and is sometimes related to other credentials.

Developing and running effective microcredential programs is not simply a matter of bundling a group of existing classes into a new sub-degree level program (although there will certainly be some who try that approach). Effective microcredential programming needs to be an institution-wide effort, with appropriate resourcing and guidelines, along with effective recruiting and student support.

department chairs and other unit leaders to lead collegial discussions about the following questions:

  • Gaps: who is not being served by our current degree offerings? Is there potential demand for our disciplinary knowledge and skills from people who don’t want a full degree program? Are there ways people could upgrade their skills by taking certain types of our courses? Can we identify potential short programs to meet new, distinct learning outcomes?
  • Student diversity: are there opportunities to develop short programs that could introduce a new demographic of students to our discipline? How might microcredentials be developed that meet the needs and interests of Indigenous students, first-generation students, or international students?
  • Connection: how might we create partnerships with external organizations to inform our understanding of skill-training needs? Can these partnerships be leveraged to create new career pathways for students, and/or new research opportunities for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students?
  • Impact: in what ways do our discipline’s insights relate to Canada’s current and future public needs? How might our disciplinary knowledge be combined with knowledge from other disciplines to train students to help address particular challenges? In what ways could our discipline contribute to student competency development that we consider meaningful and impactful?

+++++++++++++++
more on microcredentials in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredential

Microcredentials and Continuing Education

Creating a Constellation of Offerings with Microcredentials and Continuing Education

https://moderncampus.com/blog/creating-a-constellation-of-offerings-with-microcredentials-and-continuing-education.html

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-14-kristine-collins/id1575912479?i=1000537930512

++++++++++++++

more on microcredentials in this blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredential

microcredentials Australia

Stacks on: Get the max from micro-credentials

https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/shift-to-short-courses-and-online-learning-to-expand-careers-20210322-p57cvl.html

“This measure will provide additional options for students and the recently unemployed to engage with higher education across a wider range of fields, which will help further the position of the nation and our workforce to move out of the economic downturn,” a department spokesman said.

“There is some crossover between the terms ‘micro-credential’ and ‘short course’; both are generally something shorter than a full qualification. The short courses are a type of micro-credential. The short course is a credit-bearing micro-credential, meaning that it can be used to ‘stack’ into a full qualification at a later time.”

” The Australian Cyber Security Growth Network said the cyber security workforce had grown by 4000 to 26,500 since 2017. The sector grew by 6 per cent a year, compared with overall national growth of 2 per cent a year.”

+++++++++++++++
more on microcredentials in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredential

Microcredentials virtual conference

Microcredentials and Digital Badges in Higher Education

 

  • Cost and business model considerations
  • Different types of badging platforms and technology
  • How to partner with industry to deliver in-demand competencies
  • Considerations for monetizing microcredentials
  • Current issues impacting badges during COVID-19

Identifying Badges that Add Value to Your Institution
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Our faculty will establish a shared terminology, discuss the benefits and challenges of various badges, and explain how each type can advance the goals of your institution and best serve students. You will share your purposes for pursuing a badging initiative, identify the types of badges that could add the most value to your institution, and set goals for the conference.

Designing Quality Alternative Credentials
2:30 – 3:15 p.m.
What goes into developing, designing, assessing, and maintaining quality microcredentials? In this session, you will learn about:

  • Standardization and rigor in development
  • Curriculum design and assessment
  • Developing a governance process
  • Continuous maintenance and improvement

Funding and Monetizing Badges
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Many institutions are looking into badging as a potential revenue stream during lean times. During this hour, you will learn strategies for monetization. We will also look at various fee-based and tuition-based funding models to financially operationalize microcredentialing.

Marketing and Branding
1:30 – 2:15 p.m.
How do you articulate the value proposition of badges to internal and external stakeholders? During this session you will learn how to brand and market your microcredentials. You will study badge images and stacking considerations that will help you create the best design for your circumstances.

Jeff Bohrer

Technical PM, IMS Global Learning

Jeff currently serves as a program manager for digital credentials initiatives at IMS Global Learning Consortium. Jeff leads projects and programs related to digital badges, comprehensive learner records, and the interoperability of learning technologies. Jeff is also co-chair of the EDUCAUSE Microcredentials and Badges Constituent Group.

+++++++++++++
More on microcredentials in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredentials

1 2 3 6