https://www.edsurge.com/research/guides/a-lifetime-of-back-to-school-microcredentials-in-higher-education

Microcredentials, or short-form online learning programs, is the latest buzzword that higher education providers are latching onto. They come with diminutive names such as Micromasters (by several universities working with edX) and nanodegrees (by Udacity). But they have the potential to shake up graduate education, potentially reducing demand for longer, more-traditional professional programs. At the core of the trend is the idea that professionals will go “back to school” repeatedly over their lifetimes, rather than carving out years at a time for an MBA or technical degree.

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EdX Quietly Developing ‘MicroBachelors’ Program

By Jeffrey R. Young     Jan 25, 2018

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-25-edx-quietly-developing-microbachelors-program

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In Evolving World of Microcredentials, Students, Colleges and Employers Want Different Things

By Jeffrey R. Young     Jan 23, 2018

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-23-in-evolving-world-of-microcredentials-students-colleges-and-employers-want-different-things

Why New Jersey Is Banking on a Credential Registry to Boost Its Middle Class

By Sydney Johnson     Dec 7, 2017

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-12-07-why-new-jersey-is-banking-on-a-credential-registry-to-boost-its-middle-class

Credential Engine, a nonprofit funded by the Lumina Foundation, Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase, today launched its Credential Registry, a digital platform where institutions can upload degrees and credentials so prospective students can search for and compare credentials side-by-side.

Also: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2019/01/14/promoting-credential-transparency/

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More Colleges Are Offering Microcredentials—And Developing Them The Way Businesses Make New Products

By Jeffrey R. Young     Oct 5, 2017

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-10-05-more-colleges-are-offering-microcredentials-and-developing-them-the-way-businesses-make-new-products

EdX, the nonprofit founded by Harvard University and MIT to offer MOOCs, now lists 40 “MicroMasters” programs from 24 colleges and universities around the world.

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In the Era of Microcredentials, Institutions Look to Blockchain to Verify Learning

By Sydney Johnson     Oct 31, 2017

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-10-31-in-the-era-of-microcredentials-institutions-look-to-blockchain-to-verify-learning

Also: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/09/27/blockchain-credentialing-in-higher-ed/

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2018/07/12/blockchain-and-higher-ed/

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Why Udacity and EdX Want to Trademark the Degrees of the Future—and What’s at Stake for Students

By Jeffrey R. Young     Nov 3, 2016

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-11-03-why-udacity-and-edx-want-to-trademark-the-degrees-of-the-future-and-what-s-at-stake-for-students

No one owns the term “master’s degree.”

Udacity won a trademark for Nanodegree last year. And in April, the nonprofit edX, founded by MIT and Harvard University to deliver online courses by a consortium of colleges, applied for a trademark on the word MicroMasters. And MicroDegree? Yep, that’s trademarked too, by yet another company.

Sean Gallagher, chief strategy officer at Northeastern University’s Global Network,  wrote the book on “ The Future of University Credentials.” BOok is available online: https://mnpals-scs.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=gale_ofa542844867&context=PC&vid=01MNPALS_SCS:SCS&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&tab=Everything&lang=en

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As Corporate World Moves Toward Curated ‘Microlearning,’ Higher Ed Must Adapt

By Sean Gallagher (Columnist)     Nov 6, 2017

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-11-06-as-corporate-world-moves-toward-curated-microlearning-higher-ed-must-adapt

U.S. employers spent nearly $71 billion on training in 2016

Pluralsight—an online IT training provider—has scaled to become an edtech “unicorn,” with a valuation over $1 billion. Similarly, LinkedIn’s $1.5 billion acquisition of Lynda.com in 2015—and LinkedIn’s subsequent acquisition by Microsoft in 2016 for $26 billion—are connected to the new business models in the provision of corporate learning.

“learning experience platforms”—such as Degreed and EdCast.

SAP’s Shelly Holt describes the movement toward a curation model… The curation approach and microlearning philosophy also provides a level of personalization that individuals have come to expect.

it may be reducing demand for executive education offerings, and even for degree programs like the traditional MBA.

colleges and universities that seek to meet corporate needs must move beyond monolithic programs and think in terms of competencies, unbundling curriculum, modularizing and “microlearning.” Many institutions are already pioneering efforts in this direction, from the certificate- and badge-oriented University of Learning Store (led by the Universities of Wisconsin, California, Washington and others) to Harvard Business School’s HBX, and the new “iCert” that we developed at Northeastern University. These types of shorter-form, competency-oriented programs can better fit corporate demands for targeted and applied learning.

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more on microcredentialing in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcred