A fast-growing number of traditionally college-age students are bypassing degrees to pursue cheaper and faster alternative credentials. Why are so many choosing this path, and will the journey pay off? Like a growing number of students coming out of high school, McDonough knew early on that he didn’t want to get a degree. Going to college felt like squandering time and money to him, and his parents agreed. “Oh, they love it,” McDonough said of the logging program. His dad told him “he would rather me actually do this than go to school, that I’d just waste time. I don’t want to go there anyways, so no point in spending a couple years at it.” He reached out to the logging program a few years ago while still in high school, and if the college had let him, he would’ve enrolled then and there. “I didn’t like school much,” he said. “I didn’t want to go through that again.”
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Exploring the potential of micro-credentials: A systematic literature review - Giedre Tamoliune, et al; Fronteirs In
Mindful of growing critique in some circles and recent publications, this paper offers an informed analysis of the potential of micro-credentials to foster post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery across a spectrum of dimensions, including supporting innovation in higher education institutions (HEIs). It reports a systematic literature review analysis of scientific articles published between 2015 and January 2022 on micro-credential research in the field of higher education. Results of a bibliometric and qualitative content analysis from 32 scientific articles provided insights into the potential of micro-credentials to foster post-pandemic recovery through social, economic, and higher education innovations.
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Free Online Certificate Courses - Naman Bansal, News Patrolling
When choosing free online certificate courses, it is important to ensure that they provide ample job opportunities and career growth possibilities
As skill requirements in the industry are constantly evolving, it has become important for students and working professionals to continue upgrading. Among the options available, one that seems most appropriate is free online certificate courses. Such courses can be done as part time, without impacting your existing job or other career pursuits. Here are some of the best online learning platforms you can choose for free online certificate courses.
Monday, October 14, 2024
Upskilling credentials for hydrogen - Sandra Ross, Climate Control News
Engineers Australia has launched a suite of hydrogen energy micro-credentials to upskill the engineering workforce and support Australia’s transition to net zero. The upskilling initiative is being made available through Engineering Education Australia (EEA) and Deakin University. The collaborative project addresses a severe talent shortage in the hydrogen and engineering sectors, critical to the nation’s clean energy goals. Supported by funding from the federal government, the project includes four micro-credentials and one webinar.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Why Are Politicians Talking About Apprenticeships? - Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed
Vice President Kamala Harris recently posted on X that she plans to double the number of registered, or federally recognized, apprenticeships, if she is elected president. The Democratic nominee also told a crowd at a September rally in Pennsylvania that “our nation needs to recognize the value of other paths, additional paths, such as apprenticeships and technical programs.” The 2024 Democratic Party platform, meanwhile, boasts “record investments” in registered apprenticeships under the Biden administration, with a million trainees participating in them as a result. “That’s a path to the middle class that families can count on,” the platform reads.
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Regional workshop in Pacific on design of micro-credentials for TVET - Post-Courier, Papua New Guinea
Micro-credentials are increasingly becoming the choice for curriculum delivery, especially at the post-secondary level of education. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), in collaboration with the Pacific Centre for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD), recently hosted a regional workshop on the design of micro-credentials aligned to the Pacific TVET Online Toolkit. The workshop was held at the University of South Pacific (USP) in Suva, Fiji. This activity is part of a project on open, distance and flexible learning in the Pacific, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand.
Friday, October 11, 2024
Hydrogen micro-credentials to power clean energy future - HVAC & R News
Engineers Australia is working with Engineering Education Australia (EEA) and Deakin University to launch a suite of hydrogen energy micro-credentials, which will enable the engineering workforce to upskill and support Australia’s transition to net zero. The project addresses a severe talent shortage in the hydrogen and engineering sectors, which are critical to the nation’s clean energy goals.
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Dynamic learning through Humber's micro-credentials - Education News Canada
"I was very interested in taking the micro-credential and it was about getting some practical knowledge and hands-on experience with AI," said Legate. A micro-credential is a competency-centred offering that is standalone, short in duration and focuses on a skill or topic responsive to industry, employer, or community needs. It allows skills and competencies to be learned in a flexible, fast, and affordable way. Frank Cappadocia, dean of Continuous Professional Learning, said Humber offers nearly 50 micro-credentials. Most take less than 30 hours to complete, and many can be completed in even less time.
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
The Microcredential Generation - Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed
Their classroom is a little unusual. In fact, it’s not a room at all. The students are out on a forested logging site in the Kennebec Valley, a rural area of Maine. Neat piles of logs sit in the distance. A whiteboard hangs off of a truck. Heavy machines, which from afar look like large metal creatures, are waiting to be used. McDonough is enrolled in Northern Maine Community College’s mechanized logging operations and forest trucking program. Free to students and organized in partnership with the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, the five-month program offers a pretty sweet-sounding deal: a logging credential along with commercial driver’s license training so the students can also haul the logs they’ve learned to cut.
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
'Adult money' and no college debt: Harris and Trump back alternative routes to good jobs - Karissa Waddick, USA Today
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump disagree – a lot. But, as the 2024 campaign heats up, the candidates appear to have found consensus on at least one topic: the need to get more young Americans into apprenticeships and trade schools. Harris announced recently she would cut college degree requirements for some federal jobs and encourage private sector employers to do the same if she is elected in November.
Monday, October 7, 2024
Building a Future-Ready Workforce - Neph Rivera, UT Arlington
Learning new skills does not end the day one earns their university diploma. Through microcredentials, students and professionals alike can brush up on areas they are familiar with or dive into something new to bolster their resume by completing short training programs. Microcredentialing, skills-based learning, and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace were the themes of a special conference hosted by The University of Texas at Arlington, in coordination with The University of Texas System, Coursera and Lightcast.
Sunday, October 6, 2024
How to Choose a Microcredential - Sarah Wood, US News
In the U.S., the public has more familiarity with degrees than short-term credentials, says Marni Baker Stein, chief content officer at Coursera, an open online course provider. "There's a lot of information about short-form credentials out there on the internet that people can search for," she says. "But one has to really make sure that you are reaching out to a trusted source because there's so much misinformation out there around certificates and their value." Here's what to consider before pursuing these credentials.
Saturday, October 5, 2024
UH adds micro-credential opportunities to bolster workforce development - University of Hawaii News
Students at University of HawaiĘ»i campuses will soon have a new opportunity for academic and professional certification through micro-credentials offered through the university. Through a new UH policy, faculty members can now design micro-credentials linked to existing credit courses to target specific areas in their fields of study. “This new micro-credentials policy will enable interested faculty members to partner with local employers—whether they be businesses, non-profit organizations, or other state agencies—to design and deliver a short-term curriculum that addresses immediate industry needs,” said UH Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Policy Alan Rosenfeld.
Friday, October 4, 2024
USF unveils Office of Microcredentials for lifelong learning and career advancement Tatiana Del Valle, University of South Florida-
As professionals strive to stay competitive in their fields, USF’s new Office of Microcredentials and Registration Services will meet the growing demand for non-credit education opportunities. Microcredentials are essential to ensure lifelong success, and a learning community with the proper support and resources is more valuable than ever. The solution to closing the skills gap is the result of a partnership between USF Lifelong Learning and Innovative Education. This new office will serve as a resource for high-quality, accessible learning opportunities that enable professionals to gain the qualifications needed to secure high-level jobs and continue skill-building in pursuit of becoming industry experts.
Thursday, October 3, 2024
How micro-credentials are spurring deeper collaboration between community college and employers - Alcino Donadel, University Business
“One of the keys to our success has just been our ability to pivot very quickly and respond to industry demands.” Here’s another: WSU Tech is leveraging the “untapped market” of short-term certificates and other micro-credential opportunities through deeply intentional employer collaborations. It has integrated each of its academic offerings with non-credit certificate opportunities to meet industry partners’ demands. Its partnership this academic year with SkillStorm, an IT service management company, introduces Wichita’s workforce to stackable, credit-bearing certificates in Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing suite.
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Liberal Arts Microcredentials on the Rise - Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed
John Davis, dean of the College of Music at University of Colorado at Boulder, finds that today’s music students want more than a traditional music education. Many want the technical skills to compose and produce tracks on their laptops or to pursue new kinds of music careers, such as writing scores for video games. To meet that demand, the College of Music has developed a set of microcredentials in recent years, including an undergraduate badge in arts administration and certificates in topics including music technology, singing health and music entrepreneurship. The last comes with a minor in business in partnership with the university’s business school.
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Dartmouth students explored summer internships in the arts - Emmy Martinez, the Dartmouth
Before their off terms, Dartmouth students of all majors scramble to secure internships. By and large, pre-med students look for research or shadowing positions, government majors seek out policy-related internships and economics majors scrounge for opportunities in finance. But what do students who study the arts look for when searching for a job? While the obvious answer is an internship simply related to “art,” the reality is that the job market offers an array of different creative opportunities.
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