Building careers and capacity with microcredentials - University of Victoria

Local employees looking to level-up their job skills without going back to school full-time have a new opportunity—and better supports for achieving certification—thanks to a new collaboration between Microsoft and the University of Victoria’s Division of Continuing Studies. The new initiative advances accreditation in micro-credentials, which are standalone short-duration, competency-based learning experiences, preparing people for an evolving economy and workforce.

https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/2022+continuing-studies-microsoft-collaboration+news

“The OU microcredentials are so good that I’m on my fourth!” - Megan Close, Open University

 Craig Finnie first dipped his toe into the OU microcredentials waters in 2020 and says these short courses were such a great opportunity to upskill that he’s now done four – all via the OU’s social learning platform, FutureLearn. They’ve even helped him to land a new job. With two distance learning undergraduate degrees under his belt already – including one from The Open University – Craig was after a short course that would help him in his role as a Development Officer for Scottish Union Learning. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, interest in online learning soared and Craig wanted to quickly improve his skills, so he chose an OU microcredential in Online Teaching; Creating Courses for Adult Learners. 

https://ounews.co/student-stories/the-ou-microcredentials-are-so-good-that-im-on-my-fourth/

Micro-credentials: Lifelong Learning for a new era - Trinity College Dublin, Irish Times

A survey published by the Higher Education Authority last September showed that almost half the Irish population would like to retrain to work in a more progressive and evolving sector. It seems that, as a nation, we are collectively looking to pivot into fresh professional fields or expand our knowledge of new and emerging trends. We want to develop new skills that will equip us to make a meaningful contribution to addressing the complex challenges of the future, and that are currently in demand from employers. In many cases, achieving these ambitions requires upskilling or reskilling to develop new technical and professional competencies. This is where micro-credentials – accredited bite-sized learning – can provide a quality-assured and flexible solution to career development.

https://www.irishtimes.com/advertising-feature/trinity-college-dublin/micro-credentials-lifelong-learning-for-a-new-era-1.4883693

Protein Industries Canada invests in micro-credentials program for indigenous youth to support food manufacturing careers - Canadian Manufacturing

On May 17, the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) and Whitecap Dakota First Nation, with a co-investment from Protein Industries Canada, announced that they are coming together to create a new micro-credential for Indigenous youth in Western Canada. This micro-credential will be developed in partnership with industry stakeholders across the country, helping narrow its focus onto skills most needed by employers in the sector. 

https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/manufacturing/protein-industries-canada-invests-in-micro-credentials-program-for-indigenous-youth-to-support-food-manufacturing-careers-281746/

Lessons Learned From Launching a Micro-Credential Program - Anissa Lokey-Vega & Raven Malliett, Kennesaw State University - Evolllution

We’re expecting the typical adoption curve, where it’s a little slow at first. We are hoping that once we start seeing more academic programs engage in micro-credentials, we will see more rapid adoption, especially because each individual degree program provides students with so many skillsets. We really anticipate academic programs to lead the take-off, and we have some new enthusiasm out of our Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences, which is exactly where we should have that enthusiasm to communicate the degree alignment with workforce demand.

https://evolllution.com/programming/credentials/lessons-learned-from-launching-a-micro-credential-program/

Apple Now Offers Training to Become an IT Professional - Zachary McAuliffe, C|net

Apple has introduced new professional training and certification programs to train IT workers, or anyone who wants to make a career change. The courses explain how to deploy, manage and support iPhones, Macs and other Apple devices used in the workplace. 

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/apple-now-offers-training-to-become-an-it-professional/

New program helps IT professionals keep pace with ever-changing industry - Chris Bournea, Ohio State University

Advances in technology are continual, accelerating and impacting business like never before, and The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business is offering a new program to meet those demands. To help professionals working in the information technology (IT) industry keep pace, the Fisher College of Business is launching the graduate certificate in IT business strategy that will commence classes this fall.

https://news.osu.edu/new-program-helps-it-professionals-keep-pace-with-ever-changing-industry/

Defining high-quality microcredentials for higher ed - Cynthia Proctor, eCampus News

Faculty wanted to ensure that microcredentials would have the same quality as SUNY certificate and degree programs and so, on campus, microcredentials follow a formal process that includes faculty governance—while still encouraging faculty innovation and responsiveness. Now four years in—with expansive growth in the past year as more campuses saw microcredentials as a means to serve learners, communities, and businesses impacted by the pandemic—SUNY’s policy-driven quality framework for microcredentials has proven to be effective.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2022/05/20/defining-high-quality-microcredentials-for-higher-ed/

IBM Announces 6 HBCU Cybersecurity Leadership Centers - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

As part of its commitment to train 30 million people globally in tech skills by 2030, IBM has partnered with six historically Black colleges and universities and HBCU systems to establish Cybersecurity Leadership Centers that will work to build a diverse cyber workforce in the United States. The participating institutions — North Carolina A&T State University, Southern University System, Clark Atlanta University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Morgan State University and South Carolina State University — are the first six of a planned 20-plus HBCU partners that will receive access to IBM cybersecurity training resources including curricula, cloud access and immersive learning tools.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2022/05/10/ibm-announces-6-hbcu-cybersecurity-leadership-centers.aspx

MEPs push for steps to create an EU-wide lifelong learning system - European Interest -

In a resolution adopted on Thursday by 519 votes in favour, 59 against and 21 abstentions MEPs want to make sure that the proposed Council recommendations on micro-credentials, individual learning accounts and environmental sustainability studies are followed up by actual measures and legislative efforts to introduce new solutions. They call on the Commission to come up with a “robust instrument” for motivating member states to implement micro-credentials system for recognition of short learning outcomes and ask to set up national micro-credential registers to guarantee their quality.

https://www.europeaninterest.eu/article/meps-push-for-steps-to-create-an-eu-wide-lifelong-learning-system/

Micro-credentials: Innovative opportunities for our evolving workforce - Rose Murphy, the Union

 Stackable credentials and digital badges are ways for individuals to acquire knowledge and skills in small portions. Learning can be directly aligned with workforce needs. By obtaining an assortment of credentials, rather than a single degree, learners progress in a current or future career pathway. By using digital badges and stackable credentials learners are finding opportunities to develop technical and soft skills to demonstrate their proficiencies.

https://www.theunion.com/lifestyles/family-focus/rose-murphy-micro-credentials-innovative-opportunities-for-our-evolving-workforce/

Credential Train Is Leaving the Station—Get on Board - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

In 1997, Sylvia Manning, then VPAA of the University of Illinois system, later president of the Higher Learning Commission, declared, “The online learning train is leaving the station—get on board or be left behind!”  Now, decades later, Manning’s message is true for alternative credentialing programs in higher education. An equally large—or larger—positive impact is anticipated for higher education with widespread adoption of credentialing that is shorter-term, less expensive, more timely and more career-centric than traditional full-length degree programs. The public demand is clear. It is for shorter, less expensive, more relevant certificates and certifications that have value in the workforce marketplace.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/credential-train-leaving-station%E2%80%94get-board

An Analysis of Workforce Intermediaries, Part I - George Lorenzo, Workforce Monitor

This is the first part of a Workforce Monitor analysis of workforce intermediaries (WIs). We begin with a definition of WIs paraphrased and mashed up from some of the current research: 

WIs are entities who provide education and training advisement, support, and delivery services to workers and employers. Although there is no formal count, WIs number in the unknown thousands and embody an enormous landscape of companies, organizations, institutions, and partnerships who offer numerous and varied services to learners, employers, and the overall workforce development academic community. Basically, workforce intermediaries (WIs) form the multi-faceted connections between job seekers and workers and employers.

https://wfmonitor.com/2022/05/18/an-analysis-of-workforce-intermediaries-part-i/

NSU develops micro-credential offerings to meet workforce in-demand skills - Tahlequah daily press

Northeastern State University officials are working with state officials and employers to create micro-credentials as an affordable, flexible way for students to earn in-demand skills. With no shortage of academic rigor, NSU micro-credentials allow students to “stack the workforce deck” for advancement and marketability, as well as provide a pathway toward a future degree should they choose.  “A micro-credential allows students to focus on a specific set of industry or discipline skills that employers are seeking,” said Director of Career Services at NSU Shannon Schwaebler. 

https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/nsu-develops-micro-credential-offerings-to-meet-workforce-in-demand-skills/article_9f6bfe5c-c338-5da6-95c5-1fc52dff9b63.html

Coursera launches skills training academy for colleges and companies - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive

Coursera, like other popular MOOC platforms, has made its name by bringing online classes to the masses. But lately, the company has been expanding efforts to provide these offerings to colleges and employers rather than solely to consumers.  The company doubled down on that strategy Wednesday, when it announced the launch of a career training academy that enables users to earn entry-level certificates from companies like Meta and IBM in fields such as data analytics, social media marketing and user experience design. Institutions — including colleges, businesses and government organizations — can sign up to make the platform available to their students or employees.

https://www.highereddive.com/news/coursera-launches-skills-training-academy-for-colleges-and-companies/623223/

Clarifying the Alternative: Why Higher Ed Needs to Better Define Microcredential Skills - Dennis Di Lorenzo, Modern Campus

“A digital marketing certificate from one institution means something very different than a digital marketing certificate from another,” Di Lorenzo says. “If I’m someone trying to understand what my next move is regarding my career, I don’t think people are asking ‘what is the value of the credential’ but ‘what am I going to learn?’” Asking employers to invest more in their own employees who need to upskill or reskill is going to show them some of that process.  However, the responsibility to ensure there is a return on that investment falls on the institution. Finding a way through the layers of complexity to get a clearer picture of what goes on in higher ed is critical to employers.  

https://moderncampus.com/blog/defining-microcredentials-illumination.html

New Data Ethics Online Certificate Spearheaded by Liz Karns - Cornell

This is the lesson that lawyer and epidemiologist M. Elizabeth Karns embeds in every data science and statistics course she teaches in the Department of Statistics and Data Science.  Karns says it’s the accelerated and aggregated effect of today’s data science applications that’s so dangerous: individual, team or even a whole company’s worth of decisions, can instantly affect the lives of millions of people. Moreover, the torrent of new technologies is moving faster than our regulatory systems, leaving a gap in accountability. Even data scientists themselves often don’t know exactly what’s happening inside their algorithms. “This little magic box [the algorithm] is determining our life choices, often without any transparency, due process or a way to appeal,” says Karns. “That is why ethics is so important. We don’t have to further marginalize certain groups and individuals should not have to worry about their safety because of poorly and unethically conceived data applications.”

https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/news/faculty/new-data-ethics-online-certificate-spearheaded-liz-karns

Finding Talent By Considering Alternative Credits - MH&L

While these credentials can bring value to the workplace there is a disconnect in that systems aren’t in a place that can easily identify an individual’s skills and talents as well as reluctance by employers to recognize a new way to validate these skills, says the report. “Alternative credentials are key to uncovering untapped talent, especially when it comes to those job seekers who may not have the opportunity to build skills in a traditional way but have the competencies they need to succeed,” said SHRM Foundation President Wendi Safstrom, in a statement. “A majority of executives, supervisors and HR professionals believe that including alternative credentials in hiring decisions can actually improve overall workplace diversity.”

https://www.mhlnews.com/labor-management/article/21240092/finding-talent-by-considering-alternative-credits

Thinking About Alternative Credentials - Michael Feldstein, eLiterate

One of the problems we currently face when discussing alternative credentials is that there are (at least) four distinct ideas of what we mean by the term which are poorly differentiated in our discussion. While these different meanings are not necessarily incompatible, they aren’t automatically complimentary either. We risk confusion and mistakes if we aren’t clear about which drivers we are most concerned about when we talk to each other about them.

https://eliterate.us/thinking-about-alternative-credentials/

3 Questions for Pearson’s Kathleen Carr - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

I work to ensure we use the right content, in the right product form, for the right audience so that students have amazing, impactful learning experiences and pathways. My team is particularly interested in content that moves a learner along a skill continuum while nurturing them toward credentials that have significance in their life and work. Typically, these are credit-backed with a degree progression. For example, nurses who responded to the pandemic by attaining certificates in telehealth and mental health. We are working with several partners to build learning paths and apply a data-backed strategy to ensure learning leads to meaningful career moves—from upskilling to new jobs entirely. 

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/3-questions-pearson%E2%80%99s-kathleen-carr

Owensboro CTC Gets $556K for Manufacturing Tech Program - Bobbie Hayse, Messenger-Inquirer

Owensboro Community & Technical College received a $556,314 grant from the National Science Foundation that it will put toward developing a program to help train the workforce in the manufacturing industry. The three-year grant initiative is called Reskilling Manufacturing Technicians Post-COVID with an Industry 4.0 Competency-Based Solutions. Through the competency-based model, students will have an opportunity to learn skills and complete certifications within the industry. The model will be accelerated, but students can work at their own pace. Students can also earn two national certifications through this course, said Sheri Plain, OCTC grant principal investigator.

https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/owensboro-ctc-gets-556k-for-manufacturing-tech-program?