How two institutions tackle microcredentials - Laura Ascione, eCampus News

Microcredentials are bite-sized educational courses with a more specific focus. They could take months or weeks to complete. Because of their convenience, microcredentials appeal to employees looking for a highly personalized, flexible, and cost-effective way to further their education. Here’s how two institutions are leveraging their microcredential programs to help students with different goals, personal responsibilities, and professional obligations further their education.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2022/06/20/how-two-institutions-tackle-microcredentials/

DO WE NEED A MICRO-CREDENTIAL DEFINITION ANYWAYS? - eCampus Ontario

 In reviewing micro-credentials presented by eCampusOntario, the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (2021) and UNESCO (2021), the overarching consensus is that shared characteristics involve collaboration between an accredited educational institution and an employer or industry sector. Together, they can identify, create, and review workplace relevant training that is of value to the learner and the employer or industry sector. Micro-credentials should demonstrate that depth, rather than breadth, of a specific skill or area of focus, and that learners are assessed to ensure that new skills and competencies have been gained. However, ongoing questions involve how to assess mastery and related quality assurance of micro-credentials offerings with academic post- secondary institutions. Taking these common characteristics into account, the definition provided in A European Approach to Micro-Credentials (Futures et al., 2020) may be a good starting point for those newer to micro-credential development :

https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/microcredentialtoolkit/chapter/do-we-need-a-micro-credential-definition-anyways/

Online learning to be ‘big part’ of college business - Darren Taylor, Soo Today

“In the past five years there’s been tremendous growth in e-learning. I can’t say that we predicted it but in the pandemic a lot of people were displaced from their jobs and we were positioned very well to help those individuals get retrained in a very short time frame, right around that same time the government came out with what’s called microcredentials.” Kirkwood said there are over 30,000 registrations in Sault College microcredential courses. “It’s not big business for us but certainly in the future there is anticipation that this type of short duration training will become a bigger part of our business,” Kirkwood said.  

https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/online-learning-to-be-big-part-of-college-business-5513466

External Engagement and Communications Officer - Maynooth University - Times Higher Ed

The Irish Universities Association (IUA) is the representative body of the university sector. It has recently secured funding for a major new project to develop a micro-credentials system in Irish Universities, providing a coherent national framework for quality assured and accredited micro-credentials. This full-time contract position is funded by this project.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/unijobs/listing/298605/external-engagement-and-communications-officer/?LinkSource=PremiumListing

Meta Launches Five New Professional Certificates on Coursera - Sue Gee, I-Programmer

Meta is expanding its training offering on Coursera with five new professional certificates for those wanting to embark on a programming career - for the web, for mobile or as a database engineer. Pre-enroll before the starting date to enjoy your first 30 days free. Recognizing the need to recruit new entrants into developer roles Meta, as Facebook is now known, has announced online training aimed at job seekers who don't have a college degree.

https://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/15524-meta-launches-five-new-professional-certificates-on-coursera.html

It Pays To Get Certification - Sue Gee, I-Programmer

The Open Source Jobs Report 2022, published today, reinforces the message that gaining certification is very worthwhile for developers. Meanwhile the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022, published today, reveals that over half of developers engage with the video-based online courses that lead to certification. Being encouraged to acquire new skills via online courses is something that appeals to developers. Findings from Stack Overflow's 2022 survey, which gathered information from 73,268 software developers from 180 countries around the world, indicated that almost half (46.63%) respondents had learned from Online Courses or Certification. With over two-thirds of hiring managers more likely to hire  certified open source professionals it does seem that gaining a credential from an online course provider is a really good idea.,

https://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/15521-certification-.html

Credential stacking drove 1.1% increase in undergraduate degrees earned last year - Rick Seltzer, Higher Ed Dive

Undergraduate credential earners totaled 3.7 million. That’s up 1.1%, or about 39,000 people, from the number reported in each of the last two years. Growth came from students with prior awards who were stacking credentials. About 1 million students graduating in 2020-21 had prior awards, up 3.9% or 37,800 students from 2019-20. First-time graduates, meanwhile, held steady at 2.69 million after dropping from 2.71 million in 2018-19.

https://www.highereddive.com/news/credential-stacking-drove-11-increase-in-undergraduate-degrees-earned-las/625912/

Accreditation and endorsement - eCampus Ontario

A micro-credential is a type of claim made by the issuer stating that a learner has achieved a quantum of learning. A micro-credential also contains evidence to support that claim about this learning, and sometimes includes direct evidence demonstrating how the individual learner achieved the learning outcomes. Beyond direct evidence, how can the consumer or viewer of the credential trust that the claim is true and significant?

https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/microcredentialtoolkit/chapter/recognition-and-common-currency/

Micro-creential TRANSCRIPTABILITY - eCampus Ontario

Micro-credentials offered by institutions that are eligible to be on the student transcript will meet the criteria of the institution’s transcript policy and the standards of quality assurance that would include development, review, etc. For example, in Ontario “it is widely agreed that a micro-credential is ‘transcriptable’ meaning it will appear on a learner’s college or university transcript and will be deposited to her or his digital wallet or e-portfolio” (Contact North, 2020).

https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/microcredentialtoolkit/chapter/transcriptability/

7 in 10 Employers Open to Hiring Inexperienced Coders Amid Talent Crunch - NTUC LearningHub

Almost nine in ten (89%) employers say there is a shortage of talent with the required coding skills to a "large" and "some" extent. About 7 in 10 employers are open to hiring candidates who may not have the relevant education degree (67%) or job experience (65%) but have industry-relevant micro-credentials and certifications in coding skills for a role. According to employers, the top three reasons for tech talent shortage is "difficulty in finding talent with the right requisite skills" (58%), "new technologies are outpacing supply of workers with the right skills" (49%), and "fierce competition among companies in hiring tech talent" (46%).

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/7-10-employers-open-hiring-060000407.html

Meta is launching 5 new professional certificate courses on Coursera to get a wider and more diverse talent pool into tech careers - Shriya Bhattacharya, Business Insider

There are almost 1 million IT positions open right now in the US. Some jobseekers don't have the degree or experience to land roles like software developers. Meta is launching new certifications on Coursera to help these people get into the tech industry. This article is part of a series called "Culture of Innovation" exploring how companies are setting the stage for innovation, transformation, and growth.

https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-is-launching-5-new-professional-certificate-courses-on-coursera-2022-6

Micro-credential Proposal Approval Process - Trinity College Dublin

Trinity College Dublin Council approved the adoption of the European Council definition of micro-credentials on 1 June 2022 as follows:

'Micro-credential means the record of the learning outcomes that a learner has acquired following a small volume of learning. These learning outcomes have been assessed against transparent and clearly defined standards. Courses leading to micro-credentials are designed to provide the learner with specific knowledge, skills and competences that respond to societal, personal, cultural, or labour market needs. Micro-credentials are owned by the learner, can be shared and are portable. They may be stand-alone or combined into larger credentials. They are underpinned by quality assurance following agreed standards in the relevant sector or area of activity’.(European Council, 2021).

https://www.tcd.ie/teaching-learning/academic-affairs/course-development/course-proposals/new/new-microcredentials.php

A European approach to micro-credentials - European Commission

Within Europe, a growing number of people need to update their knowledge, skills and competences to fill gaps between their formal education and the needs of a fast-changing society and labour market.  The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to accelerate the green and digital transitions also requires individuals to upskill or reskill. Maintaining and acquiring new competences is essential to enable active participation in society, to ensure continued personal, social and professional development and to boost employability and socio-economic innovation. 

https://education.ec.europa.eu/education-levels/higher-education/micro-credentials

Microcredentials are poised for great growth in the global economy - Laura Ascione, eCampus News

Microcredentials aren’t new, but their potential is growing–and, in some cases, they may grow to be a preferred form of postsecondary education and training. Microcredentialing is among one of EDUCAUSE’s six key technologies and practices identified in its 2022 Horizon Report as having a significant impact on the future of postsecondary teaching and learning.   The demand for upskilling and reskilling, driven in part by the growth of data- and analytics-based jobs, is also supporting the potential of microcredentials‘ impact.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2022/06/13/microcredentials-are-poised-for-great-growth-in-global-economy/

Mohawk College faces backlash for shuttering one-of-a-kind Accessible Media Production program - Bobby Hristova, CBC

Mohawk College is facing criticism over its move to shutter Accessible Media Production — its one-of-a-kind program geared toward making Canada more accessible to people with disabilities. The eight-month, online, post-graduation certificate program teaches students how to create accessible content, like captions and described video, and delves into disability legislation and inclusive writing. It also includes a capstone project. While the Hamilton-based college says the program will be replaced by micro-credentials and no content will be lost, the program's creator, who is also the lead on developing the micro-credentials, is skeptical.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/mohawk-college-accessible-media-production-program-1.6481612

Micro-credentials and digital badges are the latest technology to help students and employees "upskill" and "reskill" existing skillsets - Hayley Lemery, WGCU

“There are specific skills needed for individuals to really gain competencies that keeping up with this fast-changing environment in business and workplaces,” Dr. Aysegul Timur, the vice president and vice provost for Strategy and Program Innovation at FGCU, said. “So, we thought that we could create micro-credentials and digital badges to prepare our students for this.” The micro-credential program at FGCU currently has courses in cyber security, artificial intelligence, internet of things, cloud computing, data science, blockchain technology, quantum computing, and design thinking. “Once you complete a micro-credential you earn a digital badge."

https://news.wgcu.org/2022-06-06/micro-credentials-and-digital-badges-are-the-latest-aid-to-help-students-and-employees-upskill-and-reskill-existing-skillsets

21st Century Skills: Preparing Students for Future Workforce Needs - Susan Fourtané, Fierce Education

College education should contribute to the development of the right skill set. Such a skill set has been identified by executives and hiring managers across a wide range of industries as necessary for on-demand careers today and in the future. Skills such as creativity and critical thinking are increasingly sought after by employers. But, is the current higher education offer in sync with these and other 21st century skills which are what the future workforce needs? 

https://www.fierceeducation.com/leadership/21st-century-skills-preparing-students-future-workforce-needs

State of Continuing Education 2022: Why Institutions Are Hesitant to Adopt Micro-Credential Programming - Sheila LeBlanc, Evolllution

I suggest it’s not just the institutional willingness to adopt—it’s actually government funders, it’s employers, it’s creating a shared understanding of what micro-credentials are. My opinion is that it’s rooted in the lack of a credentials or qualifications framework. We don’t have a common language to discuss our alternative credentials, in terms of the depth and breadth of learning taking place or what it is that we’re measuring. Across the higher education system, people have a sense of what a bachelor’s or master’s degree is, or even what a graduate certificate is to a certain extent. But when we start talking about alternative credentials and micro-credentials, we haven’t created enough common understanding within higher education institutions to encourage the rest of the academy and our colleagues in various faculties and disciplines to work in that space actively.

https://evolllution.com/programming/program_planning/state-of-continuing-education-2022-why-institutions-are-hesitant-to-adopt-micro-credential-programming/

THE NEW GENERATION OF A.I. APPS COULD MAKE WRITERS AND ARTISTS OBSOLETE - Nick Bilton, Vanity Fair

Sudowrite and Dall-E use machine learning to produce astonishingly serviceable text and images in a flash. What does that mean for stodgy old human beings? In 2016, the Obama administration authored a report warning that the robots were coming, and that millions of Americans could soon be out of a job. In 2021, McKinsey predicted that algorithms and androids would vaporize 45 million jobs by 2030. And the Brookings Institute prophesied in a 2019 study that 52 million U.S. jobs would be affected by algorithms by 2030. Over the past few months, new advancements in A.I. have made it clear that writers, illustrators, photographers, journalists, and novelists could soon be driven from the workforce and replaced by high-tech player pianos. [ed note: Will these humans be in the market for new certifications to enable new careers?]

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06/the-new-generation-of-ai-apps-could-make-writers-and-artists-obsolete

A strategic reset: micro-credentials for higher education leaders - Rory McGreal & Don Olcott Jr., Smart Learning Environments

This article provides university leaders an introduction to the emerging micro-credentials field, including a snapshot of the global landscape. Despite the accelerated interest in micro-credentials, this article also raises a fundamental strategic question for leaders at the outset: Are micro-credentials right for our university? Part I discusses the basic elements of mcro-credentials, definitions, types of micro-credentials, and affordances and barriers and various providers of micro-credentials. Part II presents a snapshot of what is happening on the global playing field and the challenges inherent in trying to standardise micro-credentials globally. The final section of the article provides some general observations by the authors, lessons from practice, and brief example of how institutions may implement a strategic reset using micro-credentials.

https://slejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40561-022-00190-1

CUNY Joins Hands with Virtual Internship Program, Skillful.ly - Niko Balkaran, CUNY News

CUNY has announced its partnership with the virtual internship program, Skillful.ly. This is a move meant to expand CUNY’s Upskilling offerings.  They are both virtual training courses designed to help CUNY students, alumni and New Yorkers learn essential professional skills to add to their resumes. CUNY partnered with companies such as IBM, Google and Coursera to offer programs under five different tracks such as business, healthcare administration and IT and software development. 

https://yorkpbnews.net/news/cuny-joins-hands-with-virtual-internship-program-skillful-ly/