Credentialing Learning in the European OER Ecosystem: Possibilities and Challenges - ENCORE

The Encore+ project recently published a report on “Credentialing learning in the European OER Ecosystem”. This was based on interviews with experts from around Europe, and we are delighted that seven of the interviewees are able to join us for a panel to discuss the issues raised by the report. The discussion will be moderated by Dai Griffiths, the lead author of the report, and senior researcher at the Research Institute UNIR iTED. Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR) Together we will consider the degree to which emerging educational practices and technologies can enable new approaches to the credentialling of learning that is obtained through the use of OERs.

https://encoreproject.eu/event/credentialing-learning-in-the-european-oer-ecosystem-possibilities-and-challenges/

Comprehensive Learner Record Standard™ - IMS Global

The Comprehensive Learner Record Standard™  (CLR Standard™) is the new generation of secure and verifiable learning and employment records supporting all nature of academic and workplace recognition and achievements including courses, competencies and skills and employer-based achievements and milestones. Recommended by AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, the Comprehensive Learner Record Standard™ from 1EdTech is a technical specification designed to support traditional academic programs, co-curricular and competency-based education as well as employer-based learning and development—in any domain where it's important to capture and communicate a learner's and worker's achievements in verifiable, digital form. Designed to be used, curated, and controlled by the learner, the CLR Standard™ is a modern and web-friendly interoperable learner record structured for easy understanding yet flexible enough to support a wide range of use cases to meet the needs of learners and workers, registrars and employers.

https://www.imsglobal.org/activity/comprehensive-learner-record

UCSC’s popular GetVirtual internship program expands its impact and outreach with newly launched Coursera course - Dan White, UCSC

Two years ago, the online entrepreneurship course Crown 95: GetVirtual Business Assistance launched at UC Santa Cruz, sponsored by Crown College to pair students with local businesses struggling to pivot from foot traffic to online orders and sales.    In this successful and popular course, the students serve as mentors and consultants to participating businesses, helping to redesign their websites for e-commerce, listing product catalogs in virtual marketplaces, and offering other invaluable technical assistance. The Coursera course is open to everyone around the world with an internet connection, regardless of academic affiliation. For learners outside the UC system it's free, unless they want a certificate.

https://news.ucsc.edu/2022/11/get-virtual-coursera-feature-dw.html

New Report on Re-Enrolling Adult Learners - Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed

A new report offers guidance to community college leaders seeking to re-enroll adult learners who earned academic credits but left college without a degree or credential. The report, produced by InsideTrack, a nonprofit organization that helps institutions enroll students and improve academic outcomes through coaching. The report notes that community colleges lost almost 830,000 students nationally since spring 2020, according to National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data. Meanwhile, there are currently 39 million Americans who attended some college but never graduated.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/11/15/new-report-re-enrolling-adult-learners

Employers Rethink Need for College Degrees in Tight Labor Market - Austen Huffard, Wall Street Journal

The tight labor market is prompting more employers to eliminate one of the biggest requirements for many higher-paying jobs: the need for a college degree. Companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Delta Air Lines Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. have reduced educational requirements for certain positions and shifted hiring to focus more on skills and experience. Maryland this year cut college-degree requirements for many state jobs—leading to a surge in hiring—and incoming Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigned on a similar initiative.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/employers-rethink-need-for-college-degrees-in-tight-labor-market-11669432133

Rethinking professional learning and development - Alison Bell, eCampus News

There’s a common denominator for our workforce, and it’s that nearly every worker craves learning and development opportunities – something not all employers offer to employees. Since the pandemic, 3 in 4 Americans agree acquiring new skills leads to more job opportunities. We can think of learning and development as everything an organization does to encourage professional development to enhance workplace performance, including online learning, training programs, or any opportunity to help its employees continue their higher education while also being able to work full time.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/2022/11/23/rethinking-professional-learning-and-development/

U Minnesota College of Liberal Arts Partners with Helios Consulting to Offer Rise Apprenticeship Program - Kate Lucariello, Campus Technology

The University of Minnesota (UMN)'s College of Liberal Arts (CLA) has announced a partnership with Helios Consulting to offer graduates a chance to gain human resource technology skills through paid employment and training in its Rise Program, an apprenticeship designed to prepare students for a career in the Workday ecosystem. Helios Consulting is a certified Workday human resources tech software services partner. UMN graduates accepted as apprentices into the Rise program are hired and paid full time from their first day as they go through a 12-week remote training program.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2022/11/23/u-minnesota-college-of-liberal-arts-partners-with-helios-consulting.aspx

Career Enhancement program provides students with skills and hope for the future - Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Career Enhancement is an 18-week program that includes 10 weeks on campus in class, followed by an eight-week practicum. The in-class sessions cover both digital skills and softs skills, with students refreshing and/or learning how to do work on a computer. Programs such as Word, Excel, Outlook and keyboarding accuracy and speed are covered. Instruction is also provided to enhance student skills for success such as developing a stand-out resume and working on interview skills, to name a few. Wright said he felt very well prepared for the interview and for the work he is doing in his new position.

https://saskpolytech.ca/news/posts/2022/career-enhancement-provides-students-with-skills-and-hope.aspx

Let’s educate tomorrow’s voters: Democracy depends on it - Elias Blinkoff, Molly Scott, and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Brookings

The final results of the 2022 midterm election in the United States are in. Journalists tell us that a key issue for voters was preservation of democracy. A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll showed that while inflation was the top issue on voters’ minds, “preserving democracy” captured second place. The issue that claimed little attention was education. Yet, as Thomas Jefferson once said, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” That is, if we care about democracy, we must also care about education.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2022/11/21/lets-educate-tomorrows-voters-democracy-depends-on-it/

Apprenticeships for office jobs can prepare downtowns for the future of work - Annelies Goger and Tracy Hadden Loh, Brookings

And the wave of federal funding earmarked for workforce development, infrastructure, innovation, and climate adaptation will create additional opportunities to strategically engage local talent in the reinvention of downtown neighborhoods.  Finance and insurance, professional and business services, and many government administration jobs could benefit greatly from offering apprenticeship pathways from high schools and community colleges into roles that are currently hard to fill, such as project managers, account managers, cybersecurity technicians, and graphic designers.  

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2022/11/21/apprenticeships-for-office-jobs-can-prepare-downtowns-for-the-future-of-work/

TSCHE, universities plan to embed smart chips into certificates - Sameer Khan, the Siasat Daily

Amid an increase in the fake certificate menace, the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) and state universities are planning to embed smart chips into certificates. The proposal of smart chips was tabled after many fake certificates came to the limelight in the recent past. A few people are able to create fake certificates despite existing features such as unique code numbers, logos, watermarks, and paper thickness. To address it, both TSCHE and state universities are gearing up to include smart chip features in the academic credentials of students of diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate courses, and certificate programs.

https://www.siasat.com/tsche-universities-plan-to-embed-smart-chips-into-certificates-2461902/

The Micro-Credentials Market Place is set to go – just with a different name - Campus Morning Call (Australia)

Universities Admission Centre which is creating the product has been “onboarding” providers for a bit (CMM October 31) and there’s a homepage for what is now “Microcred seeker.” A product for people to present their tertiary quals and “learning credentials” is also in the works. In 2020 then education minister Dan Tehan announced $2.5m to develop a national credentials platform, which is now said to be in a “technical prototype phase to develop learnings.” Whether it will include micro-credentials at launch is unclear. Mr Tehan originally expected the platform to launch last year, with “future phases to include recognition of microcredentials.”

https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/seek-and-ye-shall-find-micro-credentials/

Accelerating Adoption of Competency-Based Education - Annie Galvin Teich, Fierce Education

A new initiative from the Competency/XChange reveals that colleges and universities have begun to embrace competency-based education (CBE) with more than 1,000 CBE programs being offered across 600 institutions. New research projects that CBE programs will continue to grow over the next five years. The value of CBE is it allows students to get credit for competencies—knowledge, skills, and behaviors.

https://www.fierceeducation.com/student-engagement/accelerating-adoption-competency-based-education

Higher Education Trends to Watch for in 2023 - Cecilia Buchanan, Fierce Education

\With the fall semester of the academic year nearing an end, leaders of higher education should watch out for key trends that will shape the higher education landscape well into the new year. Below we explore the top five global trends as reported by the FinancesOnline Research Center in more depth: affordability of college tuition; discount fees by private universities; shifting campus demographics; accommodating nontraditional learners; and online education. 

https://www.fierceeducation.com/leadership/higher-education-trends-watch-2023

Next Chapter Matters – Two More Universities Launch Midlife Programs For Every Budget - Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Forbes

Whether you are retiring with millions in the bank or stuck at midlife desperately dreaming of a career pivot, there may soon be a university program for you. The latest offerings coming to the market are a testament to the diversity that is likely to develop as educational institutions start to respond to ageing societies and the future of work. The idea that you get all the education you need up front in a four-year bundle at 18, should fast fade as careers lengthen towards the six-decade mark and retirement ages drift ever upward.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2022/11/18/next-chapter-matters--two-more-universities-launch-midlife-programs-for-every-budget/?sh=6041d9e3182b

‘Waterbury U' Program Helps School Staff, Allows Teachers to Advance Careers - Jolie Sherman, NBC Connecticut

A new program in Waterbury is helping teachers advance their careers and it is also a way to address a large teacher shortage in the district. There are teacher shortages across the country and the Waterbury school district is also feeling that pressure. To address the issue, Waterbury is launching a program that invests in and values its teachers. It is like a mini university for Waterbury teachers. "Waterbury U" gives them the chance to earn a master's degree or micro-credentials, a form of certification in a specific area.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/waterbury-u-program-helps-school-staff-allows-teachers-to-advance-careers/2916765/

Are Microcredentials Finally Gaining Traction? - Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

There is general acceptance now from learners, employers and institutions that flexibility and accessibility in learning have to be a key focus. Of course, the pandemic has made it clear that people have competing demands, and flexibility is increasingly expected and necessary. But it goes beyond this. The world around us is changing, rapidly, and we need to support professionals, alumni and students in refreshing and adapting their knowledge and skills, as and when they need, through evolving lives and careers.

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/are-microcredentials-finally-gaining-traction

Colorado businesses and colleges should speed path to jobs for students, report says - Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat Colorado

College students need more ways to finish classes quickly and learn skills that employers are seeking — and businesses need to do a better job talking to students about career paths at an early age and partnering with colleges and universities so that education leads to better-paying jobs. Those are the conclusions of a recently released report from Colorado Succeeds, an advocacy group made up of education and business groups. Industry and higher education need to work together if students are to have access to opportunity and if businesses are to have the skilled workers they need to grow, the report says.

https://co.chalkbeat.org/2022/11/11/23452233/colorado-succeeds-business-college-university-report-credentials-certificates-degrees-jobs

Less than half of students whose colleges abruptly close go on to enroll elsewhere - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive

Less than half of students whose colleges close end up reenrolling in another institution, and only about one-third of that group go on to earn a credential, according to a new analysis from two higher education organizations. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center teamed up with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association to examine how students fare after their colleges close — especially when they do so without warning. Their findings suggest that closures add to the population of students who leave college without earning credentials. 

https://www.highereddive.com/news/college-students-outcomes-for-profit-closure-higher-ed-campus-closes/636538/

Driving Innovation in Higher Ed Through Data - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

It's one thing to talk about innovation, but another thing to actually make it happen. Driving actual change is all about timing — having the right idea at the right moment, according to Phil Komarny, chief innovation officer at an institution known for innovation: Maryville University. And that moment is now: Phil sees COVID as a catalyst for utilizing data to revolutionize higher education and the student experience. Here, we talk about the potential of verifiable credentials, why graduation should not be the end of a student's learning journey, helping students make the most of their own data, and more. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2022/10/28/driving-innovation-in-higher-ed-through-data.aspx

Career-boosting benefits of microcredentials - Dave McCool, Quartz

Some estimates say a third of Americans have left their jobs in the past two years. Economists are calling this wave of quitting “the great resignation,” but I see it more as “the great reboot,” in which workers are looking to upgrade to new careers that offer more flexibility, higher compensation, and greater job satisfaction. For workers with advanced degrees and years of experience, the great beboot might be as simple as an actual reboot, but it’s much more challenging for the more than 39 million Americans who have attended college, but earned no degree. But there is a pathway for them, too.

https://qz.com/career-boosting-benefits-of-microcredentials-1849697494