Among the 3,130 non-enrollees surveyed in 2023, 57% said a four-year degree is a good or excellent value, down from 60% in 2022. In comparison, 75% said earning a license is a good value, up from 70% the year before. Nearly the same share, 72% called professional certificates a good value, rising from 67% in the last survey. Convincing non-enrollees of the value of higher education will become increasingly important for colleges. Beginning next year, colleges are expecting a sharp drop in high school graduates as a result of declining birth rates during the Great Recession.
Monday, March 25, 2024
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Irish Minister Harris announces funding of €9.7 million to subsidise micro-cred courses for almost 14,000 learners - Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD has today announced funding of €9.7 million to subsidise fees for 13,879 learners across 654 micro-credential courses. The Micro-Credential Course Learner Subsidy, under the HCI Pillar 3, offers a subsidy rate of 80 per cent for courses addressing skills in key priority areas, including renewable energy, sustainability, construction and planning, artificial intelligence, cyber security, ICT, and electronic engineering. Other courses will provide a 50 per cent learner subsidy rate. Speaking today, Minister Harris said: “As part of the Year of Skills, we have been encouraging everyone to learn a new skill so they can evolve in line with how the world of work is changing.
Saturday, March 23, 2024
The Transformative Impact of Applied Learning - Doug Harrison, Modern Campus
As there’s more emphasis on aligning student learning outcomes to skills required in the job market, curriculum needs to be refined and focused. By leveraging applied learning models, higher ed can better prepare their learners for successful careers. On this episode, Doug Harrison, Associate Dean of the Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies in the School of Professional Studies at New York University, discusses the importance of applied learning models and creating a transformative experience for learners.
https://moderncampus.com/podcast/episode-onehundredfortytwo.html
Friday, March 22, 2024
Fact Check: Online Certificate Does NOT Qualify Veterans For Permit To Carry Concealed Firearm In All States - Sarah Thompson, Lead Stories
The certificate offered in this promotion is not a concealed carry permit. It is a certificate for completing an online firearms safety course from Countrywide Concealed, which lists its address in Las Vegas. A long series of clicks from the promotion on Facebook leads the user to the website of Countrywide Concealed. That website features a disclaimer in which Countrywide Concealed explicitly states that the certificate is not a concealed carry permit. Countrywide Concealed describes itself in the disclaimer as "a training resource for consumers who want to educate themselves in firearm safety." The text, with highlights added by Lead Stories, can be seen below. (The disclaimer text, which appears after a survey, reflects the user's state of residence.):
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Stackable certificates kickstart career opportunities - Seattle Times
Across Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges, stackable certificate programs are growing to align with the needs of both students and employers. Through these programs, students learn specific, job-related skills and knowledge in a relatively short period of time, often ranging from a few months to a year. Students can immediately improve their economic status with certificates, and later return to college and apply those certificates to associate and bachelor’s degrees. Stackable certificates benefit students of all ages and stages in their careers. People use them to kick-start their careers, to change jobs, or to move up in their current professions.
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Innovation: How To Build A Stackability Strategy At Your Business School - John A. Byrne, Poets and Quants
“You can think of stackability as individual Lego pieces,” explains Brooke Elliott, Gies executive associate dean of academic programs. “Then you can put these blocks together in all kinds of ways and build out the type of education you need.” For years, business school deans have talked about decoupling courses from degrees to tap into the growing need for on-demand knowledge and skills. But few business schools have successfully adopted a decoupling blueprint and linked it with an effective stackability strategy.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
How big a role will stackable degrees play in higher ed’s future? - Omer Riaz, University Business
If money talks, college degrees still matter, don’t they? This may not be true for much longer. In fact, many companies are dropping bachelor’s degree requirements from their job-postings and are looking, instead, for workers with skills-based educations—associate’s degrees, certificates, or even stacked credentials. The U.S. Department of Labor defines a stackable credential as a “part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build up an individual’s qualifications and help them to move along a career pathway or up a career ladder.” And as the need for skilled workers grows, legislators in states such as Colorado and Massachusetts are beginning to advocate for the funding of stackable credential programs as a way to help learners and businesses alike.
Monday, March 18, 2024
More Students Are ‘Stacking’ Credentials en Route to a Degree - Jon Marcus, Wired
First they get a credential in a skill they need, then another, and another. Each can quickly pay off on its own by helping to get a job, raise, or promotion. Over time, they can add up to a bachelor’s degree. “Even if I chose not to finish, I would still have these pieces and I’d say, ‘Look what I’ve done,’ as opposed to, ‘I have two years of college’” but nothing to show for it, said Nelson, who works as an information technology consultant and hopes to move into an administrative role. The concept, known variously as “stackable credentials” or “microcredentials,” she said, “almost seemed too good to be true.”
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Biden order expands federal apprenticeships, reestablishes labor-management forums - ERICH WAGNER, Government Executive
President Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed at expanding federal agencies’ use of apprenticeship programs to attract and develop young federal workers, as well as reinstating agency labor-management forums that have largely sat dormant since 2017. White House officials said the measure, entitled Scaling and Expanding the Use of Registered Apprenticeships in Industries and the Federal Government and Promoting Labor-Management Forums, dovetails with the recent push by presidents of both parties to shift how federal agencies evaluate job candidates from a largely based on educational attainment to one that emphasizes applicants’ relevant skills and work experience.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Micro-credentials move one step closer to gaining widespread trust thanks to this framework - Alcino Donadel, University Business
Micro-credentials are one step closer to gaining a trustworthy and dependable reputation. The 1EdTech TrustEd Microcredential Coalition, formed last year to standardize rapidly growing interest from educators and organizations to issue digital badges, has unveiled a new framework that identifies the core components every micro-credential should possess to sow trust and recognition across the school-to-career pipeline. “The framework identifies the information needed for the receiver to fully understand what knowledge and skills the credential represents,” Kelly Hoyland, director of higher education programs for 1EdTech, said in a statement. “Credentials that follow the framework will be more meaningful to receivers, and therefore, more valuable for the learners who earn them.”
Friday, March 15, 2024
ASU introduces trailblazing 'stackable microcredentials' pilot - Braveman Mpafa, ASU
Arizona State University's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering is at the forefront of transforming engineering and technology education through "stackable microcredentials." These microcredentials address the urgent demand for adaptable upskilling and reskilling across engineering and technology fields, reflecting the dynamic nature of today's workforce requirements. According to the World Economic Forum, in an era where job skills expire in less than five years, and technical expertise deteriorates even faster, stackable microcredentials offer a timely remedy. The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Future of Jobs Report highlights that, by 2025, half of the global workforce will require reskilling, emphasizing the urgent necessity for ongoing learning and skill augmentation.
Thursday, March 14, 2024
I Didn’t Know My Union Did This! - NEA Today
During most of her 20 years as an instructional assistant in Oregon, Stacey Zoon received very little professional development. “We get basic trainings at school three or four times a year, like a video on mandatory reporting or a session about dealing with behavior, and that’s it,” she says. But then she was introduced to NEA’s micro-credentials for education support professionals (ESPs). “NEA micro credentials are so much more in depth and cover things you’re actually going to use as an educator,” Zoon, who now works as a library media assistant, says.
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
New learning website launched for workers in Wales - UNTRO
A new website has been launched by The Open University in Wales and Wales TUC to support more people into lifelong learning. The online platform, Union Learning Wales, gives information on OU degrees and free courses, as well as funding available for all workers in Wales. The site contains descriptions of OU courses which are popular with people looking to upskill or change their career. These include undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as Access courses which can help people take a step into higher education for the first time.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
First Aviation Maintenance Students Graduate - KSAL
The pre-apprenticeship course hosted by partners at the Salina Regional Airport graduated its first ever class of aviation maintenance students Thursday evening. The Aviation Innovation & Maintenance (AIM) Center of Excellence at SLN held an industry day and graduation ceremony for its first cohort of students and faculty. The evening included a networking reception as well as a student showcase. Students also received their graduation certificates and micro-credentials from the faculty along with Ray Seif, who is the Director of Aviation of the Kansas Department of Transportation. “It’s important to get students into aviation maintenance careers.” said Seif. “They are very well paying and high in demand, and I’m happy to support such an amazing program”
Monday, March 11, 2024
Micro-Credentials Are Poised to Become a Mainstream Rapid Education and Training Solution in Canada - ICTC/CTIC
Micro-credential programs could become more relevant, timely, and effective in meeting current and future Canadian digital economy workforce needs, provided they align with best practices of standardized definitions, proof of competencies, and flexible program delivery. While employers still value formal education, the shift toward “skills first” hiring practices and increasing emphasis on relevant experience and demonstrable aptitude in competencies or skills is gaining momentum. Micro-credentials are still relatively new in Canada, and there is a degree of confusion evident among employers, learners, and micro-credential providers as to what they entail and how best to design them for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Aurora Institute Releases New Case Study on ExcEL Leadership Academy Micro-credential Pathway Adoption - Yahoo! Finance
Today, the Aurora Institute, a national nonprofit organization focused on education innovation, released a new case study examining a micro-credential program developed by UCLA's ExcEL Leadership Academy, which has been approved for ESOL teacher certification in Rhode Island. The program offers a progression of twelve micro-credentials focused on the skills and competencies educators need to serve multilingual learners (MLLs) effectively. Additionally, the case study offers recommendations for other states that hope to offer their educators high-quality competency-based pathways to certification and/or professional growth.
Saturday, March 9, 2024
ASU introduces trailblazing 'stackable microcredentials' pilot - Braveman Mpafa, ASU
Arizona State University's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering is at the forefront of transforming engineering and technology education through "stackable microcredentials." These microcredentials address the urgent demand for adaptable upskilling and reskilling across engineering and technology fields, reflecting the dynamic nature of today's workforce requirements. According to the World Economic Forum, in an era where job skills expire in less than five years, and technical expertise deteriorates even faster, stackable microcredentials offer a timely remedy. The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Future of Jobs Report highlights that, by 2025, half of the global workforce will require reskilling, emphasizing the urgent necessity for ongoing learning and skill augmentation.
Friday, March 8, 2024
Searca, international universities address food security, climate change - Leander C. Domingo, Manila Times
The Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) collaborated with international universities for the European Commission Erasmus+ Capacity Building on Postgraduate Micro-Credentials for Food Security and Climate Change. Searca Director Glenn Gregorio called the project a concrete example of education's evolving landscape as the world enters an era of globalization, giving educators and learners inclusivity and flexibility.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Law Micro-credentials - UCD Sutherland School of Law, Dublin
The UCD Sutherland School of Law, the leading centre for legal education and research in Ireland, combines engaging undergraduate and graduate level courses, internationally recognised research, and word-class educational facilities. Since its establishment in 1911, the school has offered high-quality law programs promoting critical understanding and interdisciplinary knowledge. It collaborates with law firms, government departments, and NGOs to align programs with sectoral needs.
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
eCampusOntario launches AI-enabled Micro-Credential Portal tool to Help Learners Address Skills Gaps - CNW Group
Today at the 2024 Micro-Credential Forum eCampusOntario launched the proof of principle for a new AI-enabled tool designed to help learners address skills gaps with personalized educational pathway recommendations. SkillsFinder.ai uses a custom GPT powered by OpenAI to help learners to better understand their skills gaps and find a micro-credential to fill these gaps. Attendees of the Forum were able to interact with the new skillsfinder tool as part of testing the capabilities of generative AI and supporting upskilling and reskilling.
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Micro-credentials - University at Buffalo
Micro-credentials allow you to meet your personalized learning needs by gaining knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to your academic or professional goals. They equip you with digital badges that showcase your achievements and all it took to get there. When you complete a micro-credential program you will earn a digital badge, or a series of digital badges. A digital badge is an icon, but it is not a static image in that is click-able, and houses information, including the issuing institution, the date earned, the criteria required to earn the badge, and the evidence that shows that you have met the required criteria. Digital badges are dynamic credentials that you own, so you can decide how you want to use them. Digital badges can be put on social media sites, added as a link on your digital résumé, embedded in your e-portfolio, and more.
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