Higher Education’s Microcredentialing Craze: a Postdigital-Deweyan Critique

Abstract

As the value of a university degree plummets, the popularity of the digital microcredential has soared. Similar to recent calls for the early adoption of Blockchain technology, the so-called 'microcredentialing craze' could be no more than a fad, marketing hype, or another case of 'learning innovation theater.' Alternatively, the introduction of these compact skills-and competency-based online certificate programs might augur the arrival of a legitimate successor to the four-year university diploma. The thesis of this article is that the craze for microcredentialing reflects (1) administrative urgency to unbundle higher education curricula and degree programs for greater efficiency and profitability and (2) a renascent movement among industry and higher education leaders to reorient the university curriculum towards vocational training.

A Historical Study (2007-2015) on the Adoption of Online Music Courses in the United States

“…With the adoption of online music courses, students may have additional opportunities for elective choices across various universities. The increased acceptance of microcredentialing (Ralston, 2021), and the impact of COVID-19 on online music course offerings, once again signals that students are open to taking music courses online. As noted in the trend data, an increase in NASM institutions offering online music courses was identified.…”

The Digital Culture Of The Academy And The Limits Of Technology

“…Without relying on a dystopian logic, academics have argued against the misuse of technology, often ironically expressed by an optimistic naivety regarding its use as a signifier of Modernity (Feenberg, 2015;Kirkwood, 2014;Kirkwood & Price, 2013). Yet, it has been pointed out by scholars that such ideas have been rooted in the neoliberal orientation of higher education across the globe, which has been part of the drive towards the massification of the sector in which technology often believed to play a central role in development and assumed sustainability (Elyas & Picard, 2013;Mok & Jiang, 2018;Ngo, 2020;Ralston, 2020a;Roderick, 2019). Kirkwood (2014) cautions against an uncritical, yet not unoptimistic view of technology in higher education in stating:…”

Postdigital Perspectives on the McPolicy of Measuring Excellence

“…They point to a need to include those aspects of teaching and learning that do not show up in digital data, as well as their relationship to those that do. Ralston (2020) picks up on HE's 'microcredentialing craze' to offer a postdigital Deweyan critique. As the 'value of a university degree plummets, the popularity of the digital microcredential has soared' to provide 'a panacea for skills gaps, workforce stagnation, and automationinduced labour market shocks'.…”