Microcredentials

Berry, Barnett; Airhart, Kathleen M.; Byrd, Patricia

doi:10.1177/0031721716677260

Cited by 15 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Where the credentials are awarded as the result of the recognition of an assessed skill or ability, the term MC is invariably used. Examples of this are particularly common in the teachereducation space, where MCs are employed in the professional development arena (Berry et al, 2016). Beirne et al (2020), in a commissioned report, posit that there exists "The Credential Ecology," which is MCs of the following nature:…”

Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2023

Scope (Work-based Learning)

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Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2023

Scope (Work-based Learning)

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Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging, and Not Leveraging, Micro-credentials – and a Global Pandemic

Hanshaw

2023

Scope (Work-based Learning)

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In this article I uncover the voices of practitioners and stakeholders in the micro-credentials space of Ōtepoti in Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand. The research period spans the time before and during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, when Otago Polytechnic, Aotearoa New Zealand, took an innovative approach to learning and assessment, developing micro-credentialing, with mixed success. This research, which was approved by the Otago Polytechnic Research Ethics Committee in 2021, is presented through the lenses of kaiako, the educator, and is intended to provide consideration of the needs of ākonga, the learner. The voices in a narrative can wake us up to new possibilities (Connelly & Clandinin, 1994), and it is hoped that ākonga and kaiako can benefit from the voices in this narrative. RATIONALEWhen I first encountered micro-credentials (MCs) at Otago Polytechnic (OP) in 2018, there was much excitement at their potential. I heard from various colleagues and stakeholders that they were the next big thing in education, the new learning design model for traditional qualifications, ahead of their time, and a disruptor to the status quo. However, two years later, as the world was entering a global pandemic, the narrative in 2020 had changed: MCs were now the biggest innovation in education that never was, they had failed to gain traction, learners or employers were not yet convinced, we had not figured out how to use them, and we needed to work out how to give them traction. The two years that passed between those statements of optimism and resignation had seen EduBits, which was the Otago Polytechnic branding for micro-credentials, fail to become the success that was hoped of them. I was tasked with researching why MCs had not gained the traction we had hoped for at OP, and what was needed to give them that much needed traction.When I started this project there were many concepts we were unclear on: we did not know how to use microcredentials, we did not agree on whether they were stackable as larger units of study/achievement, we did not even know what they were: we disagreed on definitions of MCs. I recall we even lacked terms to describe these 'things' and those other 'bits and pieces' that 'make them up' and 'quality assure' 'them.' UNESCO cited this frustration in its micro-credentials definition launch, commenting that we are "bound by our own language" (Oliver & UNESCO, 2022); and bound we were.Let us start by dealing with the most rudimentary of these issues: what are micro-credentials?

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