Recap and conclusion of the investigation into micro credentials
The 21st Century has brought fundamental changes to work, life and family and with these changes comes the need for new educational models. There are many innovations in learning and micro credentials, and their associated badges, are just one of them.
This series of blogs has explored what micro credentials are and how they have and can be utilised by learners, employers and educational institutions. On the surface they offer a compact and efficient way for learners to upskill and advance in their careers, it allows employers to ensure that their workers skills remain relevant and aids in implementing lifelong learning strategies to keep employees engaged and fulfilled. For educational institutes it offers a way for students to easily attain certifications by attaining small chunks at a time.
In a time poor world micro credentials appear to offer the solution to these issues but they do not come without their challenges. How are micro credentials going to be standardised and recognised between different institutions and employers? This is essential to aid in the portability of a credential and allow a learner to prove certification and competency in skills learnt. Some solutions shown in this investigation are the clarification statements offered by Professor Beverley Oliver, or the huge digital learning platforms being offered by Percipio and LinkedIn Learning.
If standardisation and certification can be agreed upon and consistent then the impact that micro credentials will have not only on the workforce but learning institutions will be positive. It will allow people and businesses to upskill and reskill in a time where the need to learn new skills quickly is becoming an imperative requirement.
Traditional education models such as diplomas and degrees earned at Universities and Tertiary Institutions will remain relevant and current for the foreseeable future, "however, as concerns grow about workforce shortages, greater needs for diversity in the workforce and more accessible pathways for nontraditional learners, microcredentials may be a solution whose time has come." (Jones-Schenk, 2018) Whilst micro credentials are still a fairly new pedagogy, there are many universities offering them as viable courses, this is evident if a quick internet search is done for Universities that offer micro credentials. Australian Universities have been a bit slower to uptake this pedagogy with the Australian Government only recently allocating A$24.5 million for tertiary education providers to create mini-courses, they have also allocated A$8 million for Australian Industry to develop micro-credentials (Ross, J. 2021).
Employers agree that a combination of a degree and micro-credentials are what is needed when hiring new employees, a degree provides a certification in a given field and a micro-credential is proof of a possessed skill or competency that is required. The advances in technology and the labour market means employees need to be able to develop skills quickly, a buzz word that has cropped up recently is "just-in-time" learning which refers to this need (Andersen et al, 2021). Employees need to keep their skills relevant and employers need to ensure that they are putting the framework in place to enable their workers to gain the relevant skills rapidly.
How can micro credentials fill this gap?
According to the LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2021 one of the top priorities of L&D (Learning & Development) professionals globally is upskilling and reskilling the workforce. They also found that 76% of Gen Z learners believe learning is the key to a successful career (LinkedIn 2021).
Thanks to the pandemic, hybrid workplaces (organisations with some employees working remotely and some in the office) are here to stay, this also means that blended online learning (virtual instructor led and online learning) will remain as the dominant form of learning in the workforce. Some of the ways that L&D professionals are taking advantage of the above information is to create career pathways with course recommendations and skills needed. Internal mobility is also a growing priority that requires career pathways and upskilling to support movement within a company and to retain talent. (LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, 2021).
LinkedIn acquired the learning platform Lynda in 2015 (techcrunch.com) and then changed the name to LinkedIn Learning, it offers thousands of professional online short courses that cater for a range of different needs.
LinkedIn Learning was used in a recent case study by Santa Barbara City College in 2019 where it was identified that candidates for jobs are missing business-critical soft skills that are not always taught in school. Their Career Skills Institute built out more than 40 short courses that used content available on Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning), the students then used the skills learnt through Lynda.com to work through real-world workplace challenges and further develop their abilities. The Career Institute then provided students with a digital badge, that they could share anywhere online such as LinkedIn or in their email signature. Employers can click on the badge to view the course context, related skills and the verification. The college issued 72 badges to 35 students in the first 2 semesters (Santa Barbara City College, 2019)
It appears that LinkedIn is at the forefront of filling this gap for employers, they recently introduced the Learning Hub for workplaces to use to upskill their employees, the video below gives a brief introduction to LinkedIn Learning Hub.
The suite of learning options offered by LinkedIn is growing, from personal, to students, to workplace learning. Any course successfully completed on LinkedIn earns you a certificate, which can be showcased on your LinkedIn Profile, downloaded as PDF or shared as an image online to demonstrate skills learnt. Whilst LinkedIn are not calling these courses micro credentials, they do seem to cover all of the requirements of a micro credential (flexible, portable, time and cost effective) they even offer a downloadable image (or badge) of the skill acquired.
These types of certificates are becoming sought after by talent acquisition consultants as they offer an easy way to ascertain the skills that a candidate holds and has competency in, "These mini qualifications and learning experiences are becoming the forefront of professional skill sets, with 95% of human resource managers actively seeking micro-credentials from potential candidates"(Blazevic, 2020).
While employers and their workers are easily able to take up these courses and use them as proof of skills learned, it is a different story in universities. We will now look at some of the challenges faced by traditional learning institutions.
What are the challenges
and how can we overcome them?
"While a growing number of higher education institutions, including those involved in the Erasmus+ European Universities initiative, are already working on the development of these microcredentials, a common definition and a common approach on their validation and recognition is lacking" (Andersen et al, 2019)
This lack of consistency and quality assurance is creating a challenge for traditional learning institutions; traditionally certificates, diplomas and degrees are upheld by strict regulatory and assurance requirements which ensures that the certifications are consistent and recognised nationally. Micro-credentials also need to go through this process, but with so many different platforms (such as LinkedIn), workplace Learning Management Systems and training providers rushing to implement them, the consistency needed for credentials to be transportable between jobs and across borders is missing.
So what is the solution? According to Prof Beverley Oliver of Deaking University if a micro credential earns admission or credit towards a formal qualification then further clarification is required and her proposed clarifying statement includes the following points:
assessment must occur, and is aligned to the target qualification level
credit or admission may be earned to more than one qualification
the offer of credit or admission does not depend on its being used in the future
standards practices, including duration and effort, mirror or contribute to the standards in
the target qualification(s).
She goes on to say that in contrast to the above, non credit-bearing micro credentials are assessed but do not earn any credit towards a formal qualification and so there must be a comparison between the types of credential being earned. Are they credit-bearing or non credit-bearing? (Oliver, 2019)
If a national or, at the very least, state clarification is implemented for the regulation and standardisation of micro credentials then this could provide consistency and trust from both learners and the organisations that will be employing them that the credentials earned are of high quality and meet minimum standards.
Workplace learning is another story, usually learning that happens inhouse is not certified and does not offer credit in terms of RPL (recognition of prior learning). A credential offered by one employer may not be recognised by another employer, so the problem faced for workplaces is that the micro-credential they offer to an employee may not be transportable. A possible solution for this is for workplaces to allow third party learning platforms to manage and regulate these types of credentials, such as LinkedIn Learning or the SkillSoft offering of Percipio, which is a specific offering to companies. See the video below to learn more about Percipio.
According to the Deloitte 2020 Global Human Capital Trends Survey 75% of organisations know that reskilling their workforce is important in the next 12 to 18 months, but only 9% feel ready to address this trend (Deloitte, 2020). So these types of digital learning platforms could fill that gap and provide employers with ready made, skill based courses and micro credentials that will be recognised by various employers and so be transportable for the employee.
The next and final blog will recap on what has been covered in this series and conclude on the investigation of micro credentials.
This series of blogs explores the emerging pedagogy of Micro Credentials and will explore them in the context of corporate learning, how they can benefit employees and employers in the workforce by providing an easier way to attain skills and knowledge than current methods, and aid in career development pathways. The blog will also use the context of tertiary education as a background to support ideas that are introduced.
It will explore what the challenges are for both employees and employers in implementing and using micro credentials in the workplace.
What is a Micro Credential?
Most people are aware of short courses, they have existed for a long time, and online short courses have been around for about 20 years, "since 2012, online short courses – often called massive
open online courses (MOOCs) – have been offered by hundreds of providers, mostly universities" (Oliver, 2019). It's easy to describe a micro credential by first having the reader think about a short course, and then picture that short course broken up into smaller segments. These smaller segments could be called micro credentials and"These qualification types can take from a few weeks to up to a year to complete, all depending on the specifications and requirements of the micro-credential." according to (Blazevic, 2020).
The following video gives a brief introduction into how micro-credentials could work in the context of an employee wanting to upskill.
Any person who has worked in a corporate environment may have had the opportunity to complete short courses in house, that is, through the organisation's Learning Management System (LMS), and not with an external provider such as a University. These short courses may be aligned with a current job description, or could be an opportunity to upskill and move forward on a career pathway, a short course may even award with you a formal certificate once completed. The way micro credentials work is slightly different, "The award of a micro-credential will be represented by a digital badge or, for a stack of micro-credentials, a digital certificate." (CPA, 2022)
Essentially a micro credential can provide the learner with a smaller chunk of a certification which can be built upon, if desired, to attain a complete certification.
The next blog will further explore how micro credentials could be used to enhance learning in a corporate environment.
Learning does not end the day you finish a degree and then get a job, learning continues throughout one's life, this is called Lifelong learning. "Lifelong learning is the ongoing process in which you continue to educate yourself and build new skills over time" (Devry University, 2020). As we move into the 4th Industrial
Revolution technology is advancing and with it the skills required to be competent in a specific job. According to Palmer 2017 "Technological change demands stronger and more continuous connections between education and employment".
However a challenge that arises is the time-poor workforce. Currently many people in the workforce simply feel that they don't
have the time to invest in learning - according to the LinkedIn Workplace
Learning Report from 2018 - "The #1 reason employees say they are not
engaging in workplace learning is because they don't have the time" (Spar et al, 2018)
So how can employers engage workers in learning and have them feel that their precious time is being used for good? If Employers want to increase their investment in the lifelong learning of their workers then they need a time efficient and also cost effective way to assist employees to maintain their skills, upskill and enhance their career development.
There are some general rules about micro credentials that meet the above requirements "When designed correctly, micro-credentials are flexible, portable and cost-effective to implement. They can help boost employee engagement and support employers by promoting a culture of lifelong learning while providing a map for an employee’s career path" (Perna, 2021). Cost-effectiveness is important as businesses have budgets to adhere to, the attrition rate of employees is another factor to consider "many employees tend to leave the job for various undisclosed factors such as ... lack of career advancement and(sic) desire for change in new opportunities..." as supported by (Guru Vignesh et al, 2018). This could be reduced if employees feel supported and have a defined career path where they know their goals are attainable.
A micro credential can provide the learner with a smaller chunk of a certification, in the form of a badge. These badges can be stacked over time, if desired, and a complete certification attained. Micro credentials tend to be easier to attain than traditional qualifications because it takes a lot less time to acquire one than say a full diploma or a degree.
See the example in the diagram below, an employee attains three badges over time, these three badges when stacked earn the learner a certificate. If a number of certificates are earned then these can be stacked to earn a higher certification such as a diploma and so on.
Source: https://bloomboard.com/
Micro credentials and badges also have the potential to be recognised by other institutions and organisations, this means that they are portable. Currently job-learnt skills are generally not formally recognised, they can be listed on a resume but are not shown as a certification. "It is a common occurrence that job-learned skills aren't acknowledged, as there has never been a simple way of solidifying this knowledge via a recognised qualification or badge"(Blazevic, 2020). Formal recognition of skills would enable a worker to provide proof to potential employers that they are competent in a given skill.
Not only can micro credentials provide a way of certifying skills learnt, they can provide the steps in a career pathway. If a learner has a goal and wants to get a promotion or work in another department of the business, or if a manager recognises talent and wants to encourage that worker to progress, there could be a correlating list of badges that must be attained before the learner would be classed as competent to enter that role or progress to the next level or higher pay grade.
What could these badges look like? See below for some examples of badges offered by various organisations.
Image Source: CPA Australia, Elearning.com and Arcitura Education Inc
The above is just a tiny example of the different types of badges and associated micro credentials, but it shows the great potential for the types of skills that could be represented.
The next blog will explore how micro credentials and badges are used currently in the educational setting, what are the opportunities, benefits and challenges faced in the corporate context, and what are some solutions to these challenges.
