MicroCredX
About Micro-Credentials Exchange
Adopting micro-credentials implies cultural, pedagogical, technological and political obstacles which prevent the progress of skill and competence expression and brokerage that can be greatly enabled by credential portability. A market-oriented redesign of modules, provided as online courses or MOOCs will cater not only to the needs of students of one’s own institution, but also to international students and employees needing professional development. Such a shift could also allow interaction amongst these three learner groups, but it demands a tremendous culture change from faculty members. The same is true for the recognition of outside credentials and their integration into the curriculum.
MicroCredX project addressed the needs of the strategic triangle of HEIs, the world of work and students. The key achievements for the project were:
The project:
MicroCredX was divided into 4 phases:
Phase 1: Making the Case
To gain institutional buy-in, we worked with institutional leaders to demonstrate how providing and recognising micro-credentials can be beneficial to the institution, contribute towards institutional objectives, priorities or legal obligations, and how any conceptual and organisational barriers can be overcome.
Phase 2: Creating a Strategy
Each consortium member prepared micro-credentialing strategies, indicating plans for roll-out of micro-credentials, as well as a recognition model for integrating micro-credentials from other institutions into their programmes. Strategies led to a set of pilot activities and micro-credential expansion plans for after this.
Phase 3: Launching an Offer
Partner institutions implemented their strategies by launching over 30 virtual micro-credential courses via a catalogue, with 400 students who applied to receive a European Digital Credential. This launch allowed us to identify and correct emerging issues with regards to enabling virtual mobilities.
Phase 4: Expanding our Offer
The pilots were followed up by network expansion, increasing the number of educational institutions participating in our micro-credentialing network.