Disrupting the Diploma: Meeting the Challenge of Micro-Credentials in Higher Education

There's a lot of discussion in higher education at the moment about the potential for disruption in the sector. One of the possible forces of disruption, often mentioned by those scanning the horizon in higher education, is the micro-credential - usually symbolized by the digital badge as a common example. The growth of micro-credentials, it can be argued, have the potential to 'disrupt the diploma' and force educational institutions to become more responsive to both the market demand from students and the needs of employers. With a range of credentials that would allow a greater flexibility to the student, and a more cost-effective route to re-skilling, micro-credentials and digital badging could see an end to the transcript and trigger a significant overhaul in the delivery of higher education.

I say 'could', because we have a long way to go yet, but the signs of disruption are there.

Piloting Digital Badges in Higher Education

At Excelsior College, we recently completed a pilot program, during which we evaluated the use of digital badges and assessed the resulting impact upon learning outcomes and the claiming behavior of students who were issued badges for the achievement of various competences. The pilot showed a certain willingness of students to embrace badging to credential various skills - particularly marketable ones, such as cybersecurity or Java programming. But while students saw them as a useful way to celebrate an achievement and showcase a new skill, the jury was still out in terms of their long-term value.

The rather mixed results confirmed earlier studies that suggest the influence of digital badging in higher education is at a very early stage in its adoption.  Students need to be convinced of the value of a badge, and faculty need to make the conceptual leap beyond the diploma and reach an acceptance that in the future, students and the labor market may demand credentials that are more flexible and dynamic than traditional higher education qualifications that are bundled into a prescribed curriculum.

Digital Badges: The Definition

One of the more succinct and instructional definitions of digital badges is provided by the MacArthur Foundation:

Digital badges are an assessment and credentialing mechanism that is housed and managed online. Badges are designed to make visible and validate learning in both formal and informal settings, and hold the potential to help transform where and how learning is valued.

The MacArthur Foundation definition is helpful, because it emphasizes the fact that behind it all there needs to be a credentialing mechanism that validates the badge as representing the achievement of a competence. There are a number of platforms, such as Credly, Badgr, or Parchment. For now, however, we are a in a 'Betamax moment' in the digital badging space, where there is a plethora of platforms and no sign of a single format emerging - although some signs of a consolidation are taking place, with the Pearson credentialing platform, Acclaim, recently acquired by Credly. But while the reputation of the issuing institution supports the authenticity and credibility of a credential, we may yet see emerging an open source solution that is common across issuers, both academic and non-academic, but this is some way in the future.

'Visible and Validate'

The second part of the definition emphasizes the importance of badges as a way of making learning 'visible' - the digital badge can be displayed and distributed across social media channels, LinkedIn profiles, online resumes, and e-portfolios. With digital badging and micro-credentials, validating the skills of an applicant may be evidenced by more than just the static grade displayed on a transcript, which also aids the visibility of the learning. Instead it could be a video of the student delivering a presentation, or a link to access an app developed by the candidate as part of a Java programming course. If you think about the existing transcript, it may tell me that you have an A in HTML5, but does that mean that you can code a web site better than the guy that got a C? When I see that you have the competence, perhaps the associated evidence that credentials that skill is a link to an actual website that you have designed and built, together with testimonials from a satisfied client that attests to your competence.

'Formal and Informal'

Finally, the MacArthur Foundation definition highlights the fact that badges can have the potential to make visible and validate the learning in both 'formal and informal' settings and here too is the potential for significant disruption. When education institutions were seen as having the monopoly on the validation of learning, the job-seeker was forced to gain a bachelors’ degree or a masters to prove to an employer that they have achieved a certain level of attainment. Competency-based education (CBE), however, acknowledges the fact that experiential or prior-learning could take place in the workplace, or other 'informal' settings, and that a competent and effective manager might have already surpassed the knowledge derived from an MBA through a lifetime in the field. McDonalds could credential management skills and Microsoft validate the competence of a Java programmer.

The Rise of the Micro-credential

The focus upon digital badges, however, detracts from what is really going on here: the growth of micro-credentials that is being driven by changes in higher education and learning technology, together with the accessibility of social media and evolving practices in pedagogy. Coupled with this there are some fundamental changes to hiring practices that harness big data and allow employers to screen potential applicants by setting search parameters that will scrape data from an online profile or resume and deliver up those candidates that meet the precise requirements demanded by the hirer. When you apply for a job and eagerly allow their system to access your LinkedIn profile, you are adding to a dataset that makes the recruitment and selection process much easier for the employer, while also saving you time re-typing repetitive information.

In his book, The Future of University Credentials, Sean Gallagher (quoted by Matkin), has identified 6 factors driving the rise of micro-credentials:

1. MOOCs, or massive online open courses. While completion rates remain low, there has been a shift on various MOOC platforms, such as Coursera and EdX, to the issue of a fee-based digital credential to validate the completion of a course offered by a university or college.
2. HR and Big Data. As we have already seen, employers are transforming their hiring practices and using big data, hiring platforms, and applicant tracking software, to automate the recruitment and selection process. Digital credentials on social media profiles make that task a whole lot easier.
3. Lifelong Learning or the '60-Year Curriculum'. Education no longer ends at the attainment of the diploma, instead institutions are already compelled to consider career readiness and the opportunity to keep learning across the span of a career. Individuals also see a responsibility to keep learning and re-skilling. Micro-credentials will play an increasing role in facilitating this 60-year curriculum.
4. Social Media - The visibility of learning is now facilitated by the prevalence of social media and relative ease by which the learner can highlight their skills in an accessible way to potential employers.
5. Competency-based Education (CBE) – Credentialing experiential learning gained in the workplace and validated by an employer is more easily facilitated by a digital credential that is visible on an individual’s profile and supported by the relevant evidence.
6. Modularity and Stacking – Many certificates and nanodegrees are offering shorter learning experiences in contrast to the traditional 8, 10 or fifteen-week course, with 5 week or shorter experiences becoming more common.

‘Disrupting the Diploma’

Gary Matkin of the University of California, Irvine, believes that these forces will render the transcript obsolete and transform the higher education landscape. He argues that:

Not only will digital credentialing render traditional university transcripts obsolete, except for the use of transcripts in post-graduate applications or verifications of academic records, it will also have significant implications for how learning is structured in the future. The concept of modularity, stackability, and competency-based education … may help to transform the way we link education and the marketplace.

For Matkin, however, this greater modularity of learning into smaller courses that either standalone or can be stacked with other modules, will serve to ‘unbundle’ education from the confines of the traditional diploma. The continued rise of CBE, which credentials prior learning rather than the acquisition of large bodies of knowledge, and the opportunity for lifelong learning across the 60-year curriculum, offer the potential to reshape the sector.

Conceptually this is all a significant leap for a sector that continues to see the diploma as the primary vehicle to credential the learning of an individual. But with declining enrollments in higher education, some commentators, such as Adam Harris, believe that it has reached its peak. And while the elite institutions, like Harvard, Oxford, and INSEAD, will continue to offer an unrivaled pathway to career advancement, increased competition for a dwindling number of students may see a major shakeout in the non-traditional sector and the bursting of what some see as a ‘bubble’, whose rupture may have widespread consequences that rival the Credit Crunch of 2008.

While the much-anticipated ‘disruption of higher education’ may still be a few years away, far-sighted institutions will start to strategize about how micro-credentials could offer an opportunity to retain relevance in a post-diploma world. A world where learning spans a lifetime and the demand for flexibility and speed drives a more responsive model of higher education that meets individual and employer needs that are more aligned to the marketplace and the career.

Will Trevor is Faculty Program Director in the School of Undergraduate Studies at Excelsior College.

Disclaimer

Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not represent the views or opinions of my employer.