Survey of micro-credentialing practice in Australasian universities 2020

A rapidly evolving higher education landscape is an opportunity for Australasian universities to reconsider how it offers education. In a time where knowledge and skills need to be updated constantly, a three- or four-year degree may not suit the currency required in many jobs and other work. A student's employability and entrepreneurship abilities need to be contemporary and flexible. The way to gain these continually updated skills and knowledge is immense. However, recognising them in a way that is translatable across academia and work providers is limited. This research surveys how...  [+] Show more

A rapidly evolving higher education landscape is an opportunity for Australasian universities to reconsider how it offers education. In a time where knowledge and skills need to be updated constantly, a three- or four-year degree may not suit the currency required in many jobs and other work. A student's employability and entrepreneurship abilities need to be contemporary and flexible. The way to gain these continually updated skills and knowledge is immense. However, recognising them in a way that is translatable across academia and work providers is limited. This research surveys how Australasian universities approach micro-credentialing to maintain the currency of its offerings and how the sector's higher education landscape is evolving to meet this need.

This project, supported by the Australasian Council on Open Distance and eLearning (ACODE), aims to inform and benchmark universities in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji on current practices in the area of micro-credentialing. It is anticipated that institutions may be able to use this data to help them design, implement or seek a community of practice in the new area of micro-credentialing. Not surprisingly, the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated efforts in this area and so it was timely to capture and learn what this has meant for our member institutions. Not the least, with the focus the Australian Federal Government has placed on the rapid development of short courses to help support the higher education (HE) sector, we were keen to understand how this may be reflected in activities undertaken in our institutions.

Excerpts from publication.