What Are Microcredentials?
Microcredentials Are Not
Digital Badges
We get it. Badges can feel like a sticker and a lollipop.
No one should sit-and-get and get a badge.
Microcredentials Measure What Learners Know and Can Do
By implementing a rigorous microcredential program, you tell your learners you value their time.
Because microcredentials are all about demonstrating one's ability, amount of time spent learning doesn't matter. Each person learns faster or slower than someone else.
What does matter is that learners can demonstrate competency–by providing evidence of their skills and knowledge.
Microcredentials
Increase Motivation
Learners can easily get discouraged when they feel lost or don't know what to do next. Frequent feedback on smaller pieces of learning means learners to get positive recognition for each small success–and guidance when they go astray.
Some folks call this "gamifying" education. We think it's just good teaching.
Microcredentials' Smaller "Grain Size" Makes Learning Easier
Microcredentials represent "bite-sized" pieces of learning that break up long courses or lessons into discrete skills and concepts. Learners feel encouraged when they can regularly finish learning tasks.
Microcredentials provide scaffolding. Because learners demonstrate competency sequentially, they're always prepared for what comes next. And if they need help, mentors and instructors can more readily identify areas of difficulty.
Microcredentials Provide
Learners Autonomy
Learners demonstrate agency, choosing what and how they will learn by selecting their own pathways.
Learners choose how they will demonstrate competency.
Learners receive frequent, personalized feedback.
Microcredentials Are Rigorous
Microcredentials allow learners to earn currency for their work. Currency might be school district or post-secondary diploma/degree credit, licensure or certification, or employer recognition (interview, job offer, or promotion).
Currency is valuable, so earning it requires learners to submit verifiable evidence of their skills and knowledge, which is evaluated by subject-matter experts using standards-aligned, research-backed rubrics.
