Invited keynote presentation for FutureLearn Academic Network, Monash University [Online], 24th August, 2021

1. MOOCs and Micro-credentials:
Exploring Data Deserts
Professor Mark Brown
Dublin City University
24th August 2021
Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash
@mbrownz

2. Where is the data?
Photo by Giorgio Parravicini on Unsplash
MOOCs

3. Photo by Aaron on Unsplash
Are we at
risk of building
micro-credential
sandcastles?

4. Photo by Aaron on Unsplash
“As we enter the age of post-
COVID digital learning I’ll keep
considering micro-credentials. But,
I’ll be prioritising making part-time
and full-time online study ever
more accessible, and carefully
guiding students to and through
proper degrees”
(Prof. Merlin Crossley, 2021).
Are we at
risk of building
micro-credential
sandcastles?

5. Photo by Chaiyaporn Atakampeewong on Unsplash
“Absolute catnip
to politicians”
(Usher, 2021)

6. Photo by Chaiyaporn Atakampeewong on Unsplash
“The uptake of micro-credentials will support our
Government’s plan to give Australians the skills they
need to be job-ready”(Hon. Dan Tehan, MP, 2020).
“Absolute catnip
to politicians”
(Usher, 2021)
“We have the opportunity for Australian institutions to
meet this market with greater use of online delivery or
hybrid learning models at different price offerings. This
could be in both full course and micro-credentials”
(Hon. Alan Tudge, 2021).

7. Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash

8. Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash
• Setting the policy context
• Competing drivers and attractors
• Insights from a state-of-the-art literature review
Outline…

10. 10
https://www.dcu.ie/nidl
https://www.dcu.ie/nidl

13. Poll conducted in March
2021 in Higher Education
4.0: Certifying Your Future

14. 1. Setting the policy context
Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash

15. Growth of micro-credentials evidenced by Google search traffic

16. 1,200+ 30/11/2020

17. https://emc.eadtu.eu

20. Credit Bearing
Non Credit Bearing
Bundled Unbundled
Credential
Ecology
Macro-credentials
Formal Accredited
Degrees
Micro-credentials
Formal & Semi Formal
Accredited & Stackable
Nano-credentials
Informal & Non-Formal
Digital Badges & Certificates
Non-status Awards
Semi-Formal Courses
Non-Accredited
(Brown et al., 2020)

21. (Presant, 2020)

22. (Selvaratnam & Sankey, 2020)
https://www.acode.edu.au/pluginfile.php/8411/mod_resource/content/1/ACODE_MicroCreds_Whitepaper_2020.pdf
Single Institution Model…

23. Level of interest in micro-credentials for employee training and development
(The Australian Industry Group, 2021)

25. €20m DCU Futures…
Prof. Mairéad Nic Giolla Mhichí
Director, Micro-credentials Strategy and Innovation

26. €12m

27. 2021
Report launch in January 2021…
€7m

31. “A micro-credential is a proof of learning outcomes
that a learner has acquired after a short learning experience.
These learning outcomes have been assessed
against transparent standards”

32. "Despite an increasing volume of these new credentials,
great uncertainty persists. Definitions and taxonomies
to structure these new credentials have not been widely
agreed. The extent of their offer remains uncertain,
evidence of their impacts is scant, and the response of
governments to these new offerings has not been
systematically documented"
(Kato, Galán-Muros & Weko, 2020, p.7).

33. 2. Competing drivers and attractors
Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash

37. (AACU, 2015)

41. 41
11.1%

43. 43
Pre
COVID

46. 46
“The so-called ‘microcredentialing
craze’ could be no more than a
fad, marketing hype, or another
case of ‘learning innovation
theater.’
New Learning Economy

47. “Rather than presenting new
opportunities for social
inclusion and access to
education, they contribute to
the privatisation of education
by unbundling the
curriculum and blurring the
line between public and
private provision in higher
education” (p.14).

48. “Just as degrees are not all created
equal, short-term credentials are not all
created equal” (Craig, 2021).
D
a
n
g
e
r
o
f
s
w
e
e
p
i
n
g
g
e
n
e
r
a
l
i
z
a
t
i
o
n
s
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancraig/2021/06/11/credentials-must-be-stackable-not-sleestak-able/

49. 3. Insights from a state-of-the-art literature review
Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash

50. Currently undertaking a major literature review
on contract to European Commission

51. State-of-the-Art Literature Review on Micro-credentials

52. Methodology…

55. Inclusion / Exclusion Criteria…
High Relevance…

58. MOOCs
Employers

59. Report launch in March 2021…

61. What word best encapsulates your view?

63. 2021

64. Lifelong Learning
§
§
Increase Equity

65. (Duklas, 2020)
Access

66. Studying “...the relationship between
MOOCs and labour market
outcomes is an almost uncharted
research area” (p.2).

67. (Hollands & Kazi, 2019)
§

68. “Because alternative credentials are not identified in the
educational attainment component of national labour force
surveys or in international surveys of adult skills… evidence on
their effects on earnings of large-scale populations is
unavailable"
(Kato, Galán-Muros & Weko, 2020, p.28).

69. OECD (2017) Education at a Glance
Ireland
Australia

70. Photo by Giorgio Parravicini on Unsplash
Final remarks…

71. 2012
MCs
MOOCs

73. Special Issue – Papers Due 31st August 2021

74. Go raibh maith
agaibh!
Thank you