In July 2020, after much consultation, Cherie Diaz and Adam Brimo from OpenLearning released the OpenCreds Micro-credential Framework for Australia. In their words, "... this framework describes how the Australian education ecosystem can provide a market-leading lifelong learning experience for all Australians..... the successful implementation of OpenCreds represents an opportunity for Australian education providers to offer short-form courses, credentials and pathways that meet the needs of industry and learners alike by providing a range of upskilling opportunities that could prepare all of us for a future of continuous, lifelong learning". At the heart of this body of work are those words "lifelong learning". Not a new concept by any means, but one that has taken on new meaning in the current climate.
Deloitte Australia, in a 2018 article titled "Higher education for a changing world: Ensuring the 100-year life is a better life", provide a certain level of clarity around what it means to have a career today given that we are living longer due to advances in science. They make reference to Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott's book The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, and include a wonderful representation on the differences between what they refer to as a traditional linear life, and a 100-year life, as it relates to the way we undertake education and training.
The key takeaway for me lies on page 6 which reads:
So what has all of this got to do with OpenCreds? If we subscribe to the belief that learning and educating oneself no longer follows the traditional linear approach as outlined in the above image, then we begin to consider when and with whom do these learning experiences occur. In Australia, post-secondary structured education typically occurs across three (3) sectors - vocational education, or VET, higher education, and professional learning, which includes continual professional development providers and work-based learning in industry. This education could be formal or informal. In staying true to the definition of micro-credentials proposed in the Review of the AQF (Australian Qualifications Framework). OpenLearning arrived at our definition of a micro-credential as
Further to this, an OpenCred may be a stand-alone credential, designed to provide value to a learner independently of a formal qualification, or it may interact with a formal qualification by providing pathways to a formal qualification, by being a credit-bearing component of a formal qualification, or being recognised by an industry association or accrediting body for say, continuing professional development. So, as you can see, there is great flexibility around where an OpenCred could fit in the overall education and training schemas available to learners and education providers.
There are further criteria that define an OpenCred which we won't be exploring in this post but can be read via the link provided earlier.
Those familiar with the language and taxonomy of each of the sectors mentioned above understand their structures very well, and where they fit in with the overall education and training landscape. What is less understood, is how a similar micro-credential taxonomy or language could transverse across the sectors as individuals undertake their lifelong learning journey. We know that individuals will undertake their learning experiences typically across all of these sectors over their lifespan, and having a framework that allows us to speak the same or similar language across these sectors provides tremendous benefits to not only the learners but also to employers and industry and education providers. For learners, it enables them to more easily access just-in-time learning that is current, research-informed, and industry-relevant. For employers and industry, it enables a high level of quality assurance across the variety of OpenCreds providers. And for Education providers, it provides for a consistent, clear, and easily communicated set of potential pathways for learners. Our aim at OpenLearning is to help enable interoperability between higher education, technical and vocational education and training, and professional learning opportunities.
So, shouldn't the government perhaps be undertaking the work of ensuring a better understanding of micro-credentials and the critical role they are and will play in the overall Australian education landscape? Well, they are.... kinda! Micro-credentials were recently identified in two prominent reviews as an area for reform. The Strengthening Skills review, led by the Hon Steven Joyce, and the larger Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework, both highlight how micro-credentials can support opportunities for flexible learning and training. Secondly, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a range of new skill sets were developed and endorsed by the government to respond to areas of critical workforce, training, and skills needs. And lastly, and the one that seems to have attracted the most media attention, was the recognition of micro-credentials under the Job Trainer Fund as part of the economic response to COVID-19. However, there is much debate as to whether these last 2 initiatives align with an accepted definition of a true micro-credential, or are simply stepping stones to eventual recognition of micro-credentials in the AQF if and when that happens. Add to these the recent tender announcement for the development of a micro-credentials marketplace to establish a nationally consistent platform for students to compare short courses and credit point value, then there appears to be a good deal of focus on micro-credentials and their future in a progressive education landscape in Australia by the current government.
This last point is actually quite significant when you revisit the goals for why OpenLearning developed the OpenCreds framework. Any cross-sector approach to establishing a micro-credentials taxonomy will need to explore indicative hours of learning, credit points, delivery modes, evidence and assessment approaches before establishing relationships and movements from one micro-credential to another, across organisations and across sectors. The work done by both OpenLearning and the ensuing work by the successful tenderer of the government's micro-credential marketplace will go a long way to addressing some of these critical components.
A simple search on micro-credentials will unearth a plethora of approaches both here in Australia and throughout the world. The last 6-12 months especially have seen an exponential rise in the concepts of alternative approaches to educating the masses due to a range of issues in our institutions brought on by the pandemic. Digital transformation, funding and staffing changes, a focus on producing job-ready individuals, and simply a recognition finally that the way we educate has had to change, has seen all stakeholders in the lifelong learning journey explore, invent, innovate and rethink their role in the future of education and training.
We need to continually think of learning as a journey, which for many of us will now extend to possibly over a 100 years, and establish language, relationships, and flexibility that allows one to easily navigate the increasing options available to us. OpenLearning and OpenCreds is playing its part to guide some of this thinking, and be part of the national debate and discussion.
If you'd like more information on OpenCreds, the OpenLearning SaaS platform, or anything I have posted here, I can be contacted at grant@openlearning.com. And look out for our second virtual Micro-credential Symposium event to be held again in November 2021.
I am always excited to hear what others are doing in this space and the challenges faced in implementing micro-credential and short course strategies. Please leave any comments at the bottom of this article.
Topics: Micro-credentials
