Presentation at the FutureLearn Academic Network

1. The Unfinished Micro-credential Canvas:
Are We Mixing Oil and Water?
17th February 2022
Professor Mark Brown
Dublin City University
Photo by laura adai on Unsplash
@mbrownz
FutureLearn Academic Network

2. “Just as water can’t mix with oil, don’t expect new micro-
credentials to easily mesh with older and trusted macro-credentials
from traditional universities without getting your hands dirty!”
(Mark Brown, 2022)
Micro-credentials

3. https://irelandseducationyearbook.ie
Photo by Sam Carter on Unsplash

4. Outline
• Sketching the global canvas
• Outlining the different business models
• Filling the gaps and adding deeper layers

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

6. 6
https://www.dcu.ie/nidl
https://www.dcu.ie/nidl
87% of
sample already
in MC Observatory

7. Methodology…

8. 1. Sketching the canvas

9. (Brown et al., 2021)

10. MOOCs
Employers
HEIs
(Brown et al., 2021)

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

14. Special Purpose Awards - Credit-bearing

15. (Brown et al., 2021)

16. What word best encapsulates your view?

17. Lifelong Learning
§
§
Employability
65%
48%
(Brown et al., 2021)

18. Equity
SDGS
(Brown et al., 2021)

19. 19
“Microcredentialing is an
outgrowth of the neoliberal
learning economy. In this
economy, education resembles a
commodity, a product, or service
marketed and sold like any other
commodity” (p. 2).

21. 2. Outlining the different business models

22. (Presant, 2020)

23. Photo by Myriam Jessier on Unsplash
Sole Institution
(Brown et al., 2021)

24. Discounts
for students
from developing
countries
Bursaries
for students
from developing
countries

25. 01/12/2021

26. OECD, 2021
Increasing Supply

31. https://search.ecampusontario.ca/micro-credential-search

33. https://www.iua.ie/ourwork/learning-teaching/microcreds/

34. Implementation over 2022…

35. (Brown et al., 2021)

36. (Brown et al., 2021)

37. €7m

38. “Work towards a legal statute for alliances of
higher education institutions to allow them to pool
resources, capacities and their strengths, with an
Erasmus+ pilot as of 2022.”

39. 3. Filling gaps and adding deeper layers

40. • State of the art vs. state of the actual
• State of the demand vs. state of the supply
• State of the real benefits vs. state of the claims
Three gaps…
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

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

42. OECD, 2021
Gender Dimension
Demand side…

43. OECD, 2021
Small Employers

44. Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
Benefits side…

45. OECD (2017) Education at a Glance
Ireland

46. (Hollands & Kazi, 2019)
§

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

48. A data desert!
Photo by Delfino Barboza on Unsplash

49. Final remark…

50. “Oil is not supposed to mix with water.
But then someone invented
mayonnaise, and wham – instant
mixing!”
(Jackie Morse Kessler)

52. Go raibh maith
agaibh!
Thank you