Micro-credentials: what are the challenges for students?

This post summarises a ‘think piece’ I wrote in 2021 for the QAA Scotland Enhancement Theme of Resilient Learning Communities on Understanding Micro-Credentials and Small Qualifications. The full paper examines micro-credentials from the perspective of students and is available here. You can read my earlier posts on the wider challenges of micro-credentials here and on … Read more

Challenges Micro-credentials and education

A silhouette of a person working on a laptop

As a follow-up to my earlier post on the difficulties of defining micro-credentials, this post outlines two key challenges of micro-credentials to the purposes of education. The claimed benefits of micro-credentials include enabling a closer linkage between education provision and labour market needs and workforce development. Such linkages both improve the employability of students while … Read more

Teaching Groups as a bedrock of higher education innovation

I have been looking at teaching groups in relation to a broader project on enhancing institutional resilience in teaching and learning. As noted previously, resilience is about adaptability to thrive in fluidly changing contexts while maintaining the core purposes of the university – in this case, teaching. Strong teaching groups appear to be a particularly … Read more

Digital learner experiences and the future of higher education – notes for a Friday [7]

This report from JISC is of FE college students’ experiences of digital education. The survey was conducted between October 2019 and May 2020 so covers the emergency shift to remote teaching. About two-thirds of the 19,137 responses are from the pre-pandemic and one-third form the pandemic periods. Learners and their technology Access to digital devices … Read more

What works for students in digital education

This article on student perceptions of ‘useful’ digital technologies identifies the gap between the potential of digital technologies for teaching and learning in higher education and the realities seen to date. The study presents the findings of a survey of students at two research-intensive universities in Australia. I think there are some important insights here … Read more

Notes for a Friday [5]

A hare

Its been a busy week with the start of the new academic year being in somewhat challenging circumstances. However, my teaching is all online and I’m ready to start teaching next week. It has also been the week of the launch of the Manifesto for Teaching Online including a programme of launch seminars. Otherwise, here … Read more