Intersectionality and positionality can be used to examine how various aspects of identity are analyzed in the context of learners' lived experiences. When examining how learners are recognized for their skills and competencies, there are several ways in which education and credentials can be leveraged. Autoethnographies were used to examine the…

The popularity of digital badges has been accelerated in recent years. Advocates of digital badges suggest their use may improve students' motivation and achievement, but existing empirical studies have failed to show consistent results. Furthermore, to date, no meta-analysis has been conducted on the topic of digital badges. Given this gap, the…

Changes in hiring requirements, in particular a bachelor's degree, is rapidly changing for many learners. In order to make these changes successfully, higher education must come to an agreement on the terms used to describe and characterize these new assertions of learning, along with adopting a common mode of transport for these credentials. One…

Purpose: Micro-credentials, which have been widely used in re-skilling and skills development, provide advantages for improvement in the professional career. As a complementary approach to career and professional development in formal education, it can be said that micro-credentials are preferred for supporting professional development and/or to…

Purpose: Alternative credentials are rapidly evolving. The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges and opportunities arising from this evolution with particular reference to their role in education and employment. Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores the credential initiatives with a unique perspective from introducing…

Professional learning is defined as a context-specific, career-long endeavor that is guided by standards, grounded in the educator's individual work, and tailored to the educator's stage in career development (Schlager & Fusco, 2003). Research related to professional learning for educators conveys the need for change. Studies indicate that a…

The purpose of this article is to share worked examples of skills profiling within the universal micro-credential framework, a novel approach designed to further the enablement of 21st century skills which are defined here as a generalized series of competencies gained by a learner that enable them to self-reflect, self-regulate and self-optimize…

Learners who learn from OER often cannot have their learning assessed or receive a credential. Open credentials offer a potential solution to this problem, combining badges or micro-credentials with competence frameworks and digital seals. This study identified the current situation of open credentials in post-secondary education in Europe, the…

Purpose: This study aims to present the evaluation of a competency-based online professional development training program, PhD Progression, tied to a digital badge system, created to support PhD students across fields. Design/methodology/approach: This study took place at Boston University, a large, nonprofit, Carnegie Classified R1…

The concept of affordance is helpful to understand the advantages that can be offered to users. However, little is known about the affordable Micro-Credential courses (MC) offered by Higher education (HE) providers. This study utilizes Gibson's affordance theory as a lens and aims to validate the affordances of MCs for HE. Furthermore, this study…

The purpose of this Action Research study was to understand and enhance the perceived efficacy of micro-credentialing and digital badging for K-12 educators within a large urban school district. Cycle 1 of this research engaged over 150 educators and included 14 semi-structured interviews, seeking to identify the primary reasons for engaging…

Employers are increasingly selecting and developing employees based on skills rather than qualifications. Governments now have a growing focus on skilling, reskilling and upskilling the workforce through skills-based development rather than qualifications as a way of improving productivity. Both these changes are leading to a much stronger…

The Micro-Credential Program is a digital badging system composed of competency-based pathways that move forward early childhood professionals to achieving mastery in employability skills. These skills are crucial for early childhood professionals to have to provide high-quality, nurturing learning environments to children in their care as well as…

Digital badges are electronic representations of learning and skills mastery (Ferdig & Pytash, 2014; Grant, 2014). Like achievements or badges in video games, digital badges are earned by accomplishing a skill or acquiring knowledge after completing an activity. The idea behind their creation seems to be acknowledging that learning can and…