The presentation gives an overview of how micro-credentials are essential tools towards promoting open education. It looks at initiatives to improve uptake of open education including MicroHE, OEPASS, ECCOE and Europass

1. European context onOpen
Recognition and
Credentials
Europass,MicroHE/OEPass/ECCOE
Anthony F. Camilleri & Ildiko Mazar
Knowledge InnovationCentre
Open EducationWeek – 3 March 2020

2. Open Education….
"a way of carrying out education, often using digital technologies. Its aim is to widen
access and participation to everyone by removing barriers and making learning accessible,
abundant, and customisable for all. It offers multiple ways of teaching and learning,
building and sharing knowledge. It also provides a variety of access routes to formal and
non-formal education, and connects"
(Opening up Education: A Support Framework
for Higher Education Institutions, 2016)

3. A typical
process model
forOpen
Education
Input Process Output
Open
Educational
Resources
Open
Educational
Practices
?
Educational
Credentials

4. Customisabilit
y
Customisation requires
a system of
interoperable
building blocks

5. Micro-
Credentials
MODULAR STACKABLE
PORTABLE DIGITAL

6. Micro-
Credentials
MODULAR STACKABLE PORTABLE DIGITAL
• Open Access
• Standardised Unit of Measure
• Learning Outcomes
• ECTS
• Small
• (15 ECTS equivalents max?)

7. Micro-
Credentials
MODULAR STACKABLE PORTABLE DIGITAL
Combining
Vs
Stacking

8. Micro-
Credentials
MODULAR STACKABLE PORTABLE DIGITAL
• Standardised (in format)
• Can be combined to create larger
credentials
• Not Too Small
• (1 ECTS equivalent min?)

9. Micro-
Credentials
MODULAR STACKABLE PORTABLE DIGITAL
• Recognised by Different Institutions
• To give access
• To stack across institutions
• Quality Assured (content)
• Secured (envelope)
• Mapped / Harmonised

10. Micro-
Credentials
MODULAR STACKABLE PORTABLE DIGITAL
1000 Universities
50 Courses per Uni
50000 micro-credentials
2 sextillion
possible
combinations!
(of 5-credential packages)

11. Micro-
Credentials
MODULAR STACKABLE PORTABLE DIGITAL
• Earned in any mode but
• Awarded digitally
• Stacked digitally
• Recognised digitally

12. Credentials are still not digital
Limited Access to Underlying Information
Not valid currencies on job market
Lack of (Technical) Standards for
Credential Information
Closed Standards for Security &Verification
Not recognised
What’s
wrong with
(digital)
micro-
credentials?

13. Credentials are
still not digital

14. LimitedAccess
toUnderlying
Information

15. Not valid
currencies on
job market
Source: Career Arc
If it costs an employer more to verify a credential than
to test the skills,
the credential is effectively worthless.

16. Lack of
Technical
Standards
leads to
exclusion
Source: Career Arc

17. Closed
Standards for
Security and
Verification

18. Closed
Credentials
 expensive and time consuming to
acquire
 hard to use and share
 hinder Open Education by failing to
evidence flexible learning pathways
in a transparent manner
 exclude the people who need them
most
 can be abused by networks of
intermediaries
 do not inform policy

19. Wehaveallthepiecesforan
OpenCredentialSystem

20. EUStandards
for
Qualifications
EU standards for qualifications
European Qualifications Framework: gives an indication as to
the level of various qualifications
European Diploma Supplement: provides a standardised
template to give additional information about a degree
European CreditTransfer System: allows for individual
learning units to be described in terms of knowledge, skills,
responsibility and autonomy
European Skill, Competences, Qualifications and
Occupations database provides a standard terminology

21. EUStandards
for
Qualifications
EU standards for qualifications
European Qualifications Framework: gives an indication as to
the level of various qualifications
Not for non-formal education or microcredentials
European Diploma Supplement: provides a standardised
template to give additional information about a degree
Only for degrees
European CreditTransfer System: allows for individual
learning units to be described in terms of knowledge, skills,
responsibility and autonomy
Only for Higher Education - not included fully in qualification
European Skill, Competences, Qualifications and
Occupations database provides a standard terminology
Not used by the tools above

22. Working on
open
solutions...
Create a digital standard format
for documenting open education
credentials based on ECTS
oepass.eu
Open Education Passport

23. The Learning
Passport
Comprehensive
documentation of
learning experiences in
terms of:
• Awarding body
• Credential awarded
• Holder of credential
• Evidence of achievement

24. Technical
Standards:
OpenBadges
too open to be useful for
Higher Education

25. MicroHE
Data Model /
OEPASS
Ontology

26. European
framework for
digitally-signed
credentials
The Europass Learning Model is available at:
https://github.com/european-commission-europass/EDCI-Data-Model

27. European
framework for
digitally-signed
credentials

28. WithBlockchainyoudon’tneedanintermediarytosigna
documentatall
the technology is still
extremely young

29. Working on
open
solutions...
Support Future Learning Excellence through
Micro-Credentialling in Higher Education
Create a model blockchain
infrastructure for storing and
automatically verifying credentials
microcredentials.eu

30. The
Credentials
Clearinghouse

31. The
Credentials
Clearinghouse

32. Erasmus
Agreements
provide a
template for
credit mobility
only apply to semester-
based physical mobility

33. PilotingSemi-
Automated
agreements
for Micro-
Credit
Mobility

34. www.microcredentials.eu
Imagine a Future
where recognition is
universal
automatic
seamless

35. A typical
process model
forOpen
Education
Input Process Output
Open
Educational
Resources
Open
Educational
Practices
?
Educational
Credentials

36. A typical
process model
forOpen
Education
Input Process Output
Open
Educational
Resources
Open
Educational
Practices
Open
Educational
Credentials

37. THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION
You can download this presentation at:
Anthony F. Camilleri
anthony@knowledgeinnovation.eu
Ildiko Mazar
ildiko@knowledgeinnovation.eu
https://www.slideshare.net/anthonycamilleri

38. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the
contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
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