«Digital Credential Evolution: The Potential of Open Micro/nanocredentials at the Micro, Meso, and Macro Levels of Education»
Richard WestProfessor ,Instructional Psychology and Technology, Brigham Young University
Abstract
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of the digital education revolution of the 21st Century has been the increased access to education provided by digital technologies. This interest in improving access has led to the growth of the open educational movement, and an explosion of openly accessible and/or openly licensed resources for education such as Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs), textbooks, and other open educational resources. However, learning is more than content, and consequently open education must include more than just open educational resources. As Wiley (2018) has argued, we need to talk about an open education infrastructure, which I conclude involves open practices, open content, and open recognition of learning. While open content has been discussed for 30 years and is the most well known, open practices and open recognition have been largely ignored. However, one emerging innovation to support how we assess and recognize learning is digital micro/nanocredentials. In this presentation, I will focus on open micro/nanocredentials as one aspect of the open education infrastructure due to their ability to disrupt traditional educational practices surrounding how we recognize and certify learning. I will also discuss findings from research into how these open credentials might be able to impact teaching and learning at the micro (individual), meso (institutional), and macro (society) levels, concluding with recommendations for both practice and research.
al), meso (institucional) y macro (sociedad), concluyendo con recomendaciones tanto para la práctica como para la investigación.
Bio
Dr. Richard E. West (@richardewest on twitter) is a professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. He teaches courses in instructional technology, academic research and writing, creativity and innovation, design psychology, and product/program evaluation. He studies how to innovate and advance education through improved and open educational Content, strong learning Communities, and open Credentials that better recognize student learning. He has presented his research in 10 countries, and has over 150 academic publications, along with two popular open textbooks on learning and instructional design. His personal website is http://richardewest.com.
