{"title":"Workforce upskilling: can universities meet the challenges of lifelong learning?","authors":"Josephine Lang","doi":"10.1108/ijilt-01-2023-0001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"PurposeSince new digital micro-credential technologies emerged a decade ago, there has been a rapid rise in micro-credentials in the education landscape. Much has been promised about these educational technologies, yet there is much confusion by key stakeholders in the digital micro-credential ecosystem. This confusion has led to significant efforts globally to define micro-credentials to ensure quality learning and generate beneficial impacts to learners, employers, education providers and edtech organisations.Design/methodology/approachThis commentary reviews relevant literature on digital micro-credentials and other alternative credentials to determine how these educational technologies can meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to nurture lifelong learning for working learners.FindingsUniversities are being challenged to address the changing needs and uncertainty being introduced by the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions, particularly with implications for workforce upskilling and lifelong learning. To adapt, universities will need to rethink their roles and shift their institutional mindsets in how they may approach the challenges through mechanisms such as digital micro-credntials.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper focuses on the analysis of five policy statements about micro-credentials. While these policy statements represent a sample, there is a representation of Western education-related systems. Thus, they skew the findings towards Western education systems thinking.Practical implicationsUnderstanding how micro-credentials are being positioned within education-related systems is useful for applying the educational technologies by, for example, universities, learners and employers.Social implicationsProvides an overview of how these educational technologies may provide beneficial impacts for society as it plans to adapt to economic uncertainty and change.Originality/valueThe commentary provides a policy context for the emerging use of micro-credential technologies to examine demands for workforce upskilling.","PeriodicalId":51872,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Information and Learning Technology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Information and Learning Technology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijilt-01-2023-0001","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
PurposeSince new digital micro-credential technologies emerged a decade ago, there has been a rapid rise in micro-credentials in the education landscape. Much has been promised about these educational technologies, yet there is much confusion by key stakeholders in the digital micro-credential ecosystem. This confusion has led to significant efforts globally to define micro-credentials to ensure quality learning and generate beneficial impacts to learners, employers, education providers and edtech organisations.Design/methodology/approachThis commentary reviews relevant literature on digital micro-credentials and other alternative credentials to determine how these educational technologies can meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to nurture lifelong learning for working learners.FindingsUniversities are being challenged to address the changing needs and uncertainty being introduced by the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions, particularly with implications for workforce upskilling and lifelong learning. To adapt, universities will need to rethink their roles and shift their institutional mindsets in how they may approach the challenges through mechanisms such as digital micro-credntials.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper focuses on the analysis of five policy statements about micro-credentials. While these policy statements represent a sample, there is a representation of Western education-related systems. Thus, they skew the findings towards Western education systems thinking.Practical implicationsUnderstanding how micro-credentials are being positioned within education-related systems is useful for applying the educational technologies by, for example, universities, learners and employers.Social implicationsProvides an overview of how these educational technologies may provide beneficial impacts for society as it plans to adapt to economic uncertainty and change.Originality/valueThe commentary provides a policy context for the emerging use of micro-credential technologies to examine demands for workforce upskilling.
期刊介绍:
International Journal of Information and Learning Technology (IJILT) provides a forum for the sharing of the latest theories, applications, and services related to planning, developing, managing, using, and evaluating information technologies in administrative, academic, and library computing, as well as other educational technologies. Submissions can include research: -Illustrating and critiquing educational technologies -New uses of technology in education -Issue-or results-focused case studies detailing examples of technology applications in higher education -In-depth analyses of the latest theories, applications and services in the field The journal provides wide-ranging and independent coverage of the management, use and integration of information resources and learning technologies.