Micro-credentials
We provide dedicated support for the design and creation of micro-credentials – supporting academics, subject matter experts and their industry partners from initial idea through to course delivery and review.
About Micro-credentials:
- A micro-credential is a small, credit-bearing course designed to work as a standalone award as welll as having a define pathway for stacking with other micro-credentials into a larger qualification. They are designed for professional learners, and intentded knowledge, skills and competencies developed through the course should correspond with employability and labour-market needs.
- Micro-credentials are designed with professional learners in mind: materials are flexibly-paced, accessible, and engaging, with opportunities for peer and teacher interaction.
- Micro-credentials are usually 10 credits, with the 100 hours of learning time split between content delivered through topics (usually 60-80 hours), and through assessment preparation and completion (usually 20-40 hours). Micro-credentials usually contain 4-5 hours of recorded video content, produced in collaboration with the Digital Media team
- Students are matriculated and have full access to University systems.
- We collaborate with academics and industry partners to design, develop and launch micro-credentials including supporting the development of learning content on Moodle.
- Micro-credentials are quality checked to ensure they provide:
- Student-staff interaction opportunities
- Intrinsic learning content within the course – delivered through a mix of recorded video content, written information pages, and case studies
- Varied, high quality learning experience – measured by the range and order of different activity types
- Accessible and usable content
- Clear instructional material and continuous narrative – to support the student experience
How we support Micro-credentials:
- You’ll work closely with an allocated Digital Education Developer (DED) on each micro-credential, from kick-off to launch.
- The micro-credential development process usually takes between 6 and 8 months.
- The Digital Education team can provide upskilling and support in digital pedagogy, including:
- feedback and support with CAG and CARSG submissions
- recommended timeline and checkpoints to support development progression
- an ABC learning design workshop to help you design your module
- reviewing content outlines and providing feedback
- basic training and further training resources in key digital platforms such as Moodle
- provision of a bespoke micro-credentials Moodle template, including templated activities and instructional text
- regular meetings with your DED to support any pedagogical or digital implementation ideas and queries
- reviewing content and providing feedback (from a digital learning design perspective)
- advice on accessibility of content
- advice for running your online module, for example how to foster online community and teacher presence
- Quality Assurance checks at the end of the process, to ensure your course is ready for students.
Micro-credential Development Process
The process of designing and creating each Digital micro-credential involves the following stages.
The purpose of this stage is to onboard you into the micro-credential development process.
During this stage, you will:
- schedule a micro-credential kick-off meeting with your allocated DED
- be given access to your dedicated teams channel
- review the timeline and stages in the development process
- discuss any training needs (e.g. digital pedagogy, using digital platforms, etc.)
- get support with your CAG and CARSG outlines and submissions
The purpose of this stage is to develop an outline of the learning content for your micro-credential.
During this stage, you will:
- schedule and participate in an ABC learning design workshop with your DED (90 minutes, usually in-person)
- draft a content outline for your course, including new media to be recorded with the Digital Media Production Team
- receive feedback and collaborate on your draft content outline with your DED
- implement feedback and finalise your content outline
- during this stage, your industry partner can provide insight to support the creation of the course outline
The purpose of this stage is to develop learning materials, film pre-recorded content, and build your micro-credential in Moodle.
During this stage, you will:
- meet regularly with your DED to support any pedagogical or digital implementation ideas and queries
- attend a Moodle training session with your DED, with focus on the bespoke micro-credential Moodle template
- complete any additional Moodle training, such as via Moodle Academy, to enable you to build your course in Moodle
- author content and develop digital learning materials as per your content outline
- build your course in Moodle using the Digital Education Team’s micro-credential template, with support from your DED
- receive and implement feedback from your DED on one or more initial topics built on Moodle
- prepare and film pre-recorded content (see Digital Media for details)
- agree any additional training needs or specific development support from the Digital Education Team
- during this stage, your industry partner might provide content or assets for you to encorporate into the course
The purpose of this stage is to review your finalised module and complete Quality Assurance (QA) checks. This usually happens one month before the scheduled launch date.
During this stage you will:
- schedule QA checks to be completed by you and your DED (Note: QA checks should happen at the beginning of the pre-launch stage and require the course to be fully built)
- complete a final click-through of your micro-credential
- meet with your DED to discuss QA outcomes and any final feedback/actions
- implement any final feedback/actions from the QA
At this stage, your micro-credential will be released to students. You will receive an email from the Digital Education Team to let you know when your micro-credential is live and providing a few tips to help you get started running your online micro-credential.
Once your course is launched, your course moves to team-wide support, rather than having a specific DED.