Stephen Downes

Wendy Palmer teases out the tangled threads of a discussion about microcredentials. "If the problem is that someone needs to learn something quickly, then a short learning experience might be the answer. If the problem is that they already know it but can't demonstrate it, perhaps they need assessment or recognition of prior learning. If an employer doesn't understand what someone can do, perhaps we need better evidence and ways of communicating it. And if someone wants to build towards a larger qualification, we need pathways that allow smaller pieces of learning to connect and count. All of these might involve micro-credentials, but they don't necessarily require the same approach." This might all be too much to plan for in advance, especially if improvements to the education system are more incremental.