Beyond "Alternative Credentials": The Coming Disruption in Career-Aligned, Postsecondary Education

So-called alternative credentials have been steadily gaining traction in the U.S. postsecondary career and job-preparation markets. We are rapidly approaching a tipping point at which credentials from coding (and other) "boot camps," professional certifications, badges, and certificates no longer warrant the modifier "alternative." In this session, we will share case studies of projects with clients focused on designing, developing, and delivering competency-based, job-market-aligned credentials in health care, education, software development, project management, criminal justice, and business. In particular, we will underscore the need for backward design and the right technological infrastructure to support modularized learning that yields marketable microcredentials.

Outcomes: Better understand the "alternative credentials" market * Identify areas of opportunities in your context * Learn how to design an alternative credential program and explore technical considerations in offering a competency-based, digital credential program