The Learning Lab experience is supported by both asynchronous and synchronous components. Each Learning Lab sequence includes a set of resources, an asynchronous discussion, and an interactive live session, all of which culminate in the development of a project or application to apply learning to local and specific contexts in support of the learning objectives.
Schedule
Welcome Session
June 20, 2023, 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET
This is a live session to learn the details of the Learning Lab, the Canvas site, and expectations for the microcredential. There will also be time to get to know your fellow Lab partners and facilitator.
Learning Cycle 1: Microcredentials That Support Learners and Workforce Development
June 22, 2023, 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Industry leaders and employers are now recognizing and even searching for employees with “transparent skills.” Digital credentials can validate an applicant’s performance capability and enable employers to expand and retain their workforce or improve the skills of their workforce.
This session will share two different initiatives and approaches for launching and maintaining a successful higher education/workforce credentialing program. We’ll review strategies for embedding microcredentials within institutional culture and practice and explore what makes a credential valuable to employers. Participants will identify key institutional stakeholders and the critical conversations needed to advance microcredentials that are valuable both to learners and employers.
Learning Cycle 2: Ensuring Ecosystem Survival
June 29, 2023, 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
After learning how to create a microcredential system that supports workforce development, you’ll learn more about how to translate that into the learner’s record. The University of Central Oklahoma will share how they developed the Student Transformative Learning Record, known as STLR. STLR is like a second transcript that helps students track growth in core areas that resonate with employers and graduate schools. You’ll learn how student experiences focus on the Central Six Transformative Learning Tenets:
- Discipline Knowledge
- Global and Cultural Competencies
- Health and Wellness; Leadership
- Research, Creative and Scholarly Activities
- Service Learning
- Civic Engagement
They’ll share the outcomes of this program and how this process places students at the center of their own active and reflective learning experiences.
Review and Reflect Session
July 6, 2023, 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
The Learning Lab will conclude with an application or implementation project (described below) and a closing live session to review and process the learning from the lab.
Lab Implementation Project
After learning about these three approaches and models on how microcredentialing can support engagement, learning, and workforce development, define and develop a model or prototype of a microcredential approach or initiative for your own institutional context and needs. Facilitators will provide frameworks and guides to support the application project.