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06-01-2021 | Column: History Corner

Micro-Credentials and Badges in Education: a Historical Overview

Authors: Jaclyn J. Gish-Lieberman, Andrew Tawfik, Jessica Gatewood

Published in: TechTrends | Issue 1/2021

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Today’s employees are expected to cultivate knowledge using the internet, digital literacy skills, and networked learning (Itow et al., 2016; Rimland & Raish, 2019; Zimmerman, 2002). However, expertise development is often opaque to a novice who must navigate her own knowledge gaps. To address this issue, micro-credentials have emerged as an innovative approach to support self-directed learning that can make visible learners’ efforts with digital badges (Bowen & Thomas, 2014; Farmer & West, 2017). In contrast to other informal learning methods, micro-credentials outline incremental learning pathways with badges and serves as visual representations of specific skills to be achieved along the way toward larger goals. …

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Title: Micro-Credentials and Badges in Education: a Historical Overview
Authors: Jaclyn J. Gish-Lieberman
Andrew Tawfik
Jessica Gatewood
Publication date: 06-01-2021
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: TechTrends / Issue 1/2021
Print ISSN: 8756-3894
Electronic ISSN: 1559-7075
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00567-4

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