Dive Brief:
- Writing for eSchool News, Digital Promise's Jennifer Kabaker, says the organization's microcredentials tool can help educators engage and share in personalized professional development.
- Microcredentials, also known as digital badges, are made to highlight what specific competency based learning activities teachers or other professional learners have engaged in.
- The concept behind microcredentials is fairly new in the K-12 space, and not many schools use them yet — though Digital Promise says it has partnered with 15 organizations that are helping to develop and publish 120 different microcredentials on a variety of topics that include "deeper learning, teacher leadership, and data literacy."
Dive Insight:
Digital Promise previously touted the use of its own microcredentials in a report produced with consulting firm Grunwald Associates, but its own research also showed that only 15% of teachers reported being somewhat familiar with the concept.
School administrators need to remember that Digital Promise also isn't the only player in the microcredential space, though it has mastered the marketing of its product. The higher ed nonprofit Educause, for example, also has a microcredential course called "BlendKit2014 - Becoming a Blended Learning Designer." But in higher ed, microcredentials are also already more commonly used.