Lorie Bell

While I appreciated my learning in a variety of areas in microcredentials, I must say that my level of interest and accomplishment had a strong indirect correlation with the breadth of the skills or strategies I was learning. I have discovered that my personal preference for digital competencies is to focus on a new skill that I can master and apply immediately, such as the courses I completed on creating a Google ad or a Canva video.

Certainly I saw the value in other courses, like the ones focused on leadership growth, but I felt more accomplished in being able to demonstrate an explicit skill than in being able to demonstrate understanding the ideals of an effective skillset.

I wonder if others have the same experience. If so, how might this impact using a microcredential system as an overall professional development platform? How will teachers react, for example, if a school district switches to digital competencies as a primary training initiative?

While my perspective is that microcredentials empower people to choose their own pathways, perhaps, when introducing others to microcredentials, I should plan to begin with a very direct, more explicit skill. In doing so, it might increase the likelihood that learners build genuine interest in the possibilities of professional growth using microcredentials while general courses might not produce the same feelings of achievement.