Italian Multiplier Event – Digital micro-credentials: a solution for tomorrow’s educational needs
On Wednesday May 31st 2022, Politecnico di Milano – METID hosted a seminar on the premises of the Educafè experimental space, with the aim to raise awareness among participants of the underlying concepts behind the notion of micro-credentials and of the pivotal issues related to them.
The event gathered 12 external participants with diverse profiles from Lombardy and nearby regions: university staff in the areas of international relations, recognition of learning and online services, a headmaster and teachers from technical high schools, staff from training and employment and for volunteering agencies.
The event explored what digital micro-credentials are and the European frameworks that can support them (e.g. EQF and ESCO), provided a practical demonstration of how descriptors work in a MOOC, explained how to issue a micro-credential by using the Europass Digital Credentials Infrastructure and covered the practical solutions developed by the ECCOE project.
The seminar was designed with a hands-on approach: participants were asked to contribute to an open consultation about relevant descriptors for learning opportunities, so that they got involved, improved their understanding of the topic and had their say on the (experienced or perceived) barriers to the uptake of micro-credentials.
The main takeaways from the final discussion were that employers might be reluctant to recognize micro-credentials in vocational education and training without proper catalysts, whereas in higher education actions like the European Universities initiative can act as innovation drivers towards micro-credentials, as some attendees involved in it stated.
In order to boost the impact of dissemination through a cross action, a “cameo” (short presentation) of the ECCOE project was presented during the Multiplier Event of a relevant Erasmus+ project named EdDiCo – Supporting the Development of the Digital Competences of Educators [https://eddico.eu/] on Thursday June 16th 2022.
Resources
Download the ECCOE seminar presentation
