Is there a problem with credentials?

Employers and industry increasingly comment that the degree (and its accompanying academic record) is no longer a clear signal of a graduate's employability. Also
  • conferring a degree based on seat time rather than demonstrated learning is no longer fit for purpose
  • some institutions award "co-curricular" certification of employability skills, but these are of 'lesser value' than the official degree
  • acquiring an enormous debt for a credential that does not result in a career is unacceptable.
Better 21C Credentials
Evaluating the promise, perils and disruptive potential of digital credentials
This paper analyses 19 case studies . . and compares a credit-eligible MOOC credential with a similar university course: overall the MOOC does not, as yet, provide a ‘better’ 21C credential. However, it is way too early to dismiss 21C credentials attained through MOOCs and similar channels... In a time when higher education credentials are highly sought after, but very expensive, it is difficult to see how 21C credentials, done well, will not eventually have a disruptive influence on higher education as we now know it.
Oliver, B. (2016) Better 21C Credentials: Evaluating the promise, perils and disruptive potential of digital credentials.
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​Excellent 21C credentials:
  • Clearly communicate achievement of appropriate outcomes and standards with sufficient granularity to predict future performance;
  • Are based on judgments of rich evidence created in response to authentic assessments in a range of complex, ill-defined tasks;
  • Maximise assessment integrity, appropriately verifying the identity and the contribution of the learner;
  • Balance time and money invested by the learner with benefits realised during and after conferral (credit or entry to a higher credential, enhanced status or career advantage); and
  • Are sustainable, based on sound business models, crisp and consistent value propositions, and compliance with regulatory frameworks.
While these characteristics should be evident in traditional credentials, 21C digital credentials – micro and macro - enable greater granularity, lifelong curation of rich learning evidence, personalisation and portability between intuitions, sectors and levels of achievement.