A certification, commonly issued via one or a series of digital badges, which demonstrates competency or mastery of one or more skills.
Published in Chapter:
Growing Oklahoma's Workforce Readiness Through Micro-Credentials
Brad Griffith (Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, USA), Stephanie Beauchamp (Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, USA), and Rachel Bates (Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, USA)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1928-8.ch001
Abstract
The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education is undergoing a rapid transformation which has been accelerated due to the onset of COVID-19. As the pandemic worsened throughout 2020, Oklahoma's unemployment rate skyrocketed to historic levels. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, numerous job openings are available, particularly among critical occupation areas, such as advanced manufacturing, information systems, technology, healthcare, and management. In order to meet this employment demand, the coordinating board of higher education in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE), sought additional ways to equip Oklahoma college students, particularly those students with some college and no degree, with the necessary professional capital to compete for these jobs. Concurrent with the national trends, OSRHE staff began researching opportunities to validate the ongoing achievements of students through implementation of micro-credentials and digital badging.