Why Partner?

Why should HIED and business /non-profit organizations partner to create micro-credentialing opportunities?

I suppose my response is Why not?

The previous blog post explored the use of micro-credentials along with the research supporting them and the benefits for employees, employers, and HIED organizations. Employees receive targeted training that provides them with a specific skill set to help them sucedd on the job.  Employers, in return, get better trained employees.

Sounds perfect!

The reality is, however, that few businesses and non profits possess the instructional design staff necessary to  design quality engaging micro-credentialing training for their employees.

Why not, then, consider partnering with a higher education institution to provide such training?

1, Universities understand adult learners.

This is what universities do. They work with a variety of student populations, and those with graduate-level programming  understand the unique needs of the adult learner who is trying to balance workplace commitments, family commitments, community commitments, and educational commitments.

Adult learners have different motivations behind their learning and different educational needs.  Universities have experience in meeting those needs and in designing learning experiences that cater to this group.

2, Instructional designers are trained in designing quality online learning experiences.

Face-to-face training has its place: so does online training.

The increase in online instruction in universities has necessitated their having faculty and staff who are trained as instructional designers able to provide quality online learning experiences.

Instructional Designers are education professionals whose job is to identify the performance, skills, knowledge, information, and attitude gaps of a targeted audience and create, select and/or suggest learning experiences to fill this gap.

This is not the same as dumping content into PowerPoint slides or pasting text to read: instructional designers do far more than that.   If this is all your organization needs, then you do not need an instructional designer or a university.

An instructional designer knows how people learn and how  to design engaging learning activities to connect the organization's training to the necessary real life skills..

Trained in best practices in online delivery, an instructional designer can help change employee behavior as a result of training, along with designing engaging ways of delivering content and assessing employee mastery of the content.

Instructional designers often consult with subject matter experts (SMEs), either on-campus or off, depending on the content they are trying to deliver.

3. Businesses and non-profits can work with universities to serve as subject-matter experts.

SMEs play a critical role in the instructional design process. The SME is an expert in a particular content area, often with either an advanced degree in this subject or work experience in the field. 

The first step in designing a new training  starts with the instructional designer who performs a training needs analysis to identify skills, behaviors, and knowledge gaps in the organization. This helps them identify which training courses  - or micro-credentials - need to be developed, and what the learning objectives will be.

The very next step, though, involves the SME. The SME (or a group of them) is responsible for mapping a path backward from the training goal to the training content. They’ll work with the instructional designer and decide on the best ways to achieve the required learning, such as which activities are best suited to each objective,.

In the case of micro-credentialing, this would be the time to identify clusters of skills and content needed, along with a hierarchy. Allowing the instructional designer to work with SMEs from the university as well as organization could help to provide a better quality online training. .

What should an organization look for in choosing a higher education partner?

Organizations might want to consider higher education institutions who have already designed micro credentials, whether for their own use or for other galvanization.  This insures they already understand the actual practice of micro-credential designs so their instructional designer can better assist your SMEs in content determination.

Because micro credentials are small chunks of content designed as performance based assessment, the instructional designer will need to already know how to take the SME material and break it down according to micro-credentialing best practices.

There also needs to be some sort of hosting system for the training, perhaps using the institution's Learning Management System or LMS. This will insure any proprietary content will not not be available to the entire internet while affording employees some manner of confidentiality as they progress through their training. An LMS is also likely to be more user-friendly for the employee to navigate simply due to design.

Finding someone local is not a necessity with the increased availability of video conferences for meetings with the SMEs, but accessibility to the instructional designers and to the LMS will be vital.

Including SMEs who work in education can greatly enhance the design process as they likely understand both content and instructional design..  For example, if an organization wanted to create a series of micro-credentials in conflict management training, then having access to a university  employee with conflict management training to assist the organization's SME could streamline the process.

Next steps

Investing in one's employees can provide organizations with a better workforce, one that is engaged and wants to produce.  Consider providing micro-credentialing training by partnering with an institution in higher education.

This can be a win-win for all!