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Presentation to EADTU
November 2022
Caitlin Harvey
Head of Academic Projects (Microcredentials), The Open University

2.
CONTENTS
01 The Open University short course
offer
02 Our offer and the QAA
Characteristics Statement

3.
The Open University short
course offer

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THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
The OU has pioneered distance learning for over
50 years, enabling more than 2 million students to
realise their ambitions.
We are living in unprecedentedtimes with high
levels of uncertainty.
Now, more than ever, there is a rapidly growing
requirementfor organisations and individuals to
retrain or upskill.
Never has our vision beenmore important:
‘to reach more studentswith life-changinglearning
that meets theirneedsand enriches society.’
Our work on developing microcredentials and short
courses forour FutureLearn platform supports our
delivery of that vision.

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We take advantage of the market
opportunity through our short course offer
on FutureLearn n subjects aligned to
professional development:
• some without credit (ExpertTracks)
• some with credit (microcredentials).
Across six subject areas:
• Leadership and management
• Digital technologies
• Teacher development
• Health
• Sustainability
• Equity, diversity and inclusion
OUR PRODUCT OFFERING

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FutureLearn allows us to:
• broaden our reach by targeting learners
looking for professional development
• provide learning opportunities to those
looking to reskill or upskill as a result of
the pandemic
• reach different audiences including
vocational and international learners.
The FutureLearn platform and its
distinctive pedagogical approach allows us
to explore new ways of delivering learning
experiences.
THE PLATFORM

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9000+ learners have engaged with OU
microcredentials to date over 2.5 years
2 courses running on the platform in March 2020
26 courses running on the platform Oct 2022
We present x 3 per year and now reach an
average of 1600 learners per presentation.
Our objective is to create and deliver up
to 100 microcredential products over the life of
our five-year plan
Plus create and launch a set of 24 ExpertTracks
Our bespoke unit to drive the development of paid
short courses on the FutureLearn platform is now
well established and works across internal
boundaries in a matrix management style.
WHERE WE ARE NOW

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Our offer and the QAA
Characteristics Statement

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The QAA Characteristics Statement
launched in May 2022 covers seven main
themes:
1) Definition
2) Context and Purpose of Microcredentials
3) Characteristics of the learner
4) Admissions and Access, including RPL
5) Course design, including learning and
teaching and assessment
6) Certification
7) Quality management of microcredentials
QAA CHARACTERISTICS STATEMENT

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Definition

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COMMON MICROCREDENTIALS FRAMEWORK
European MOOC Consortium (which includes FutureLearn) have created the Common
Microcredential Framework. It sets out microcredentials as:
• 4-6 ECTS = 100–150 study hours per microcredential (10-15 FHEQ* credits)
• Undergraduate or postgraduate
• Includes summative assessment
• ID verification required
• Transcript with full course details to be provided
• *Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of Degree-Awarding Bodies in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ).
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MICROCREDENTIALS : THE OU MODEL
• 10 credits at undergraduate level or 15 credits at PG level.
• Microcredentials can be at Levels 4, 5, 6 or 7 on the FHEQ
(OU levels 1, 2,3, M).
• Continuous formative assessment to be integrated as part of
the design of the microcredential.
• Summative assessment in the form of an end-of-module
assessment (EMA).
• OU Study Advisors provide tuition support.
• EMA markers will mark the EMA.
• Grades and grade boundaries are the same as those used on
standard OU modules.
• Microcredentials must fit into current standard OU
presentation and conflation periods.
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13.
Context and purpose of
microcredentials

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AGILE BUSINESS PATHWAY
Free Short
Course

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WORKNG IN PARTNERSHIP

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PRODUCT OUTLINE
Free short
course
4 - 24 learning hours
Read, watch, listen
for free
Pay for ongoing access,
tests and certificate
Prices range from
free – £99
or
£199 p/year full catalogue
• What is a Microcredential?
• Short, affordable, accredited course
• Worth 10 to 15 credits
• Requires 100 to 150 hours part-time study over 10 -12 weeks
• Aimed at a new group of students
• may already be in work and or have a postgraduate qualification
• looking to progress within their existing career field, or develop new skills
• What is an ExpertTrack?
• ExpertTracks are collections of courses that
allow a learner to go deeper in to a subject
with payment via a flexible subscription
model
ExpertTrack
3 - 5 short courses
Monthly subscription,
7 day free trial
Pay for access to
content after 7 days,
assessments and
certificates
Microcredential
100 - 150 learning hours
Paid access
Credit awarded
10 – 15 UK credits =
4 – 6 ECTS =
2 – 3 US credits
Endorsed industry
partners

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Characteristics of the
learner

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PERSONA PROFILE

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SKILL-UP: THE FLEXIBLE SKILLS FUND in NORTHERN IRELAND
Jointly funded by Department for the Economy and Northern Ireland Office (Westminster
Govt)
Address skills deficits in the economy:
• Digital
• Green technologies
• Life and Health Sciences
• Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering
• Leadership and Management, Employability, Entrepreneurship
• Financial services (From 2023/24)
Very wide entry criteria (Right to work in NI)
Courses must carry academic credit
Outcome-based funding model: 50% of fee upfront: 50% upon successful completion
Universities restricted to Level 6/7 provision

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Admissions and access
(information, student support
and resources)

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LANDING PAGE
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Recognition of Prior
Learning and Stackability

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STACKABLE QUALIFICATIONS

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Certification

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MICROCREDENTIAL CERTIFICATION

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Course design,
including learning and
teaching
and assessment

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THE SOCIAL LEARNING MODEL
OU Microcredentials are designed
around social learning with learners
sharing knowledge and experience
and learning from each other.
Supported by a study advisor or
mentor who:
• answers questions
• points to relevant resources
• helps learners to achieve success.

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​​​Three broad sets of educators work on
microcredentials.These groups will often
overlap.
• Academic teams designthe
microcredential,bring togetherrelevant
resources,create the activities, write the
materials, and specifythe assessment.
• Study Advisors supportan entire cohort
of learners, answering questions,
correcting misconceptions,pointing to
relevant resources,and helping learners
to achieve success.
• Assessmentteams mark the final
assessment,provide feedbackwhere
necessary,and work to ensure the
quality and fairness of the assessment
process.
EDUCATORS WORKING ON MICROCREDENTIALS
Mark Taylor
My career combines
management consulting
and academic w orkwith
the OU and other business
schools. My interests are
diverse, encompassing
strategy, finance and other
aspects of management.
Jay Naik
I am an Associate Lecturer
w ith the OU. I have 16
years’experience w ith
other institutions as a
senior lecturer covering all
business subjects at
undergraduate,
postgraduate and
professionallevels.
Ella Gilbert
I'm a postgrad researcher,
about to finish my PhD in
Antarctic climate change.
I'm an atmospheric
physicist interested in w hat
makes floating ice in
Antarctica melt. Climate
change is already
negatively affecting us all,
and I w ant everyone to feel
like they can contribute to
the solutions.
Delivered by experts

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FILMING VIDEO AND AUDIO ASSETS
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WHAT OUR LEARNERS SAY
Alison and Craig enrolled on Online
Teaching: Creating Courses for
Adult Learners.
I use the skills I
developed through the
microcredential every
day at work!
The OU
microcredentials are
so good that I’m on
my fourth!
"The flexible nature of the course means that
I could fit this around a busy working and
family schedule. Developing recognised
skills is important to me in terms of improving
my versatility for job applications and in
progressing my career. I will also be using
the skills developed in this course in my role
to develop our business services."
"I found it very easy to use and did the whole
course on my phone. The conversations feature
was good for checking in on activity and keeping
engaged when you only had a few minutes.
Everything was very easy to follow and
reassuring."

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Quality management

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Academic Principles for Microcredentials – Approved Education Committee – Dec 2021
1
Microcredentials followOU academic governance approval processesand quality assurance
requirements in line with all credit-bearing OU curriculum.
2
Those studying OU microcredentials should be referred to as ‘learners’ to distinguish them from OU
students on OU standard modules and qualifications and from apprentices.
3
OU microcredentials must align with the latest version of the CommonMicrocredential Framework
(CMF) agreed by the EuropeanMOOC Consortium.
4
Microcredentials should align with a single pre-approvedmodelforassessmentand tuition delivery.
5
OU microcredentialcredit is OU credit and may be counted towards an OU qualification and may be
used within the qualification classification.
6
OU microcredentials can be counted towards an OU qualification provided the established
principles,frameworks and policies are followed
ACADEMIC FRAMEWORK (DECEMBER 2021)

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Pace and ambition of our programme
does not compromise quality.
We are adhering to our internal quality
assurance processes for
microcredentials.
Framework and set of principles in
development to provide guidance and
clarity and ensure academic standards
are maintained.
Understanding and challenging status-
quo in order to ensure policy and
processes are rigorous and
proportionate
QUALITY MANAGEMENT

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Thank you
Caitlin.Harvey@open.ac.uk