Microcredentials can lead to major results

Employers across Ireland are experiencing skills gaps, with the pace of technological development making it ever harder to keep up.

One of the biggest innovations in education, microcredentials, is designed to help.

Microcredentials are short, accredited qualifications that allow learners to gain valuable skills and competencies quickly, affordably, and flexibly. Because they are led by the Irish Universities Association, they come with first-class quality assurance.

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) introduced microcredentials three years ago when it launched a dozen. Today it offers 37, from advanced spatial analysis to transport modelling and planning.

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“Microcredentials are short, accredited courses run by Irish universities, including Trinity College Dublin, that allow for flexible learning and professional development in high-demand skills,” says Orla Bannon, director of careers and development at TCD.

“We recognise that many people have busy careers and life responsibilities so this type of bite-sized learning, usually lasting between six and 12 weeks, opens up learning to a diverse range of learners who can access education at a time and in a way that suits them.”

Since the pandemic online learning has become a more attractive option for many learners. “As a result of this, many microcredentials are delivered online or through a combination of online and in-person sessions and start at different times throughout the year offering the agility that learners need,” she says.

All of TCD’s microcredentials are quality assured, developed and delivered by thought leaders and research experts in their fields.

They are designed to be relevant to a wide range of learners, including working professionals, graduates wishing to upskill, entrepreneurs seeking to diversify and lifelong learners. They also suit those seeking to reskill to return to work or education.

“With a focus on future skills needs for a rapidly evolving economy and society, Trinity microcredentials are industry-informed and offered in areas of high demand including sustainability and environment, healthcare and wellbeing, leadership and business, technology and data science, allowing learners to develop skills that are real-world relevant,” says Bannon.

The university works closely with enterprise partners, including the public sector, to identify the skills that their workforce will need to meet the challenges of the future, she adds. “They can also help companies to build a more agile and adaptable workforce, increase employee engagement, and retain key staff and attract new recruits, as well as help drive innovation and business success,” she says.

Right now, employers are under pressure to retain staff and to find ways of rewarding staff other than remuneration. Microcredentials help on both fronts. “It’s an innovative way of showing staff that you care about them, and their future development,” says Bannon.

They help keep organisations ahead of trends, it future-proofs employees too, ensuring their skills keep pace with new technologies, thinking and processes.

The courses are co-developed with industry partners, to ensure they provide a perfect amalgam of academic and enterprise expertise and provide participants with skills they can apply immediately in their work.

“We can see from our repeat custom that employers are saying yes, they can really see the benefits to their organisation. That’s what all employers look for from training, that it has an impact on the business,” she says.

One of the most recent microcredential courses to be launched at TCD is climate leadership development, led by course director Quentin Crowley, associate professor in geology, and director of the Trinity Centre for the Environment.

The six-month course carries five ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) and is aimed at postgraduate students, as well as those who can demonstrate equivalent professional experience.

“The programme is fully online because we don’t want any barriers to participation in relation to where people live or work,” says Prof Crowley.

It is designed for public sector and private enterprise professionals seeking to upskill in areas of climate leadership and sustainability. Given that global warming affects all parts of society, it’s a course that will suit organisations of all kinds.

“Climate change poses major challenges to society. It is a complex, multifaceted challenge that can only be addressed using a co-ordinated and systemic approach, applied on a variety of levels and across a variety of sectors,” he says.

The course provides participants with an opportunity to develop their leadership skills at an individual or organisational level, to help address the global climate challenge. It is also an opportunity to network and collaborate with like-minded individuals across a range of sectors, “and apply the course theory to a real-world workplace challenge”, he adds.

It covers several areas: including climate change as a systemic challenge; introduction to climate leadership; climate justice and transformational leadership; and driving behavioural change.

Students also learn about policymaking for climate change, understanding how policy is developed and what current and future responsibilities are for public and private sectors.

It is assessed using a combination of group and individual assignments, including a group presentation demonstrating climate-leadership skills applied to a real-world challenge, a group written report that elaborates on the group presentation and a written individual report.

“The goal is to make these courses as innovative as possible in how they are delivered and what is taught. They are agile, can be customised for various organisations, and provide challenge-based learning,” he says.

The cost to participate in TCD’s climate leadership development microcredential course, which runs twice yearly, is €450. Details of all Trinity’s microcreditential can be found at tcd.ie/courses/microcredentials/ and at microcreds.ie.