Microcredentials: Reskilling, Upskilling, and the Future of Learning

Frontloading education straight out of high school and expecting that credential to last a lifetime is no longer a viable career strategy. The future of post-secondary education is shifting. In today's fast-changing job market, the demand for continuous, lifelong learning has never been more importa...

Frontloading education straight out of high school and expecting that credential to last a lifetime is no longer a viable career strategy. The future of post-secondary education is shifting. In today's fast-changing job market, the demand for continuous, lifelong learning has never been more important, and a future-proof career requires regular skill upgrades. Enter upskilling and reskilling. While the terms are relatively new outside the tech world, the concept is catching on fast. Think of upskilling as building on existing skills and improving the ability to perform in a current position. It might be certification on newly upgraded software or training on a new machine. Reskilling, on the other hand, typically prepares an individual to take on an entirely different role. Upskilling and reskilling provide a rapid response to the skills gap employers are seeing across industries today. This type of flexible, short-term micro-learning overcomes the two most common obstacles for people who want to upgrade their education: cost and time. Most of [our SURGE Micro-credentials](https://surgemicrocredentials.com/), for example, are less than \$200 and can be completed in less than a month. Micro-credentials represent a paradigm shift in how we approach professional development. They provide targeted learning in a specific skill that can be acquired in a matter of weeks or even days. The flexible delivery options and bite-sized topics are invaluable in today's fast-paced world, where industries -- and individuals -- need to adapt quickly to stay competitive. In hockey, you need skaters who can anticipate where the puck will be -- and get themselves there to pick up the pass. In football, you need receivers and runners who can think on their feet and change direction to avoid tackles. It's no different in industry. Employers -- and employees -- need to be able to see where the market is going and be prepared to take advantage of the shift when it happens. Polytechnics are uniquely well-positioned to support this shift. We have the expertise from both the academic and industry spheres to design and deliver results-oriented, applied learning for learners at every stage of their career. We've done it for years at a macro level. Micro-credentials let us zoom in and deliver rapid, focused learning around timely, relevant, and in-demand skills, a micro approach, essentially. As well, we are already having the conversations and developing partnerships with industry and employers to identify and respond to the training needs in our areas. For example, one of the things Saskatchewan Polytechnic is hearing from its partners in almost every sector right now is about the need for skilled workers to power the transition to clean, sustainable practices. While that transition started in theory and on paper some time ago, the pace of change is rapidly increasing and those who can't or won't make the shift from planning for sustainability to actually implementing solutions will soon find themselves falling behind. Navigating the transition to a clean economy has become an economic imperative. Again, it's an imperative with which polytechnics are particularly well-suited to assist. Sask Polytech is a member of Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery (C2R2), a coalition of leading post-secondary institutions working together to support and enable Canada's transition and position the country and its industries as world leaders in achieving a clean, sustainable economy. One of the ways C2R2 is doing that is through the creation of [Quick Train Canada](https://quicktraincanada.ca/). Quick Train provides a slate of micro-credentials in high-impact sectors, including Agriculture and Agri-Food, Clean Tech, and Natural Resources & Environment. Some of the courses are offered online, while others require that the learner be on-site at one of the 15 member institutions. Employees can use the Quick Train courses to expand their knowledge and skill base for a current or future role. Employers can identify and encourage specific competency upgrades for their workers. To be sure, micro-credentials are valuable for more than just upgrading. As employers increasingly rely on and see the value of competency- and skill-based hiring, there's every reason to anticipate a corresponding shift in how newly graduating students prepare themselves for a career. Rather than committing to an entire diploma or degree program, they may instead tailor their learning journey to their career aspirations. They have the ability to create a "learning list", similar to their music playlists, by handpicking specific micro-credentials from different institutions, essentially creating their own personal competency bundle. Micro-credentials not only have the potential to radically shift what education looks like, for many, they will BE the future of learning. Someone said to me recently, "We've been chasing the skills gap for so long." Micro-credentials let us finally close that gap by offering stackable, just-in-time learning that meets the demands of both employers and their employees, current and potential.