Higher Education 4.0, and ‘Micro-crendentials’ and ‘E-portfolios’
Recently I did a three-week course on the FutureLearn, called Higher Education 4.0: Certifying Your Future, produced by the Dublin University.
Exploring what the future holds for higher education and discovering the new educational models and pathways for 21st Century learners have captivated me so much that lately, all I can think about is Industry 4.0 and its implications for Higher Education.
It made me question how Industry 4.0 may affect teaching and learning in Social Sciences, particularly in Politics and what this may mean for Politics graduates in terms of skills they must have and the jobs awaiting them.
Skills of the future (Industry 4.0)
The World Economic Forum highlights the top ten skills of the future that employers will look for; the below lists are some of them I selected which I think are most relevant to Politics students:
• analytical, critical, and creative thinking,
• complex problem-solving,
• leadership and social influence,
• technology use,
• stress tolerance.
Higher Education institutions may adopt Technology-Enhanced Learning models to (i) help students to acquire skills that can pave the way for their success in completion of their degrees programmes and (ii) equip them with expert knowledge and skills to increase their employability.
‘Micro-credentials’ for academic development
Universities can either teach these skills face-to-face on Campus by either expanding or supplementing their curriculum. Alternatively, they can collaborate or liaise with Massive Open Online Courses platforms like EdX, FutureLearn or Coursera to facilitate students’ academic development.
If Universities opt for the latter, that is what I strongly would recommend them to, MOOCs that are produced by professionals in the areas of learning how to learn, academic writing, critical reading and writing, note-taking, retention and performance can only enhance students’ learning, retention, and performance, hence their academic success.
The other benefit of MOOCs is the ‘micro-credentials’ offered to students upon successful completion of any coursel by prestigious Universities. Ultimately, this will also help with building up students’ CVs and contributing effectively to their employability.
‘E-portfolios’ for employability
This brings me to the point I want to make about how Universities can utilise TEL to increase students’ employability. I am not here to provide a comprehensive plan to meet this end. However, I want to spark a debate about whether some features of TEL could be benefited in the hope to support students’ employability; this is mainly crucial in the light of the accelerated pace of the Industry 4.0 revolution, with cutting-edge technology, and how it is advancing in every walks of life partly due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Since my academic background is in Politics, I like to offer a proposal to the educators of Politics, what may also be useful for any other Social Science educators.
As part of the H880 Technology-Enhanced Learning module I am studying at the Open University, we covered several technology-enhanced assessment methods. What caught my attention most was: ‘e-portfolios’.
‘E-portfolios’ are helpful for many purposes, including supporting for learning, presentation and assessment, but I think they can also be used to foster students’ employability.
Starting from the first day at the University, Politics students should be introduced to an e-portfolio platform that may be programmed and monitored by the Universities.
What is the point of ‘E-portfolios’?
In this case, there are two interconnected reasons.
The first is to guide students to reach their potential not by just providing them with the circumstance to navigate, question, engage, discuss and investigate world affairs in the context of what students are taught at the lecture halls and seminar rooms but also by encouraging them to share views and interact and connect with their peers in different contexts and spaces.
The second is to facilitate a record of students’ learning throughout their degree programmes, from 3–4 years, by aggregating digital items in the forms of ideas expressed in blogs, pictures shared in vlogs, and views pointed out in discussions. Ultimately graduating students should be awarded the ownership and use of their e-portfolios as part of their CV when seeking employment.
The benefits of ‘E-portfolios.’
The benefit of ‘e-portfolios’ is that it provides a personal space where students are encouraged to participate in discussion platforms, contribute via a blog or vlog on current affairs, share pictures or audios on the related subject to their degree programme and inquire about what they learned. The Departments could decide the structure, activities and contents according to their needs and objectives.
The other benefit of ‘e-portfolios’ is that it provides flexibility in physical context and space in which learning takes place, away from the formal learning environment. While some student may prefer to participate or contribute to a debate on the discussion platforms at a Cafe, others may find it stimulating to blog in a home working environment.
In short, Higher Education needs to adapt to the needs of Industry 4.0 in terms of skills and experience employers are seeking and facilitate students’ academic development and employability. Various features and models of TEL can guide and support Universities, particularly Politics Departments, to do that.
