Read the interview:
The future of education lies in flexibility and continuous growth. Dr. Vea discusses how micro-credentials can complement traditional degrees, build a dynamic workforce, and shape a system of lifelong learning where individuals re-enter education throughout their careers to reskill and thrive.
And, well, the thing or the important aspect of what Micro-credentials is, is, of course, it's driven from the word itself. And being short, it can be more quickly developed, it can be more quickly deployed. And, being such, it can play a big role in the development of the workforce. So if you need particular skills, you know, to develop workers in a certain industry, then that may be answered by a micro-credentials or a series of micro-credentials, so that you can scale up skilled rescue workers in that particular area.
So, so I, I think that's the most important, practical value of micro-credentials. And, well, how has it changed? Education, the micro-credentials can be integrated into the curricula of universities. But that has still to be done there. Aside from a degree program, a learner leaves the university with some money, with some bankable certificates, but they're thin with skills.
Aside from their degree, which I think will not be displaced because the, the outcomes of degrees is far different from that of micro-credentials degree. For example, engineering and engineering will lead to an outcome where the graduate will be able to design systems, processes, products, and in the design process, you may not have one solution, but several solutions.
And you choose the best solutions for your purpose. And that takes a lot of theoretical and, some practical knowledge. So,
If you had a program made purely of micro-credentials, you may not want to deal so much with the theoretical. If you're after the learner having a skill and using it for employment. So, the balance would be made in integrating the micro-credentials into the curriculum without replacing the degree programs themselves. So then it can accelerate the mobility of individuals.
Can accelerate the mobility of individuals. And, can lead to a system of lifelong learning. And I hope we can build an ecosystem that will drive lifelong learning. That should be actually one of the big challenges for universities as well. If I had to have the green, basic research capability and so on, and being involved, that is maybe one other characteristic of universities in the future, which would be engines for lifelong learning.
And, if you put several components which are already existing right now together, that can be done, that can be done. So, by that, I mean, if I'm an individual, yeah. I have a certain job and employment, and then I need to upskill or rescue. I can always find from some, some, some providers of micro-credentials a program that will help me do that.
And when that becomes obsolete and I look again [at] the sources of micro-credentials, I can find another one so that you, like 65 years old or maybe 70 years old. I don't know if a big chunk is lifelong learning. That's my concept of lifelong learning on the ground from the point of view of the learner or the individual.
So how do you trust the system that will do that? That will, that will provide education and training to a learner or a worker who needs it the time that it needs. So we could continue on working through all of these, working life. So, the universities can do that. If you had the model, for example, you'd have somewhere open Loop University where a graduate does not really leave the university completely.
So he even takes his student ID. So if you take me in in 2001 and 2009, and then you leave the university world, and then if the university has, programs micro-credentials for upskilling, reskilling, you can come back or enroll, they'll go up and render it and rose again and so on, and so forth. So it's open in groups that the learner can, can avail themselves of.
In fact, even in the undergraduate program, there could be models of multiple exit, multiple entry. So if they're micro-credentials in person or a learner who needs to work, maybe raise funds for the next semester, next through, then he can go out and get work based on the micro-credentials he had from the university itself. Then maybe combat that [wil]l pick up his studies towards the same degree, pick up my goodness skills along the way, go out and work and come back.
So it's a multiple exit, multiple entry system for a university model for the university. I don't know whether we'll get there, but it’s certainly worth a try.