Seneca Mosaics: Student Micro-credentials | Academic Newsletter | Seneca Polytechnic

by Todd Malarczuk, the Teaching & Learning Centre

in the June 2020 issue

Have you been hearing about micro-credentials lately? Are you curious as to what they are?

If you have taken part in the Teaching & Learning Centre’s professional learning opportunities, you may have already earned a Seneca micro-credential.

Micro-credentials are an alternative form of a credential that one earns for demonstrating that they have met certain learning criteria. They are different from a traditional course a student takes because they are skills-based, meaning the earner must demonstrate that they have mastered a certain set of skills (or competencies) that industry has described as being a need or an identified gap. They are also different because they are generally short bursts of learning and can be completed within a shorter period of time than a semester-long course.

Seneca is proud to be starting down this alternative way of acknowledging what students have learned. We have developed Seneca Mosaics, a system of delivering micro-credentials and of allowing the earner to claim the micro-credential as a recognition of skill acquisition. This system, or framework, involves a partnership between industry and Seneca, and is designed to give learners a more personal pathway to learning about skills and competencies that are of interest to them and will help increase their occupational currency.

The Seneca Mosaics framework was developed over the course of the last year. This framework and other micro-credential resources can be found at the Seneca Micro-credentials website. Stop by to see why someone might be interested in registering for a micro-credential; or stop by to see if, as faculty, you might be interested in offering this sort of a credential. For many reasons – as we’ve learned in the last few months – the world of education is changing. More personalized and flexible choices such as micro-credentials have become important and, in some cases, necessary for students’ success. Micro-credentials can provide added value and relevance to their future workplace.

View the June 2020 issue of the Academic Newsletter.