Pre-Conference Workshop M3
M3 - Evaluating Micro-Credential Impact for Learner Value, Employer Trust and Workforce-Capabilities
Date Wednesday, 2 Dec Time – Room: Köpenick II / III Price: 95.00 € Status: places available
Caroline Steel
Independent Consultant, University of Queensland
Dr. Caroline Steel, a recognised expert in micro-credentials, provides thought leadership, evaluation models and practical strategies on the rapidly evolving micro-credential landscape, consulting with industries, professional bodies, and educational institutions across the globe. Drawing on her own Micro-credential readiness, maturity and impact model, Caroline specialises in assessing institutional readiness for micro-credentials and guiding organisations from conceptualisation through end-to-end processes, including quality assurance, assessment policies, and alignment with learner needs and industry demands. She was involved in foundational work in the Erasmus+ funded Potential of Microcredentials in Southern Africa (PoMiSA) project.
Caroline is a highly experienced strategic education consultant with over 30 years of experience across more than 35 country and regional contexts. She advises senior leaders, international organisations, universities and professional bodies on strengthening education systems, policy implementation, evaluation and institutional transformation. She has led, advised on and evaluated more than 100 projects spanning education strategy, policy, framework design, organisational capability and digital learning transformation for ministries, universities, professional bodies and international agencies.
Caroline has delivered 50+ international keynotes and presentations, authored 40+ publications and whitepapers, and co-designed and developed benchmark models and evaluation frameworks applied across Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific. Her passion is to advance equitable, skills-aligned learning opportunities and systems that empower individuals and communities through lifelong learning that can make a genuine difference to lives.
Herman van der Merwe
Deputy Dean: Teaching & Learning, North-West University
Prof Herman van der Merwe is Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at North-West University, South Africa, and former Executive Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Information Technology, having served two consecutive terms. He brings more than four decades of experience in higher education leadership, curriculum innovation, and technology-enhanced learning.
He is a recognised leader in advancing micro-credentials in the Southern African context and has contributed to regional frameworks and institutional readiness through his involvement in the Potential of Microcredentials in Southern Africa (PoMiSA) initiative.
Prof Herman has led large-scale digital learning and institutional transformation initiatives, driving the integration of technology-enabled and technology-managed teaching and learning systems to enhance student success and align curricula with future skills and industry needs. His work bridges strategy, policy, and implementation within complex, multi-campus university environments.
He is also CEO of the Centre for the Utilisation of Technology in Education (CUTE) and one of the founding directors of the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAmLearn) and has played a pioneering role in advancing online and multi-modal teaching and learning in higher education in South Africa.
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As micro-credentials expand across higher education, vocational education and professional learning, a key question remains: what makes a micro-credential genuinely valuable to learners and trusted by employers? In rapidly changing labour markets, credentials need to do more than document participation. They need to provide credible evidence of what learners can actually do and how their capabilities can be applied in the workplace.
This interactive workshop introduces a question-led approach to evaluating the impact of micro-credentials across learner value, employer trust and workforce capability. Participants will explore five dimensions: WHY, WHO, WHAT, HOW and WHICH. Are we designing for real demand and meaningful value, or just producing more credentials? Through practical group activities, they will examine whether micro-credentials respond to real demand, develop meaningful and transferable capabilities, and use assessment approaches that convincingly demonstrate applied skills.
Working with examples and challenges from their own contexts, participants will identify strengths, gaps and opportunities for improvement, including how micro-credentials support progression, recognition and portability. They will then prioritise key challenges and collaboratively develop potential actions and solutions. Throughout the workshop, the focus remains on the architecture of trust: how learning design, assessment, recognition and evidence of capability can work together to create micro-credentials that deliver meaningful value to learners and credible signals for employers.
Agenda: To be confirmed
Target Audience: Higher Education Leaders, Learning Designers, Credentialing Professionals, Educators, Training and Workforce Development Professionals, Employers and Industry Representatives
Target Audience Sector: TVET / Vocational Education, Higher Education, Adult / Continuing Education, Workplace Learning
Prerequisite Knowledge: Some prior experience with micro-credentials, learning design, assessment or workforce development. No prior knowledge of the readiness, maturity and impact model is required.
Expected Outcomes:
- Evaluate micro-credential impact across five dimensions of readiness, maturity and impact.
- Identify how micro-credentials can respond to real demand and develop meaningful, transferable capabilities.
- Explore assessment approaches that provide credible evidence of applied capabilities in authentic contexts.
- Identify strategies for signalling learner capabilities in ways that strengthen employer trust.
- Identify strengths, challenges and opportunities for improvement in their own micro-credential initiatives.