Competency-Based Education the Snapshot Version by Sasha Thackaberry

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MOOCs the Snapshot Version by Sasha Thackaberry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Competency-Based Education The Snapshot Version By Sasha Thackaberry

What is Competency-Based Education? Competency-based education bases credentialing like degrees and certificates on demonstrated skills and knowledge. This is different than the traditional method of earning credentials (primarily college credit) through “seat time” based on the credit hour. Competency-based education is modular, self-paced, and often (though not always) involves elements such as Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), Open Educational Resources, partnerships with employers, subscription-based funding, and student success coaching. What Institutions and Organizations You Need to Know About Institution/Organization Focus Area Activities Additional Resources/Links Competency-Based Education Network (CBEN)

Competency-Based Education

“The Competency-Based Education Network is a group of colleges and universities working together to address shared challenges to designing, developing and scaling competency-based degree programs… the cohort includes 18 institutions and two public systems serving 42 campuses.”

http://www.cbenetwork.org/

Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

Prior Learning Assessment

CAEL is a nonprofit that works with higher education, public and private institutions in education to codify and create alternative credentialing beyond the Carnegie Credit Hour.

http://www.cael.org/

College for America** (Southern New Hampshire University)

Competency-Based Degrees

College for America is an initiative by the nonprofit Southern New Hampshire University that works in partnership with employers through competency-based learning in the form of project-based learning with the

http://collegeforamerica.org/ http://collegeforamerica.org/employers/entry/about-our-partners

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support of Learning Coaches. Capella University** Competency-

Based Degrees

Capella markets their degrees as wholly competency-based, though the majority of those degrees map to credit hours. Their new competency-based degrees do not have grades but require proficiency levels.

http://www.capella.edu/about/competency-based-education/

Western Governors’ University


This online university uses competency-based degree programs that map to credit hours. Their cost model is subscription-based, and students can accelerate their degree program.

http://www.wgu.edu/about_WGU/overview

“Learn on Demand” at Kentucky Community & Technical College System

Competency-Based Degrees & Modular Courses

Learn on Demand is a modular, anytime/anywhere learning option which is competency-based. Students can test out of modules if they can demonstrate competencies. Students pay only for modules that they need and take. It was developed 5 years ago in response to a need that the KCTCS identified to better educate nontraditional learners.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/06/competency-based-online-program-kentuckys-community-colleges http://learnondemand.kctcs.edu/About

“Flexible Option” at University of Wisconsin System


The Flexible Option provides self-paced, competency-based degrees and certificates that let learners work at their own course, including PLA, military experience, and other non-credentialed learning. Academic success coaches support students’ progress.

http://flex.wisconsin.edu/uw-flex/

“Personalized Learning” Northern Arizona University


Personalized Learning enables students to transfer credit in and leverage a subscription model to accelerate their online degree. Students can use PLA and also interact with NAU faculty mentors.

http://pl.nau.edu/

** As of 2014 they are members of two experimental sites approved by the USDOE to offer federal financial aid for competency-based degrees.

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A Brief History of Competency-Based Education Credit hours were never intended to be a measure of student learning. First introduced by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, they were intended to measure faculty workload and pension eligibility. Now, credit hours are the basic building block on which college degrees and federal financial aid funding (as well as high school diplomas) are based. Traditionally, professional organizations and trade groups have offered certifications to demonstrate competencies in specific skill sets (for example, Microsoft certification). Higher education has become increasingly interested in competency-based education as a response to graduates with inconsistent skill sets, the need to accelerate degree completion, and the changing demographic of the average college student. In higher education, competency-based education is not new, but it has not been widespread. Alverno College offered “Competence Based Learning” as early as 1973. In 1997, Western Governors University added self-paced instruction. The Higher Education Act of 2005 enabled colleges to offer competency-based degrees as long as they are mapped directly to credit hours. In March of 2013, the DOE provided guidance to the development of competency-based programs. Two experimental programs – College for America and Capella University – were the only official institutions allowed to offer federal financial aid for such programs not mapped to credit hours (as of 11/10/14). In July of 2014, the USDOE announced plans to expand experimental sites for colleges and universities wishing to explore competency-based education. The new authorization sites include four focus areas: 1) “traditional” CBE, 2) hybrid models with combination degrees of for-credit and CBE, 3) Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), and 4) federal aid for work study students in near-peer counseling. The anticipated reauthorization of the Higher Education Act has led some to be hopeful that future opportunities will accelerate this trend. Macro and Mezzo Implications for Higher Education

• Worldwide Implications

o Possible fusion of previously uncredentialed experiences like MOOCs (see Kaplan’s Open College). o Increased emphasis on universal federated ID, possibly on biometric signature technology and/or proctoring. o Increased access for developing nations, increased mobility of students, faculty, and definitions of what higher

education is. o Increased development and interoperability of Open Educational Resources.

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• Higher Education Implications

o Programs are primarily online, some hybrid/blended components. Increased investment in online learning infrastructures.

o Many programs support students with academic success coaches of some sort, causing new discussions about faculty, counselor, and student success specialist roles throughout the industry.

o Additional infrastructures may be necessary for proctoring and ePortfolio analysis. o Increased use of adaptive learning technology, smart learning systems, big data. o Increase in “exit funding” as opposed to entrance funding (i.e. paying for credits upfront).

How Competency-Based Education Intersects with Digital Badging, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Open Educational Resources (OER) and Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Competency-based education intersects and interacts with other new learning models in a variety of ways. Understanding what those other learning models are is key to understanding their overlap and interaction. Find definitions below: Term Definition Resources Digital Badges A digital badge is a virtual and visual representation of a competency, skill,

achievement, or membership. Digital badges can be verified by the issuing organization, and used as micro-credentialing for lifelong learning and workforce skill development.

http://openbadges.org/about/ http://www.macfound.org/programs/digital-badges/

MOOCs MOOCs are Massive Open Online Courses. They are free online courses that can enroll tens, or even hundreds of thousands of learners. Their formats and pedagogies are constantly evolving. There is no “one size fits all” MOOC. The salient components are 1) free (though there may be a charge for certificates, micro-credentialing, or proctoring), 2) huge enrollment numbers and potential, 3) online (though blended models are being developed with institutions), and 4) courses, not just resources. There are two primary types of MOOCs – cMOOCs (connectivist based), and xMOOCx (more like traditional online courses).

http://www.educause.edu/library/massive-open-online-course-mooc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course

Open Educational

“Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources

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Resources these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation” from the UNESCO website: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-oers/

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/why-should-i-care-about-oers/

Prior Learning Assessment

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is the process of codifying previously obtained competencies, whether through work experiences, military experiences, or lifelong learning. PLA is typically conducted via various direct assessment forms, or ePortfolios.

http://www.cael.org/pla.htm https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/07/prior-learning-assessment-catches-quietly

Additional Resources https://www.diigo.com/list/sashatberr/gaming (collection of links on Gamification, Digital Badges, and PLA) https://www.diigo.com/list/sashatberr/Competency-Based-Education (collection of links on Competency-Based Education) http://www.educause.edu/library/competency-based-education-cbe https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/06/competency-based-online-program-kentuckys-community-colleges

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Competency-Based Education the Snapshot Version by Sasha Thackaberry

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