1. BEYOND DIPLOMAS: MAPPING
NEW FORMS OF QUALIFICATION
RECOGNITION AT EUROPEAN
UNIVERSITIES
Mariana Ziku, MA, MSc
Katerina Zourou, Ph.D
with the support of BlockAdemiC partners
Acknowledgment: This research has been co‐financed by the European Regional Development
Fund of the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program
Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE –
INNOVATE (project code:T2EDK-04180).

2. Higher Education certifications beyond diplomas
Continuing
Education
Qualification
recognition
Credit
transfer
Micro-credentials
Formal and non
formal learning in
Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs)
Verification of
educational
activities,
qualifications,
skills and
knowledge
Accreditation,
transferability and
accumulation of
credits
New types of
credentials beyond
mainstream
credentials as
diplomas

3. BEYOND DIPLOMAS: MAPPING NEW FORMS OF QUALIFICATION RECOGNITION AT EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
Scope
1. Certification types
2. Credit transfer or
accumulation
Study
Analysis of European
qualification
recognition systems
that Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs)
adopt in the context of
micro-credentials/
micro-learning
Micro-credentials
Collection of 18 Higher
Education practices
mapped against 3
parameters:
3. Quality accreditation of
learning programmes

4. Study origin
Project
Implementation of the platform
2020 - 2022
Map range of credential
recognition methods at
HEIs
January - April 2021
Smart contracts: Trust and
interoperability of tamper-proofed
recorded diplomas and learning
outcomes
Training passport: record, register
and verify certifications and
activities
BlockAdemiC project

5. Stage 1 - Selection of 18 HEIs adopting micro-credentials
Micro-credentials
01
Proof(s) of the learning outcomes
that a learner has acquired
following a short learning
experience. These learning
outcomes have been assessed
against transparent standards.
Selection criteria
02
a. Deployed by HEIs
b. Offer credit recognition
practices for credits other
than diplomas
c. Ongoing in 2021
d. Shared sufficient
information publicly about
the practice

6. List of 18 HEIs adopting micro-credentials
Anadolu Universitetsi Akadema
E-learning EKPA
Edward Jenner
Leadership Future Learn
edX MicroBachelors
European Schoolnet Academy
EUTEMPE Net Technical
University of Varna
Institut Pasteur FUN MOOC
Miríadax CertJoin
Open Universiteit
Professional Program
Open University Future Learn
OpenHPI
OpenSAP
UNED Abierta
UNINETTUNO OpenupEd
Universite de Paris FUN
MOOC
University of Edinburgh edX
MicroMasters
University of Modena EduOpen
University of Osnabrück iversity

7. Stage 2 - Analysis of practices against 6 parameters
iii. Quality accreditation
iv. Credit acquisition processes based on course duration,
assessment forms and conditions
ii. Credit frameworks
i. Types of certification
v. Data storage software(s)
vi. Learning Management Systems used
Certification types awarded to learners
Credit transfer or accumulation framework adopted
Number and type of quality accreditations
acquired by each course or platform

8. 1. Certification methods in micro-learning programmes
Standard-setting
initiative
9 types of broader assorted
certification categories
Badge
Certificate
Confirmation of Participation
Record of Achievement
Supplement
Diploma
Award
Honour
Additional types
Designation nuances
expressed in each category
Designations in the category
Certificate:
“Qualified certificate”,
“Verified certificate”,
“Course completion certificate”
“MicroBachelors program
certificate”
“Digital course certificate”
“Postgraduate certificate”
“MicroMasters program
certificate”
Common Micro-credential
Framework (CMF)
Aim: To make micro-credentials
stackable, standardised, and
transferable across higher
education systems at a
European and global level.

9. 1. Certification methods
Figure:
Variation of
certification
types – 9
broadly defined
categories of
certifications
issued within
the 18 selected
programmes.

10. 2. Credit transfer and accumulation
Credit
frameworks
Discipline-specific credits
CME, CPD
Transferable, broadly
defined credit systems
ECTS, CFU, ECVET
Credits transferred between partnering micro-credential
programmes and higher education institutions
edX MicroMaster &
MicroBachelor credits
Credits validated within the
boundaries of local authority
bodies and governing regions
UK-US credits, Madrid,
Castile and León
Provisional broad categorisation of representative frameworks for awarding credits

11. 2. Credit transfer and accumulation
Figure: Data
representation of
transferable and non-
transferable credit
types among the 18
selected case studies.
CFU: Credito Formativo Universitario (Italian official university educational credits), CME: Continuing Medical Education, CPD: Continuing
Professional Development, EC: N/A, ECVET: European credit system for vocational education and training, ECTS: European Credit Transfer
System, IDEM: IDEntity Management per l'accesso federato (Italy), RIT: Rochester Institute of Technology, TESU: Thomas Edison State University.

12. adhere to one up to four
distinct quality standards
13 out of 18 listed HEIs...
3. Quality Accreditation
Quality standards for effective leverage of validity,
trustworthiness and transparency of micro-credentials
Sum of 27 distinct quality accreditations in total for all listed programmes,
including among others:
International standards
the International Organisation for
Standardisation (ISO), Online
Course Certification System
(EOCCS)
European
standards
the European Board for
Accreditation in Medical Physics
(EBAMP), the European
Qualification Framework (EQF)
National
standards
Framework for Higher Education
Qualifications in England, Northern
Ireland and Wales (FHEQ)

13. 3. Quality Accreditation
Figure: Number of quality
standards obtained by each
case study

14. Synthesis
Extension of the study
mapping more practices
and implementing the
methodology through
pilot runs in real
educational
environments
Future work
Coordinated efforts for
more transparency and
compatibility between
the various standards
and methods
Limitations
(a. certification types, b.
credit transfer or
accumulation, and c.
quality accreditation of
learning programmes)
Analysis of 3
parameters
Wealth of practices in the field of micro-learning and micro-credentials

15. web2learn.eu
info@web2learn_eua
blockademic.iti.gr/en
linkedin.com/in/blockademic-project
twitter.com/AdemicBlock
BEYOND DIPLOMAS: MAPPING NEW FORMS OF QUALIFICATION RECOGNITION AT EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
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