Competency based education 11-17-14
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This presentation shares an overview of Competency-Based Education (CBE). Find notes with transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lwpuBcseSvcGptOVlmSjZOakk/view?usp=sharing Visit edusasha.com for more resources on CBE, instructional design, faculty professional development, gamification, MOOCs, digital badging and more.
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Competency based education 11-17-14
- 1. Competency-Based Education the Snapshot Version by Sasha Thackaberry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION
- 2. What is Competency-Based Education? • Competency-based education is based on the concept that learners can demonstrate what they’ve learned to obtain credentials, instead of earning credentials (primarily college credit) through “seat time” based on the credit hour and is therefore self-paced. • It is modular, and often (though not always) involves elements such as Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), partnerships with employers, subscription-based funding, and student success coaching.
- 3. The Differences CBE allows students to work at their own pace, flexibly through the content. This can result in a shortened time to graduation.
- 4. Benefits of Competency-Based Education • Shortened time to degree • Less costly for student • Get to higher level content sooner • Flexible • Online, largely asynchronous • Usually accompanied by support
- 5. InstitutionsYou Need to Know Competency-Based Education Network (CBEN) Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
- 6. WHO IS INTHE CBE SPACE? Colleges and Universities Engaging in CBE
- 7. 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/ov erview
- 8. “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/
- 9. “Personalized Learning” NorthernArizona 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/
- 10. College for America (Southern New Hampshire University) • 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 support of Learning Coaches. • http://collegeforamerica.org/
- 11. Capella University • Capella markets their degrees as wholly competency-based, t • Currently, the majority of those degrees map to credit hours. • Their new competency-based degrees have set “proficiency levels.” • http://www.capella.edu/about/compe tency-based-education/
- 12. “Learn on Demand” at Kentucky Community &Technical College System • Learn on Demand is a modular, anytime/anywhere learning option which is competency-based. • Students can test out of modules. • Students pay only for modules that they take. • It was developed 5 years ago in response the needs of nontraditional learners. • http://learnondemand.kctcs.edu/Abo ut
- 13. A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMPETENCY-BASED LEARNING It’s actually nothing new.
- 14. The Carnegie Unit • Carnegie Units never intended to measure student learning. • Originally to measure faculty workload and pension eligibility. • Credit hours are now basic building block of degrees. • Used for federal financial aid.
- 15. Trade Certifications and CBE • Trade groups and professional organizations have used certifications and skill-based credentials • Higher education is looking at CBE in response to: • Graduates with inconsistent skill sets • Accelerate degree completion • Changing demographic of college students • Formalized CBE in the US from early 1970s.
- 16. CBE 2005 - 2013 • Higher Education Act of 2005 enabled colleges to offer competency-based degrees as long as they were mapped directly to credit hours • 2013 the USDOE provided guidance as to how to do this • In 2013 DOE enabled 2 experimental sites to use federal financial aid for competency-based degree bearing programs: Capella University and College for America.
- 17. Expanding Federal Aid for CBE • In July of 2014, the USDOE announced plans to expand experimental sites for colleges and universities wishing to explore competency-based education Four Focus Areas: 1. “Traditional” CBE 2. Hybrid models with combination of regular “credits” and CBE 3. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) 4. Federal aid for work study students in near-peer counseling
- 18. Higher Education Implications • Increased $ investment in online learning infrastructures • Discussions about student success coaches, role of case management of student learning • Proctoring/authentication infrastructure • ePortfolio analysis processes • Increased use of adaptive learning technology, big data, predictive analytics • Increase in “exit funding” as opposed to paying upfront for credits
- 19. Connections to PLA, Digital Badges, Micro- credentialing, OER, MOOCs and More
- 20. 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.
- 21. MOOCs • Massive, Open, Online Courses • Free, can enroll tens of thousands of students • Online (though blended/hybrid models are being used more frequently) • Courses, not just resources • Two primary kinds: • xMOOCs • cMOOCs
- 22. Open Educational Resources (OER) • “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 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/
- 23. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) • Obtain credit for existing competencies • Often from work, military, or lifelong learning • Most frequently conducted via: • 1) Direct Assessment • 2) ePortfolios
- 24. Competency-Based Education the Snapshot Version by Sasha Thackaberry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. FIND MORE LINKS AND INFO AT: https://www.diigo.com/list/sashatberr/Competency-Based-Education
Editor's Notes
- What is competency-based education? Competency-based education is based on the concept that learners can demonstrate what they’ve learned to obtain credentials, instead of earning credentials (primarily college credit) through “seat time” based on the credit hour and is therefore self-paced. It is modular, and often (though not always) involves elements such as Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), partnerships with employers, subscription-based funding, and student success coaching.
- How will competency-based education transform higher education and workforce training? CBE allows students to work at their own pace, flexibly through the content. This can result in a shortened time to graduation.
- Benefits of CBE include shortened time to degree, avoid time and expense in classes that aren’t needed, escalating to higher level content sooner. CBE programs are flexible, available online asynchronously, and are usually accompanied by some sort of academic coaching or support.
- There are a few institutions leading the CBE space. One is CBEN - “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.” Another important organization is CAEL – the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning “Linking Learning and Work.” 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.
- So who is in the Competency-Based Education space?
- The old standard for CBE is Western Governors’ University. Founded in the mid-90s, it is an online university that uses competency-based degree programs that map to credit hours. Their cost model is subscription-based, and students can accelerate their degree program.
- The Flexible Option at the University of Wisconsin System is a newer program that 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.
- Northern Arizona University recently created Personalized Learning, which 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.
- College for America is the brainchild of the nonprofit Southern New Hampshire University that works in partnership with employers through competency-based learning programs. These are primarily in the form of project-based learning and include the support of Learning Coaches. College for America is one of two officially approved experimental sites by the USDOE to use federal financial aid directly for competency-based education programs.
- Capella University has long touted their degrees as competency-based, however previously this has meant converting those competencies into credit hour-based equivalents. Their new competency-based degrees do not have grades but require proficiency levels. They also have recently become one of two official “experimental” sites with the US Department of Education, offering federal financial aid for a truly competency-based program.
- 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.
- 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.
- Some possible implications within higher education include: 1) Increased investment in online learning infrastructures. 2) 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. 3) Additional infrastructures may be necessary for proctoring and ePortfolio analysis. 4) Increased use of adaptive learning technology, smart learning systems, big data. 5) Increase in “exit funding” as opposed to entrance funding (i.e. paying for credits upfront).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- “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 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/
- 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.
- This concludes our short presentation on Competency-Based Education. Use the link provided to find a bookmark list of additional resources.