The article presents the preliminary results of the research conducted as part of the Erasmus+ project 101082858 CRED4TEACH “MOOC-based micro-credentials for teacher professional development”. Some contradictions of professional training of future educators are given. To overcome them it is advisable to implement microcredentials. The design of the MOOC “Innovative Teaching: Essentials of Digital Creativity and Hybrid Learning” for teachers, tutors, lecturers, instructors, and students of pedagogical specialities is presented. The course is designed for 90 academic hours so students will receive 3 ECTS. It includes self-study of theoretical material, completion of practical tasks, and a final project. The aim, target auditory, lists of competencies and learning outcomes, structure of MOOC are presented in the article.
Higher education in modern conditions faces many challenges that require urgent solutions. In our opinion, they all fall under such important tasks as ensuring the quality of professional training and contributing to developing the personality of future specialists. This also applies to teacher education. It should be remembered that educators will play one of the leading roles in the post-war recovery of Ukraine. In particular, they will work on restoring education in the de-occupied territories and overcoming educational losses.
The professional training of future educators in higher education institutions is characterized by several problems that are dificult to address within a single publication. In the framework of our study, we highlight the following contradictions: • between the need to provide students with in-depth knowledge of psychology, pedagogy, and subject specialization and the intensive updating of scientific content; • between the clearly defined list of competencies and learning outcomes and the need of stakeholders (students and employers) to expand professional capabilities and skills; • between the clearly defined study period for obtaining an academic degree and the need to acquire specific additional skills for a short time.
One way to overcome these contradictions is implementing a micro-credentials system at the national
and institutional levels, which is one of the trends in the development of higher education in Europe
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For this purpose, it is advisable to use various digital education tools that allow educational content to be delivered to many learners in a convenient form, organize interactive learning, and reach a wide range of individuals interested in quickly acquiring additional qualifications.
The purpose of the article is to present the preliminary results of designing the MOOC “Innovative Teaching: Essentials of Digital Creativity and Hybrid Learning” which is aimed to provide microcredential in innovative digital pedagogy for educators.
For purposes of our research, we need to examine two main objects: micro-credentials and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
According to Rory McGreal and Don Olcott Jr., “Micro-credentials are certified documents that provide
recognised proofs of the achievement of learning outcomes from shorter, less duration, educational or
training activities” [
E-learning is an efective modern form of obtaining micro-credentials. For example, massive open
online course (MOOC) platforms give convenient opportunities to deliver learning content to many
students. So, they can be used as an environment for short-term training of teachers in a micro-credential
framework. Researchers are examining diferent aspects of using e-learning and its means to give
micro-credentials to all interested in additional credits or qualifications [
According to the tasks of the Erasmus+ project “MOOC-based micro-credentials for teacher professional development”, we need to create the MOOC for educators. This task consists of such sub-tasks: • to formulate micro-credentials; • to define the target audience of the MOOC; • to define the purpose of the MOOC; • to define learning outcomes; • to design the structure and content of the MOOC; • to choose the platform for developing the MOOC; • to create the MOOC; • to ofer passes for obtaining micro-credentials.
We analyse some micro-credential platforms, e.g. [
The Future Learn Platform [
Students will receive 15 UK credits at the Postgraduate level. 3. Online Teaching: Embedding Social, Race, and Gender-Related Equity. This micro-credential discovers how to embed equity in online teaching and support equitable participation for all.
Students will receive 15 UK credits at the Postgraduate level.
According to FutureLearn Platform [
The Microcreds Platform [
Based on the exploring diferent aspects of the digital transformation of education, we decided to design the MOOC “Innovative Teaching: Essentials of Digital Creativity and Hybrid Learning”. It is located on the Moodle platform of BK MSPU.
The target audience of this MOOC is teachers, tutors, lecturers, and instructors, who are interested in obtaining additional micro-credentials in educational digital technologies and its creative using, as well as students of pedagogical specialities.
The purpose of the course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of educational digital technologies and their application in the academic context, as well as methods of conducting professional pedagogical activities using various types of digital technologies (interactive technologies, distance learning, MOOCs, Metaverse, artificial intelligence).
List of competencies acquired during the study of the course: • ability to learn and acquire modern knowledge in the field of digital technologies; • ability to understand and assess the level of digital literacy; foreign language skills; • skills in using interactive learning technologies; • ability to conduct distance learning; • ability to use modern digital technologies and specialized software in the educational environment; • skills in using artificial intelligence technologies in education; • ability to manage the development of software projects for educational purposes. Learning outcomes. Graduates should be able: • to search for, process, analyze, and evaluate information related to professional activities; • to apply tools to assess digital literacy; • to understand the features of communication, interaction, and collaboration in international cultural and professional contexts; • to use interactive technologies in professional activities; • to apply software for distance learning and provide educational and methodological support; • to use specialized software and modern means of storing and processing information; • to use artificial intelligence technologies in education; • to manage the process of developing software projects for educational purposes.
The course is designed for 90 academic hours so students will receive 3 ECTS. It includes self-study of theoretical material, completion of practical tasks, and a final project. Students are provided with educational videos, primary and supplementary text materials, tasks for developing practical skills, and more.
The MOOC content covers subjects necessary to develop skills in creative and efective using digital technology in education. It consists of two modules, both of which have final tests. We present the structure of the course in table 1.
To obtain micro-credential in the field of digital creativity and hybrid learning we ofer two passes: 1. Self-paced learning. This approach is used for simultaneously training a large range of students who are in diferent settings. Students perform all tasks fully self. They can upload their materials to the MOOC environment for peer-reviewing by other participants, take part in learning discussions through special tools, and have quizzes and tests. Instructors do not give feedback to students. The main forms of assessment are self and peer assessment. To obtain the micro-credential they should accomplish the final project. 2. Teacher-guided learning. This approach is used for training small groups of students in conditions of formal academic institutions. Lecturers and instructors conduct online real-time classes (lectures, discussions, games, collaborative work, etc.), manage students’ projects, provide feedback, and assess students’ learning achievements.
At the moment the course is designed and in the process of creating. Here we present the introductory page (figure 4).
As we consider, the implementation of our MOOC will allow to overcome contradictions formulated in the Introduction, particularly will give opportunities: • to deliver in-depth content about up-to-date educational technologies and to renew it timely; • to combine standards demands with the needs of stakeholders through formulating extended lists of competencies and learning outcomes; • to define the term of obtaining micro-credentials. Theoretical study (hours)
Practical tasks (hours) Module 1 Module 2
The professional training of future educators is characterised by diferent contradictions. To overcome them it is advisable to implement a micro-credentials system at the national and institutional levels.
We designed the MOOC “Innovative Teaching: Essentials of Digital Creativity and Hybrid Learning” for teachers, tutors, lecturers, and instructors, who are interested in obtaining additional microcredentials in educational digital technologies and its creative using, as well as students of pedagogical specialities. The course is designed for 90 academic hours so students will receive 3 ECTS. It includes self-study of theoretical material, completion of practical tasks, and a final project.
To achieve the research goals, it is planned to develop institutional micro-credential policy, complete the development of the MOOC (design and upload necessary theoretical materials, create a set of tasks for assessing participants’ learning achievements, develop tools for interactive learning, etc.), conduct a pilot evaluation of the course within the educational process, develop recommendations for providing micro-credentials using the developed MOOC, and adapt BK MSPU infrastructure to MOOC-based micro-credential delivery.
The material was prepared as part of the Erasmus+ project 101082858 CRED4TEACH “MOOC-based micro-credentials for teacher professional development”.