How Challenges Become Opportunities: Micro-credentials and Artificial Intelligence

As we move from the Information Age to the Intelligence Age, universities must redefine themselves taking into account recent challenges. Two of these challenges are Micro-credentials and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Micro-credentials certify the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences, which are typically more flexible and tailored to specific, job-relevant skills, meeting the increasing demand for continuous education. These learning experiences are normally referred to as micro-credential courses or micro-credential programs and disrupt traditional degree models. On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence is disrupting every single aspect of our life and work. Artificial Intelligence tools can work as assistants helping in all kinds of tasks that were previously reserved for humans. Artificial Intelligence can be used in education in many ways, such as to create personalized learning paths, create and optimize educational multimedia content such as text, voice, image, or video, tutor students, and monitor student progress in real-time, contributing to the acquisition of learning outcomes. Putting the two challenges together, Artificial Intelligence can also contribute to generate micro-credentials by ensuring learners demonstrate competence in practical, job-specific skills, enhancing their credibility for employers. Therefore, Artificial Intelligence can playa pivotal role in advancing micro-credential courses and programs, helping universities redefine their offerings to provide personalized, adaptable, and industry-relevant learning experiences. Artificial Intelligence can help in designing the content and the learning experience as with courses in general, but it can also help in designing the specificities of micro-credential courses. The specific “skills” provided by Artificial Intelligence for defining micro-credentials range from clerical work related to mastering formats such as ELM or OpenBadges that are needed to construct digital credentials to creative sug-gestions that aid in designing the details of the micro-credential course. Alternatively, the micro-credentials designed can include topics about Artificial Intelligence, helping the workforce on this important area. This paper analyzes the interplay of these two challenges and how they can help each other, making opportunities out of challenges.