Teaching with Microcredentials

What Are Microcredentials?

Microcredentials are short, focused learning experiences that allow faculty, instructors, and staff to build specific skills, document professional learning, and demonstrate expertise in targeted areas. Unlike traditional degrees or long certificate programs, microcredentials are typically:

  • Skill-focused and practical
  • Short and flexible (often hours or weeks, not months)
  • Stackable, allowing learners to build toward broader goals
  • Documented, often through digital badges or certificates that can be shared

At UTA, microcredentials support professional growth, instructional innovation, and workforce-relevant skill development—both for faculty and for the courses they design.

Why Microcredentials Matter for Teaching

Microcredentials can play several important roles in teaching and learning:

  • Faculty development: Build skills in AI, inclusive teaching, assessment, online/hybrid pedagogy, and emerging technologies.
  • Course design: Integrate microcredentials or aligned certificates into courses to support student career readiness.
  • Lifelong learning mindset: Model continuous learning for students by engaging in microcredential pathways yourself.

Many faculty use microcredentials to refresh skills, explore new pedagogical approaches, or gain confidence in areas outside their original training.

Getting Started with Microcredentials

CRTLE encourages faculty to start small and be strategic. Ask yourself:

  • What skill would most directly support my teaching right now?
  • Is this for my own development, my students, or both?
  • Do I want a quick introduction or a deeper, multi-course pathway?

Below are two widely used platforms available to UTA faculty that support flexible, high-quality microcredential learning.

Infographic titled “How to Access Free Microcredentials at UT Arlington,” showing steps for students to enroll, complete short online courses, and earn digital badges or certificates for career skills.

LinkedIn Learning

UTA provides free access to LinkedIn Learning for faculty, staff, and students through UTA OIT. LinkedIn Learning offers thousands of short courses taught by industry experts, many of which align well with teaching and instructional design.

Access Here

Why LinkedIn Learning Works Well for Faculty

  • Short, modular courses (often 1–3 hours)
    • Strong offerings in:
    • Teaching with technology
    • AI and data literacy
    • Web development and digital skills
    • Accessibility and inclusive design
    • Leadership and communication
  • Certificates of completion that can be documented or shared

Teaching Ideas

  • Assign selected LinkedIn Learning modules as pre-work or supplemental learning in courses
  • Use courses to support faculty learning communities or PLCs
  • Pair a LinkedIn Learning course with a CRTLE workshop or reflection activity

Tip: LinkedIn Learning courses can be embedded or linked directly in Canvas.

Talking with Dr Bonnie Boardman about LinkedIn Learning

Coursera

Coursera partners with universities and industry leaders to offer courses, professional certificates, and microcredentials across a wide range of disciplines.

Access Here

Why Faculty Use Coursera

  • University- and industry-designed content
  • Options that go beyond short tutorials into structured learning pathways
  • Professional certificates that can support:
    • Career-aligned teaching
    • Applied projects
    • Graduate or advanced undergraduate learning

Teaching Ideas

  • Align Coursera certificates with program outcomes or workforce skills
  • Use selected modules rather than full certificates when appropriate
  • Encourage students to reflect on how Coursera learning connects to course concepts

Faculty should always review licensing, costs, and access models before requiring Coursera content for students.

Adobe Express

Access through Adobe Education Exchange using UTA-provided Adobe credentials

Access Here

Why it matters

  • Courses include digital storytelling, graphic design, and multimodal communication.
  • Students develop creativity and media skills essential for modern communication tasks.

Teaching ideas:

  • Assign students to create visual summaries, infographics, or digital posters.
  • Use microcredential lessons to scaffold multimodal projects.
  • Feature student creations in class showcases or discussion boards.
  • Encourage students to use Adobe badges in their professional portfolios.
Illustration of a creative workspace with a desktop monitor showing charts and graphs, a tablet displaying analytics, open notebooks with sketches, color swatches, art supplies, plants, shelves with books, and a coffee cup on a desk.

Microcredentials within the University System

Explore and complete (on your own time in a self-paced format) the free UT System course on microcredentials: Microcredentials within the University System.

Sign-Up

Canvas-Based AI Essentials Course

Instructional designer Jess Kahlow shared UTA’s AI Essentials for Instructors and AI Essentials for Students self-paced modules, which provide:

  • Practical strategies for ethical and effective AI use
  • Examples of integrating AI into assessment, course design, and classroom policies
  • A UTA-specific context including privacy concerns and syllabus statements
  • A built-in badge and H5P activities for Canvas integration

Faculty Impact: 100+ instructors enrolled so far, and most report plans to adjust their teaching to reflect AI realities.

ENROLL IN THE INSTRUCTORS COURSE

Microcredentials and AI

Many microcredentials now focus on AI literacy and application. CRTLE encourages faculty to treat AI-related microcredentials as:

  • A way to build foundational understanding
  • A source of examples and tools to adapt for teaching
  • A complement to, not a replacement for, disciplinary expertise

Faculty are encouraged to document and reflect on how AI microcredentials inform their teaching practices.

Using Microcredentials Strategically

To get the most value:

  • Start with one short course tied to a real teaching need
  • Keep a brief reflection: What will I change in my teaching as a result?
  • Share relevant courses with colleagues or students
  • Avoid overcredentialing—focus on learning, not badge collecting

How CRTLE Can Help

CRTLE can support faculty in:

  • Selecting microcredentials aligned with teaching goals
  • Integrating certificates and short courses into curriculum
  • Designing assignments that build on microcredential learning
  • Connecting microcredentials to AI, online teaching, and inclusive pedagogy

If you are interested in exploring microcredentials for yourself or your students, contact us at CRTLE@uta.edu.

Microcredentials work best when paired with reflection, application, and conversation. CRTLE encourages faculty to treat them as starting points for deeper learning and instructional innovation.