Announcing the Winners of the Deeper Learning Micro-credential Challenge – Digital Promise

Announcing the Winners of the Deeper Learning Micro-credential Challenge

June 21, 2016 | By

We are thrilled to announce our winners for the Deeper Learning Micro-credential Challenge and spotlight their journeys into educating college- and career-ready learners.

Our 1st Place team winner comes from Ypsilanti Community Schools in Ypsilanti, MI, and both our 2nd and 3rd Place team winners come from Kettle Moraine School District in Wales, WI. Congratulations!

Through our Deeper Learning Micro-credential Challenge, educators from across the nation took the opportunity to think critically about what it means to equip students with the know-how to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. Deeper Learning describes the skills and mindsets that will position students for success in college and career.

At the center of this challenge were the 40 Deeper Learning micro-credentials developed by Digital Promise to support educators as they design learning experiences that equip students with the competencies in collaboration, effective communication, and critical thinking vital to succeed. These micro-credentials were self-selected by participating teams and adaptable to different classroom contexts. Each micro-credential sketches out step-by-step the process an educator would need to take to demonstrate competence in a Deeper Learning skill with supporting resources and an evaluation rubric. Our second place team from Kettle Moraine School District shared, “Micro-credentialing made sense as our primary vehicle for professional development because of our district’s vision of innovation through personalization of learning for staff and students.”

Educators participating in the Challenge formed groups, selected Deeper Learning micro-credentials to earn, and submitted reflections on the ways the Deeper Learning framework and those earned micro-credentials impacted their classroom practice and student engagement. Because of the depth and variety in the Deeper Learning micro-credentials available, participating educators were able to craft a professional learning plan that aligned to their district’s commitments to student learning, as well as their own.

As part of the experience, educators were able to dig deep into the concepts, skills, and behaviors that are critical to students’ achievement. Whether it was “Design Thinking and Doing” or “Evaluating Online Information,” the micro-credentials educators earned through the Deeper Learning Challenge placed student learning and self-directed discovery front and center.

At the core of both our vision of micro-credentials and the Deeper Learning framework is the ability for both educators and students to learn and grow. Educators were able to experience for themselves the depth of learning they seek to provide their students. As our first place team from Ypsilanti Community Schools shared in their reflection, “Being able to show our students that the learning never stops even when you’re an adult in this challenge and helping us to recognize the importance of both student and teacher reflection in that process was an awesome benefit of this experience.”

Both the Deeper Learning framework and their related micro-credentials strengthen the learning that happens in the real-time space of the classroom. Through our Deeper Learning Micro-credential Challenge, educators were supported in rethinking the actual structure and flow of their classrooms to drive student learning. Because of their experience with the “Growth Mindset” micro-credential, our third place team from Kettle Moraine School District has now incorporated student-set weekly growth-mindset goals into their classroom culture.
Congratulations again to our winners!

And, it’s not too late to start your own journey into transformative professional learning: visit our platform and take a look at our entire catalogue of micro-credentials.

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