What exactly are micro-credentials?

I still remember those good old days as a Boy Scout where I proudly wore my badges as proof of achieving/mastering a set skill.  Nowadays, the same can be achieved to prove that as a life-long learner, anyone can earn a digital badge that serves as evidence that you have attained and clearly implemented what you have learned through professional development; not just as a paper certificate with your contacts hours but a digital one that links your evidence for you or others to track, evaluate and recognize.
Therefore, educators should create and maintain an online portfolio where they can proudly showcase and provide evidence of these formal/informal ways of collaboration and learning which demonstrate how such professional development has actually impacted your students' learning plus the difference it has made in your teaching career.

[Enter here micro-credentials: Competency-based recognition for Educators].
Micro-credentials or digital badges serve such purpose. In this new interconnected and ever-changing world where the gate keepers of knowledge have left the doors open for ALL to access digital media in a let's say, unconferenced and/or informal approach through open-university courses, MOOCs, online institutes and workshops, and also those coming from national or international field-specific associations and organizations.

​As a member of the online community hosted by the Center for Teaching Quality where as a community we strive to make a difference in the learning community through teacher-empowerment, one step at a time; a new initiative is being implemented to award educators with micro-credentials. Find more about this initiative here and continue the discussion on twitter through #Love2Learn or by following the Twitter moderator - Jennifer C. Kabaker.

For WL educators, see the impact that digital badges (micro-credentials) issued by reputable institutions can do for your students and for your professional growth:

How do digital badges work?