Innovation Initiatives and Activities
DCU Studio have asked us interesting, hard and challenging questions, and we have no doubt they will make for a transformative student experience. The impact of DCU Studio has also gone beyond Futures, where they have inputted into our executive education. For example, our recent sessions with Enterprise Ireland, which used DCU Studio informed technology and insights.
- Prof. Brian Harney, DCU Business School.
DCU Studio staff engage in a wide array of activities relating to the development of short-form learning and improving learning content across a range of functions. Initiatives that DCU Studio staff are working on at present include the following:
Micro-credential Development
Our team is responsible for the development of processes relating to micro-credentials within DCU, which are short, industry-engaged, accredited qualifications for those looking to gain new skills and competences in a fast and flexible way. For more detailed information on our distinctive DCU approach to micro-credentials, please visit our bespoke micro-credentials webpage.
DCU Futures
DCU Futures is designed as a radical curricular transformation at the university, and DCU Studio staff provide learning design and media production support to a range of modules developed across the Futures initiative.
Micro-Creds
MicroCreds
Complimenting our work within DCU, MicroCreds is a National multi-campus initiative, led by the Irish Universities Association (IUA), and including 7 Irish Universities - DCU, UCD, TCD, NUIM, NUIG, UCC, UL - with a vision to empower lifelong learning in Ireland through agile, accessible and bite-sized qualifications, aligned to a national framework. Funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3 - Innovation and Agility, MicroCreds provides an opportunity for HEIs and Industry to engage in strategic dialogue to enhance the relevancy and flexibility of lifelong and lifewide educational development, and address future skills requirements for labour markets, at home and abroad. Partnerships between HEIs and Industry to pool knowledge and know-how will safeguard Ireland’s reputation for talent and contribution towards the advancement and sustainability of a talent pipeline which ensures workplace readiness and competitiveness. Further information about this national initiative is available here.
ECIU
ECIU
DCU is a leading and committed member of the ECIU University, and the team at DCU Studio are active participants in WP4 of the project, which focuses specifically on micro-credential development. Through this participation, DCU Studio has helped to shape dialogue, discussion and recommendations at both national and international levels.
DigiAdvance
DigiAdvance
DigiAdvance, a DCU-led ERASMUS+ funded project, “aims to address digital skills gaps in the SME sector through the provision of low-cost, demand-driven, tailored training in key digital technologies for SME owners, managers and employees”. This is a collaboration between DCU and university and industry partners in Spain and Portugal and will both identify trends and build a network for trans-European digital skills development.
MicroNet
MicroNet
DCU Studio staff also contribute to Micronet, an ERASMUS+ peer-learning network which aims to drive the awareness, delivery and acceptance of micro-credentials as a learning tool fit for 21st century European citizens, aligning with the direction of the European Skills agenda (EC, 2020 – Action 10 on Micro-credentials). This further entails showcasing our common drive to a climate neutral Europe (European Green Deal, EC, 2019) together with the empowerment of citizens and enterprise in a sustainable and more prosperous European digital future (Europe’s Digital Decade: Digital targets for 2030, EC, 2021)
Innovation
Our staff have broad, interdisciplinary research interests and disseminate their activities across relevant fora, to foster a culture of evidence-based offering which responds to the demands for lifelong and lifewide learning and to support our learning design activities. Recently, we have presented research on student readiness, and have outlined a strategic pathway for an approach to micro-credentials and short-form learning embedded in European values, through ECIUn+ activities.
We also have a proven track-record of publishing high-quality research, and many recent and historical outputs by members of the team can be accessed through the National Institute for Digital Learning’s Research Outputs page.