Development for Empowerment: Mobilising Online and Digital Micro-Credentials for Refugees

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v11i2.1357

Keywords:

refugees, integration, equity, access, inclusion, development, micro-credentials, online learning, human rights

Abstract

Development for empowerment focuses on leveraging education via digital technologies and micro-credentials for training and education as part of the integration, social inclusion and capacity building for displaced persons. Development for empowerment builds upon the previous concepts of development including Amartya Sen’s ‘development as freedom,’ the core concept of education and learning as development, and the use of digital technologies for building human capacity so people can make their own choices and pursue the lives they wish to lead. Development for empowerment for refugees broadens the construct of development and is integral to promoting and nurturing ‘equity, access and success’ amongst refugee populations. The authors highlight critical resources that support the basic tenets of human empowerment such as the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights, the UN’s Basic Needs Approach to Refugees, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and the key strategies of online delivery and micro-credentials development. Moreover, the authors emphasise that the integration, social inclusion and integration of refugees is a highly complex construct to implement and sustain, thus reflecting the constant tension of refugees’ emotional desire to return home versus rebuilding a new life in a new country. In the final analysis, ‘development for empowerment’ + open and distance learning + digital micro-credentials create a powerful synergy for serving refugees and fulfilling the spirit of preserving human rights through education and the pursuit of one’s chosen life as a precious human ideal.

Author Biographies

Timothy Read, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)

Dr Timothy Read is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Languages and Systems at UNED, Spain. He completed his first degree in Real Time Computer Science at the University of The West of England and his Doctorate in Cognitive Science at the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom). He worked at the University of Granada before moving to UNED in Madrid. He is the co-founder of the ATLAS research group and has directed several national and international projects on applying Information and Communication Technologies to Languages for Specific Purposes. He currently works in the areas of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning and Language Massive Open Online Courses, and their applications for social inclusion and employability, and the role of analytics in these areas. As well as his academic career, he worked in different international companies, including Rolls Royce, Hewlett Packard, and the telecommunications company ITT. He has been awarded the titles of EDEN Fellow and EDEN Senior Fellow and was President of EDEN UK. Email: tread@lsi.uned.es

Alan Bruce, Universal Learning Systems

Dr Alan Bruce is CEO and Director of Universal Learning Systems — an international consultancy firm specialising in research, learning innovation and project management for the educational, development and management sectors. He lectures for the National University of Ireland Galway in equality, diversity and systematic training. An international academic adviser for the University of Memphis, he was appointed to its Graduate Faculty in the Department of Psychology and Counselling in 2014. In 2014, Dr. Bruce was appointed to the Board of NCRE (National Council on Rehabilitation Education) in Washington, DC. In 2018 he was appointed to the Board of CORA (Council on Rehabilitation Accreditation) in Memphis, Tennessee. Senior Research Fellow in Education with the University of Edinburgh (2009-2014), he also lectures in the Master’s in European Project Management in Florence, Italy. In 2015 he was elected as Senior Fellow of EDEN (European Distance and E-Learning Network). In 2010 he became Vice-President of EDEN. In 2014 he was appointed Associate Professor with UOC (Open University of Catalonia) in Barcelona on conflict resolution and innovative learning. In 2016 he was International Expert for Innovative Learning with the Open University of Hong Kong and the launch of the Institute for Research in Open and Innovative Education (IROPINE). In 2016 he was appointed as Visiting Professor for Global Learning in the Changhua University of Education in Taiwan. In 2016 he developed the Master’s in Online, Open and Distance Learning for Charles Sturt University, Australia. He was also appointed as Learning Design Expert with Universidad Nacional de Educación (UNAE) in Ecuador. Email: abruce@ulsystems.com

Don Olcott, Jr., University of South Africa

Dr. Don Olcott, Jr., FRSA, is President of HJ Associates, specialising in global open and distance learning based in Romania and a Consultant Associate with Universal Learning Systems (ULS) in Barcelona, Spain.  He holds the academic rank of Professor Extraordinarius of Leadership and ODL at the University of South Africa and adjunct instructor with Oldenburg University, Germany.    Don is a Senior Fellow of the European Distance and eLearning Network (EDEN) and in 2021 was honoured as a global Leader and Legend of Online Learning https://onlinelearninglegends.com/ .  He is former President and Chairman of the Board of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) and served on the USDLA Board from 2001-2016.

Don was the 2023 recipient of the International Council of Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Prize of Excellence for Lifetime Contributions to the field,  He was also the 2013 recipient of the ICDE Individual Prize of Excellence. 

Dr. Olcott’s research speciality is leadership and open and distance learning.  Don’s leadership, scholarship, programmes, and global partnerships have been recognised by his peers and leading professional organisations in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Asia, Europe and Africa consistently over the last four decades.  Dr. Olcott taught the Management and Leadership, Business in Distance Education and Global ODL courses in the UMUC-Oldenburg joint masters’ programme for eight years and also co-designed the otl 100 and otl 125 courses for the current Oldenburg University certificate programme in online teaching and learning.    

Don was the Chair of the European Distance & eLearning Network (EDEN) Council of Fellows for 2021-2022 and was a former member of the EDEN Executive Committee.  He was adjunct Professor of Leadership and ODL at the University of Maryland Global Campus from 2011 -2021.  From 2014-2017, he served as a visiting Professor and Co-Director of the unimagine Digital Innovation Laboratory and as Head of Virtual Campus at Charles Sturt University in Australia. 

From 2011-2013 he served in a lead consultancy role as the manager of strategic planning and international engagement with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) system office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) assisting in online higher education delivery and strategic planning.   

Dr. Olcott brings four decades of experience and leadership in open and distance education, business and the military.   He was the 2016 Stanley Draczek Outstanding Teaching Award recipient from the University of Maryland Global Campus for excellence in online teaching and learning.  Don served two terms on the Steering Committee of the European Distance and eLearning Network’s (EDEN) Network of Academic Professionals (NAP).  He has served as an EDEN conference speaker and on numerous EDEN Annual Conference Planning committees.

Dr. Olcott is former Chief Executive of The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) in the UK (2007-2011) and former Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA).   During 2014, he also consulted on major projects with the African Virtual University (AVU) in Kenya; Microsoft (Indonesia) and with the British Council in the UK and Columbia.   As president of USDLA, in collaboration with his Board of Directors, Don led the founding of National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) which was offered in 2007 in the U.S.  and has since expanded to other regions of the world including Europe and Australasia. 

Dr. Olcott was the 2013 recipient of the International Council of Distance Education (ICDE) Individual Prize of Excellence for his leadership and contributions to global open and distance education.  Don holds dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship.  Dr. Olcott was inducted in to the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) Hall of Fame in May 2014.  Don formally served on the external Strategy Group of the Open University, served on the UK Online Learning Task Force (2009-2011); and is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts (FRSA).  

Dr. Olcott completed an honorary three-year (2011-2014) appointment as Professor of Education and ODL with the Faculty for the Professions at the University of New England – Australia.  Dr. Olcott serves as the Distinguished Global Advisor and Editor for the International Journal of Open Educational Resources (IJOER) and the Editorial Boards of Open Praxis (ICDE), the Journal of Learning for Development (COL), Open Education (Greece), The American Journal of Distance Education (AJDE), the Asian Journal of Distance Education and the Journal of Online Learning Research and Practice, the Turkish Journal of Distance Education, and the African Educational Review.

Dr. Olcott previously served for six years as regional editor on the editorial board of Athabasca University’s International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) from 2001-2007 and on the Distance Education (Australia) editorial board from 2008 – 2017.   Dr. Olcott was the senior editor on all research published by The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education 2007-2011.  He served on the editorial board of the European Journal of Open and Distance Learning (EURODL) from 2008-2020 and the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education – formerly the Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimient (Spain) from 2008 – 2020.

Don was the 1998 recipient of the Charles Wedemeyer award as the Outstanding Distance Education Practitioner in North America awarded by The American Centre for the Study of Distance Education and the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  He has published extensively for thirty years in ODL and international education and has consulted with universities, governments, and corporations across the globe. 

Dr. Olcott also has extensive experience teaching online and other technologies, designing curriculum, and developing assessment tools for online learning.  Serving as lead editor, his 2006 book ‘Dancing on the Glass Ceiling:  Women, Leadership and Technology’ is one of the first scholarly publications that examined women’s leadership in open and distance learning and technology.

He has held faculty and key leadership appointments at the University of South Africa, The Observatory on Borderless Higher Educaiton (London), Western Washington University, the University of Maryland Global Campus, Oldenburg University, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Oregon State University, the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE), the University of Arizona, Western Oregon University, the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT-UAE) and Charles Sturt University (Australia).  Dr. Olcott has worked in the private sector as a Vice President for Higher Education and in his chief executive and research role with OBHE. 

He earned his bachelors and masters’ degrees from Western Washington University and took a doctorate at Oregon State University in higher education leadership.  He has also completed advanced professional development at Harvard University, New York University and Cambridge University – UK.  Dr. Olcott served in the United States Air Force from 1973 – 1977 and in NATO forces from 1975-1978.

Dr. Olcott’s research interests include micro-credentials and alternative credentialing, language and culture in cross-border higher education, sustainable ODL and OER business models, innovative learning design models for ODL and OER, and leadership and innovation in open and distance learning and open educational resources (OER).  His personal interests include golf, music, history, travel, languages and culture.  He plays guitar and bass guitar.  Don and his wife Nicoleta divide their time between the U.S., Canada and Romania. 

Email: 

don.olcott@gmail.com

donald.olcott@uni-oldenburg.de

Phone: +40 760 914 852

 

Selected Publications

Olcott, D. J.  (2023).  The Zelensky files:  Leadership strategies for university

Leaders.  Ukrainian Journal of Educational Studies and Information Technology, 11(3), 136-155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32919/uesit.2023.03.01  https://uesit.org.ua/index.php/itse/article/view/414/308

Olcott, D. J.  (2023)  On the record:  Micro-credentials unleashed – fact or friction?  Speaking personally with Dr. Don Olcott, Jr., FRSA.  EHTE Journal Blog, 1-13.  http://etheblog.com/2023/10/04/on-the-record-micro-credentials-unleashed-fact-or-friction-speaking-personally-with-dr-don-olcott-jr-frsa/

Olcott. D. J., Arnold D. J., & Blaschke, L. M.  (2023).  Leadership 2030:  Renewed visions and Empowered choices for European universities.  European Journal of Open and Distance Learning (EURODL), 25, (1), 74-92.  https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/eurodl-2023-0006?tab=article

McGreal, R., &  Olcott, D.  (2022).   A strategic reset: micro-credentials for higher education leaders. Smart           Learning Environment, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-022-00190https://slejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40561-022-00190-1

Olcott, Jr., D.  (2022).   Why open teaching matters!  Harnessing the power of leadership, culture and service.  Journal of Learning for Development, 9(2), 156-162.  https://jl4d.org/index.php/ejl4d/article/view/686/818

McGreal, R., Mackintosh, W., Cox, G., & Olcott, Jr., D. (2022). Bridging the Gap: Microcredentials for Development: UNESCO Chairs Policy Brief Form - Under the III World Higher Education Conference (WHEC 2021) Type: Collective X . The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 23(3), 288-302. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v23i3.6696  https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/6696

Olcott, D. J. (2022). Book Review: Leading the eLearning transformation of higher education:  Leadership strategies for the new generation, 2nd ed. Gary E. Miller and Kathleen S. Ives (Eds.). Online Learning, 26(2), 343-349.  https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/2739

Olcott, D. J.  (2021).  Micro-Credentials: A catalyst for strategic reset and change in U.S. higher education, The American Journal of Distance Education, DOI: 10.1080/08923647.2021.1997537

Makoe, M., & Olcott, Jr., D. (2021). Leadership for development: Re-shaping higher education futures and sustainability in Africa. Journal of Learning for Development, 8(3), 487-500.  https://jl4d.org/index.php/ejl4d/issue/view/25

Brown, M., Arnold, D., Read, T., Olcott, D., McGreal, R., & Makoe. M. (2021). Madrid micro-credential statement - Asking critical questions: Leveraging micro-credentials to bridge divergent paths. Outcome of EDEN Conference. https://www.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/inline-files/madrid-micro-credential-statement-2021.pdf

McGreal, R. & Olcott, D. J.   (2021).  Transforming Workforce Futures:  Strategic Perspectives and Practices for University Micro-Credentials.  Consultancy Report - Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada 1-46.  Unpublished Report.

Olcott, D. J.  (2021). Beyond the rhetoric:  Myths and realities of digital leadership and transformation.  Mediations and Mediatizations 1-10.  https://doi.org/10.52358/mm.vi8.179

Olcott, D. J.  (2020).  In search of Zorba:  Are you fit to lead an online distance education organisation?  Open Education:  The Journal for Open and Distance Education and Educational Technology, 16(2), 6-19. https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/openjournal/article/view/9749

Olcott, Jr. D. (2020).  In Search of Leadership: Practical Perspectives on Leading Distance Education Organisations. Asian Journal of Distance Education, 15(2), 48-57. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4293194

Editorial Boards – Scholarly Journals (Present)
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Education for Development, 2020 – Present
  • Editorial Board, ICDE Open Praxis, 2023 - Present
  • Turkish Journal of Distance Education (TOJDE), 2023 – Present
  • Editorial Board, The American Journal of Distance Education, 2004 – Present
  • Editorial Board, Asian Journal of Distance Education, 2011 - Present
  • African Education Review, 2022 – Present
  • Distinguished Global Advisor and Editor, International Journal of OER, 2020-Present
  • Editorial Board, Journal for Open and Distance Education and Educational Technology (Greece), 2005 – Present

Past Editorial Affiliations

  • Managing Editor, The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, 2007-2011
  • Editorial Board, Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 2008 – 2022
  • Editorial Board, European Journal of Open, Distance & E-Learning, 2008 - 2020
  • Editorial Board, International Journal of Educational Technology in HE, 2016 – 2020
  • Editorial Board, Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Concimiento (Spain), 2011- 2016
  • Editorial Board, Distance Education (Australia), 2009 - 2017
  • Editorial Board, MERLOT Journal of Online Teaching and Learning, 2012 – 2020
  • Editorial Board, UAE Journal of Educational Technology and eLearning, 2012 - 2014
  • Editorial Board, International Review of Research in ODL (IRRODL) 2000 – 2006 (Canada)
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Distance Education (Canada), 1999-2005

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Published

2024-07-21

How to Cite

Read, T., Bruce, A., & Olcott, Jr., D. (2024). Development for Empowerment: Mobilising Online and Digital Micro-Credentials for Refugees. Journal of Learning for Development, 11(2), 253–269. https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v11i2.1357

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2024): ISSUE 2

Section

Research Articles

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Copyright (c) 2024 Timothy Read, Alan Bruce, Don Olcott, Jr.

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Received 2024-02-06
Accepted 2024-06-30
Published 2024-07-21