Ada Giannatelli, Alessandra Tomasini

• Digital technologies have enabled a variety of learning offers that opened new challenges in terms of recognition of formal, informal and non-formal learning, such as MOOCs. This paper focuses on how providing relevant data to describe a MOOC is conducive to increase the transparency of information and, ultimately, the flexibility of European higher education. The EU-funded project ECCOE took up these challenges and developed a solution by identifying the most relevant descriptors of a learning opportunity with a view to supporting a European system for micro-credentials. Descriptors indicate the specific properties of a learning opportunity according to European standards. They can provide a recognition framework also for small volumes of learning (micro-credentials) to support the integration of non-formal learning (MOOCs) into formal learning (e.g. institutional university courses) and to tackle skills shortage, upskilling and reskilling by acquiring relevant competencies. The focus on learning outcomes can facilitate theDigital technologies have enabled a variety of learning offers that opened new challenges in terms of recognition of formal, informal and non-formal learning, such as MOOCs. This paper focuses on how providing relevant data to describe a MOOC is conducive to increase the transparency of information and, ultimately, the flexibility of European higher education. The EU-funded project ECCOE took up these challenges and developed a solution by identifying the most relevant descriptors of a learning opportunity with a view to supporting a European system for micro-credentials. Descriptors indicate the specific properties of a learning opportunity according to European standards. They can provide a recognition framework also for small volumes of learning (micro-credentials) to support the integration of non-formal learning (MOOCs) into formal learning (e.g. institutional university courses) and to tackle skills shortage, upskilling and reskilling by acquiring relevant competencies. The focus on learning outcomes can facilitate the recognition of skills and competences of students and enhance both virtual and physical mobility and employability. This paper presents two contexts where ECCOE descriptors have been adopted: the Politecnico di Milano MOOC platform (Polimi Open Knowledge – POK), which is using these descriptors as the standard information to document the features of its learning opportunities, and the EU-funded Uforest project on urban forestry, which developed a blended training program for students of partner universities whose MOOCs used the ECCOE descriptors. Practice with ECCOE descriptors shows how they can be used not only to detail MOOC features, but also as a compass to design the learning offer. In addition, some rules of thumb can be derived and applied when using specific descriptors.…