1 Normalising digital literacies across the university Professor Neil Witt Head of Academic Support, Technology & Innovation

1www.technologyenhancedlearning.net

Normalising digital literacies across the

university Professor Neil WittHead of Academic Support, Technology & InnovationPlymouth University

The influence of digital technologies in creating a new context for Higher Education


It’s not just ‘digital’


Optimal Educational Value

It’s not just ‘digital’


Optimal Educational Value ?



SurfacePDA

Kindle FireOther (please specify)

Windows phoneAssistive technology

Android TabletBlackberry

KindleDigital video camera

Digital audio recordernon-smart Mobile phone

iPad/iPad MiniiPod Touch

iPhone phoneMp3 player

Android phoneGaming Device

WebcamDigital camera

LaptopMobile phone

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0%

0.3%0.5%2.0%

5.0%5.2%6.5%

9.6%11.1%

13.9%15.9%16.3%17.4%18.8%

25.6%33.0%

37.8%42.2%

48.3%50.0%

71.7%89.8%

97.8%

Which of these devices do you have? Please select all applicable(n=1106)


Windows phone

Blackberry

iPhone phone

Android phone

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0%

5.2%

11.1%

33.0%

42.2%

Smart Phone ownership(n=1106)

Surface

Kindle Fire

Android Tablet

Kindle

iPad/iPad Mini

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0% 100.0%

0.3%

2.0%

9.6%

13.9%

18.8%

Tablet ownership(n=1106)


0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

How confident do you feel about your digital literacies?(n=1110)

Extremely con-fident

Very confident

Moderately con-fident

Slightly confident

Not at all con-fident

Impact of technology?

• Students willing to use, and expect their devices to be used to support their learning experience.

• An urgency in developing services that meets the students’ needs and expectations.

• Assume that academic staff can/will support their use of technology


Impact of technology?

• Expectation Management?• How to meet these digital needs?• How to engage and support ALL staff?• How to embed into practice?

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www.technologyenhancedlearning.net

Change via a JISC project?

• Builds on 2011 BCUP project• Audit of systems, policies,

infrastructure and data• Views from academic and

support staff on use of, and practice with, existing software and hardware systems.

• Recommending Institutional change on DL issues around:• Infrastructure• Support• Curriculum Design

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Digital SkillsIn the 21st century digital competence needed by– learners– teachers– professionals– everybody (>90% jobs require IT competence of some degree)

Seven separate ‘literacies’ contribute to 3 areas– Content Production– Content Consumption– Professional and Academic Practice

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Digital Skills

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Digital Literacies

• ICT / Computer Literacy

• Information Literacy

e.g.• working with documents, presentations and

spreadsheets• choosing and using cloud services

e.g.• understanding issues of authority, reliability,

provenance• knowledge of IPR, plagiarism, citation

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And …..

• Media Literacy

• Communication and Collaboration

e.g.• Selecting transmission means most suited to

target audience• Use of text, video and audio editing software

e.g.• Email, online forums, chat rooms, social

networks, webinar• Collaborating in online documents &

interactive events

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Not forgetting …..

• Digital Scholarship

• Learning Skillse.g.• An academic’s blog might have 1000s of

followers• Academic debates in an online community of

practice• Mandates for Open Access Publishing

e.g.• Think critically, academic writing, referencing,

managing tasks• Receive assessment and acting on feedback in

digital formats

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And finally ……

• Being a Professionale.g.• Digital tools, services, social networks can be used,

to aid reflection and build an ePortfolio.• Online promotion through blogs, Twitter, Facebook,

website• Knowing what others can find out about you on the

Internet• Use digital tools to support PDP and CPD.

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Digital Skills

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The Digital Strategy

Opportunity 1 – inputting into Strategy

• Key theme 1 - Digital People• Key theme 2 - Digital teaching, learning and research• Key theme 3 - Digital services• Key theme 4 - Digital Infrastructure and Capability

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Digital Strategy????

Professional Support Staff• Develop the digital literacy skills and

confidence of professional services staff to enable them to develop and deliver efficient services, communicate effectively and promote the reputation of the instituion

Academic Staff• Develop the digital literacy skills and

confidence of academic staff to embed technology in their learning approach, to communicate effectively and support the delivery of their curriculum.

Students• Develop digitally literate students who are

able to appropriately choose, use and personalise technologies and digital content to suit their own needs.

• They will be skilled users of digital information able to act ethically, responsibility and securely in a fast-moving digital environmentEmbed in the curriculum???

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Performance Development Review

Opportunity 2 – using new processes

Embed in PDR

Embracing Change

Opportunity 3 – use Restructuring

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An opportunity to recommend Institutional change:• Infrastructure• Support

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Being part of the solution

• Technology and Information Services – Strategy & Architecture– Solution Development– Service Management– Library and Digital Services– Academic Support, Technology & Innovation

• the annoying academic on the shoulder of the CIO

Being part of the solution

• Subject Librarians, IT Trainers and Learning Technologists working in 3 teamsDigital Skills Development Engagement and SupportTEL & Assessment

• Strong focus around Digital Literacy

• Faculty support via LTs in the Faculties

• Part of TIS, so embedding and sustainability of innovation easier

• Single point of entry for training & teaching and learning resources

• Focus on community development

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What we said we would do

• We would make recommendations only.

BUT

• JISC Curriculum Design Programme reported• We have the opportunity to investigate

embedding

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Joining it all up

Embed in the curriculum

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Where to focus?

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Where to focus?

• New Programme Design• Annual Programme Monitoring• Schools Action Plans• New Partnerships

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Big Picture Thinking

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Where can we embed DL?

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A caveat

• "This range of approaches has also had a significant impact on the kind of evidence presented at the end of the projects with research-based projects offering some compelling evidence, but with impact on much smaller numbers of students, whilst impact on the whole institution is harder to measure and present as evidence, but has much more significance in terms of sustainability and embedding. Funders should continue to value this „softer‟ evidence. "

Lou McGillCurriculum Delivery Programme Synthesis

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• Benchmark and gather evidence• Agree and use institutional definition of

Digital Literacy / Digital Skills. Keep it simple.• Take every available opportunity• Influence then operationalise strategy• Embed into Staff Development• Embed into processes (e.g. Curriculum

Design)

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Neil [email protected]

prof_witt

Documents

1 Normalising digital literacies across the university Professor Neil Witt Head of Academic Support, Technology & Innovation