Are learner perceptions of digital literacy skills teaching affected by

demographic factors?

The Seventh International Blended Learning ConferenceUniversity of Hertfordshire,13-14 June 2012

Marion Hall and Ingrid NixFaculty of Health & Social Care, Open University

Kirsty Baker Open University Library

Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills

Defined by European Commission as:‘The confident and critical use of ICT for work,

leisure, learning and communication.’Digital literacy skills in graduates:• Demanded by employers• Required by UK HE Quality Assurance Agency• Expected by learners – want relevance to workplaceBut:• Learners may not fully engage in skills development• Prioritise subject-specific learning over skills

Digital literacy

Project aims:• Explore learner perceptions of skills development

• Investigate learner perceptions of relevance of skills learning to themselves and employers

• Develop understanding of factors motivating engagement with skills learning

• Identify features of learning design that facilitate engagement and skills development

: Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills

• Data from 3 modules in Faculty of Health & Social Care:– SW1 – Level 1 (first year) social work module– SW2 – Level 2 (second year) social work module– HSC2 – Level 2 health and social care module

• that use different approaches to skills development, based on:– ‘Generic’ activities (usable by any FH&SC module)– ‘Contextualised’ (context-dependent/module specific) activities– Mixture of generic/contextualised activities

• Collected using mixed methods approach:– Online questionnaires (N=298)

• Quantitative + qualitative data• Asked separately about IL and ICT• Submission rate 23%

– Interviews (N=18) – qualitative data

Data collection

• Quantitative data only• Data for 3 modules combined• Focus on:

– Preferences for generic vs contextualised skills– Preferences for separate skills or within module?– Preferences for skills at point of need or when learner

decides?– Perceptions of value of skills to themselves– Perceptions of value of skills to employers

• Looked at 3 demographic factors– Gender, age, previous education– Compared groups using chi-squared tests

Initial analysis

• Gender– Men (N=45)– Women (N=226)

• Age– 35 or under (N=92)– 36 to 45 (N=109)– 46 or over (N=93)

• Previous educational qualifications (PEQs)– Qualifications obtained before OU study– Lower PEQs – up to and including A-levels or

equivalent (N=105)– Higher PEQs – further or higher education (N=110)

Demographic factors

Results

Generic vs contextualised skills - all modules

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

'Generic' activities OK - canwork out relevance to me

Prefer skills in module contextand related to study/work

More likely to do skills activity setin module context

More likely to do skills activity setin work context

strongly agreeagreeneutraldisagreestrongly disagree

Fewer than 20% learners unhappy with generic activities But other 3 questions show:

Much prefer skills in module context + related to study/work More likely to complete skills if in context, especially module context

No significant differences between any demographic groups

Location and timing of skills - all modules0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

More likely to do skills activity ifavailable in module when needed

Prefer to decide myself when todo skills activity

More likely to do skills activity ifseparate and can access when

want

strongly agreeagreeneutraldisagreestrongly disagree

Large majority (>70%) more likely to do skills provided at point of need Minority (<30%) preferred to decide themselves when to do skills activity Only a minority (<30%) more likely to do separate skills activities

Men more likely than women to do skills activity separate from module– Because can do at time to suit them? – Because more concerned to do everything thoroughly? – so more

likely to make the effort? No differences between higher/lower PEQs or different age groups

More likely to do skills activity if separate and can access when want

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

Stronglyagree

Agree Neutral Disagree Stronglydisagree

%

MenWomen

p<0.05

But no significant difference between men and women in preference for deciding for themselves when to do skills. – Implies men NOT more likely to do separate skills because can do at

time to suit them– Will be looking for evidence for other explanations in qualitative data

No differences between higher/lower PEQs or different age groups

Prefer to decide myself when to do skills activity

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

Stronglyagree

Agree Neutral Disagree Stronglydisagree

%

MenWomen

NS

No significant differences between any demographic groups

More likely to do skills activity if available in module when needed

0.0

10.020.0

30.0

40.050.0

60.0

Stronglyagree

Agree Neutral Disagree Stronglydisagree

%

MenWomen

NS

Using the skills they've developed - all modules

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Use IL skills developed in employment?

Use IL skills developed in future study?

Use IL skills developed in personal life?

Use ICT skills developed in employment?

Use ICT skills developed in future study?

Use ICT skills developed in personal life?

To a great extentTo some extentNot at all

Large majority think will use ICT and IL skills developed in future – Mostly in future study, closely followed by employment– Even in personal life, at least 80% think will use skills in future

Implies they think will be able to transfer skills learned to other contexts

Use IL skills developed in employment?

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.0

Not at all To someextent

To a greatextent

%

Lower PEQsHigher PEQs

p<0.01

Higher PEQs more likely than lower PEQs to think will use IL skills in employment

No difference between men/women or between different age groups

Use ICT skills developed in employment?

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Not at all To someextent

To a greatextent

%

Lower PEQsHigher PEQs

p<0.01

ICT skills same – higher PEQs more likely to think will use in employment

No difference between men/women or between different age groups

No differences IL/ICT skills re gender/age/PEQs + use in study/personal life

Maybe higher PEQS think will use skills at work because:1. More likely to have technically demanding job?2. Less likely to find work tasks intimidating/more confident

about using skills in workplace?3. Better at ‘transferring’ skills to other contexts?

– So more able to relate skills to workplace? But no difference in likelihood think will use in study or

personal life – implies not explanation (3) With further analysis can investigate other explanations:

– Information from qualitative data (1)– Information about confidence levels (2)

Possible explanations

Importance of skills to employer - all modules

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

How important ILskills developed to

employer?

How importantICT skills

developed toemployer?

EssentialTo a great extentTo some extentNot at all

Small minority (<10%) believe employers think IL/ICT skills not important

Believe employers regard ICT skills as more important than IL skills

No significant difference between men and women in how important they think ICT skills are to their employer

No differences between higher and lower PEQs or between age groups

How important ICT skills developed to employer?

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

Essential To a greatextent

To someextent

Not at all

%

MenWomen

NS

Men more likely than women overall to think IL important to employer

Analysis of qualitative data may shed light on why this is

How important IL skills developed to employer?

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.0

Essential To a greatextent

To someextent

Not at all

%

MenWomen

p<0.05

• Prefer skills in module context at point of need• Believe can transfer skills to other areas of life• Believe employers think skills important• No differences at all between age groups• Men more likely than women to:

– Do separate skills activity (maybe because more concerned to do everything?)

– Think IL important to employer (qualitative data may explain)• Higher PEQs more likely than lower PEQs to:

– Think will be able to use IL/ICT skills at work (maybe related to type of job or confidence level?)

Summary

• Learners believe digital skills important and useful beyond module in all areas of life

• Attitudes to skills/motivation to engage not affected by age– No differences in our ‘digital natives’ group (<35s)– Digital natives comfortable with technology but may

not understand use in academic/professional setting (e.g. Kumar, 2010)

• To maximise engagement, skills development in context + guidance at point of need– Caters for all demographic groups considered so far– Supports previous findings by e.g. Beetham et al.,

2009 (LLiDA project ); Kingsley & Kingsley, 2009

Conclusions

• Beetham, H., McGill, L., Littlejohn, A. (2009) Thriving in the 21st Century: Learning Literacies for the Digital Age (LLiDA Project). Online: http://www.caledonianacademy.net/spaces/LLiDA/uploads/Main/LLiDAreportJune09.pdf [Accessed 7 June 2012].

• Kingsley, K. V., Kingsley, K. (2009) A case study for teaching information literacy skills. BMC Medical Education, 9 (7). Online: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/9/7 [Accessed: 7 June 2012].

• Kumar, S. (2010) The Net Generation’s informal and educational use of new technologies. Technology & Social Media (Special Issue, Pt 2), 16(1). Online: http://ineducation.ca/article/net-generation-s-informal-and-educational-use-new-technologies [Accessed 7 June 2012].

References

For funding and support the project team would like to thank:• The OU Scholarship Fund• The OU Faculty of Health & Social Care• The OU Library• Stephanie Lay (OU Institute of Educational Technology)• Robin Goodfellow (OU Institute of Educational Technology)• Robert Farrow (OU Institute of Educational Technology)

Acknowledgements

Marion Hall

Ingrid Nix

Kirsty Baker

For:

• More information about the project

• Contact details for the project team

See the EADDLES website at:

https://sites.google.com/site/eaddlsproject/home

More information