Digital Literacies

There are a range of guides available to inspire and assist you with embedding technology within your teaching

Digital literacies are the skills, knowledge and practices that enable us to effectively and safely understand and interact with the digital world.

Being digitally literate allows us to consume and produce digital content and enhance how we operate in our professional, academic and personal lives.

In this guide we describe seven elements that constitute digital literacy. In different ways, each contributes to our ability to be consumers, producers and participants in the digital world. In the twenty first century this will an evergrowing impact on our role as learners, teachers and professionals.

The seven areas of digital literacy used in this guide are based on a working definition used by the Joint Information Systems Committe1 (JISC).

1http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/funding/04/digitalliteraciescallbp.DOCX

ICT LiteracyThis refers to the ability to use digital devices, programmes, applications and services in pursuit of goals. It covers a wide range of competencies from basic keyboard skills to the ability to explore and understand new technologies. An ICT literate person is able to choose from a variety of tools and services to achieve an objective using the most appropriate means.

Information LiteracyBeing able to find, interpret, evaluate, organise, manipulate, share and record information is vital to learning and working in the 21st century. An understanding of issues of authority, reliability and provenance is important to this, as is a knowledge of intellectual property right, plagiarism and citation.

Example PracticesFind content

- be aware of and know when to use different sources e.g. Google Scholar, online library catalogue, specialist subject database - know how to build a complex search

Organise and share resources - choose and use a social bookmarking tool to manage links to webpages e.g. Delicious, Diigo - use of specialist software such as Reference Manager - understand how to use Tags

Evaluate resources - analysis of resources to ascertain credibility - judge when sufficient content has been found

Example Practices Use digital devices for everyday office tasks - Online banking, shopping online, printing - Using email; creating and working with documents, spreadsheets, databases - Copying files, burning a CD, using a USB pen drive, emailing a file

Evaluate and select a device appropriate for personal or work use - Choose and buy a laptop, tablet or smartphone

Confidence to select, learn and evaluate new software, tools, websites etc. - Use a Cloud service such as Dropbox to share documents between computers, devices and people

Awareness of new developments through media, social networks (both online and real world) and ability to evaluate and compare against current practice

- Choose between LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter - what are the pros and cons?

Media LiteracyProduction of high quality media is now relatively easy to achieve using widely available services and software.

Effective consumption and production of these type of outputs requires a sophisticated understanding of audience, creator and message.

Communication and Collaboration Digital networks increasingly play a significant role in supporting knowledge, scholarship, research and learning, whilst collaborative working supported by digital forms of communication is now common.

Example PracticesCommunication - using email, online forums, chat rooms, social networks - understanding of online etiquette for different areas of communication - using Skype, Microsoft Communicator or other software for video calls

Collaboration - working simultaneously on document in online environment – e.g. Google Docs - version control and tracking changes for document passed between users

Events - participating in and running interactive online events

Example PracticesAwareness, experience and understanding of a range of digital media - e.g. podcast, email, pdf, webpage, blog, Skype, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook

Understand audience - choose means of transmission most suitable to target recipient(s) - choose appropriate language and content

Create media resources - capture with photo, video and audio - use text, video and audio editing software e.g. Adobe Photoshop (image), InDesign (desktop publishing), Premiere Pro (video); Audacity (audio)

Awareness of Intellectual Property Right laws - knowledge of how IPR applies to own content - knowledge of how IPR applies to the use of content of others - licensing of content e.g. Creative Commons

Digital ScholarshipA growing amount of content is produced digitally. It is characterised by its quantity, diversity and democracy; for example an academic who writes a blog might have thousands of followers able critique and comment on her work or a valuable debate full of cogent and original debate might exist in an online community of practice. This kind of content is beginning to redefine what is meant by ther term ‘scholarly’ and ability evaluate and interact with these emerging academic, professional and research practices is likely to become increasingly important.

Example PracticesOpen Educational Resources

- creating and publishing work openly available

- reuse and repurposing of openly available content

Open Access Publishing

- awareness of funders’ open access mandate(s)

- protecting IPR through licenses, copyright and creative commons

Being a Professional This includes many of the abilities described above but puts them into a distinct framework in support of an individual’s employability, PDP, CPD, and citizenship. Digital tools and services can

Example Practices Presentation of self - LinkedIn and awareness of other such sites - Online promotion through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, website etc.

Digital Footprint - know what others can find out about you on the Internet - reflect on what is an appropriate online profile for you - be aware of how to build a positive digital footprint

Learning SkillsThere are similarities to general learning skills but here there is a particular focus on the ability to study and learn effectively in technology-rich environments. Sometimes referred to as ‘learning to learn online’, this encompasses the use of digital tools to support critical thinking, academic writing, note taking, reference management, time and task management. A learner should also be comfortable being assessed and attending to feedback in digital formats and with undertaking independent study using digital/digitised resources and learning materials.

Example Practices Managing time and commitments - using calendars on one or across multiple devices e.g. Outlook, Google Calendars, iCal etc. - understanding of how to organise meetings using Microsoft Outlook - awareness and use of Skype, Microsoft Communicator or video conferencing as a way to save time

Identifying and attending to own learning needs - online tutorials, forums, etc - online courses - Google, YouTube, Wikipedia etc.

Other guides to inspire and assist you with embedding technology in your teaching

TEL Tools Digital Literacies E-Portfolio Podcasting

Personal Response Systems Computer Aided Assessment

DIGITALLITERACYWITHPLYMOUTHUNIVERSITY

If you would like to know more please contact

Technology Enhanced Learningtel@plymouth.ac.uk

01752 587 600

technologyenhancedlearning.net

Created by www.seedpod.org.uk Embedding Digital Literacies at Plymouth University

be used, for example, to aid reflection and build an ePortfolio.

Having the knowledge and skills to act ethically, responsibly and safely in the digital world are vital aspects of this element.