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Improving Digital Capability through Digital LiteraciesPELeCON 2012

Dr. Doug Belshaw

Researcher/Analyst, JISC infoNet

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Session objectives

Access to, and experience of, practical tools to assess and progress digital capability across different staff roles and student groups

Familiarity with how other institutions are developing unique identities and strategies

Insight into how institutions are creating unique digital identities and strategies

A better understanding of the relationship between digital literacies and the student experience

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Session overview

This session will introduce tools for auditing and developing digital capability at an institutional and departmental level, including student-facing surveys, competence frameworks mapped to professional body standards, and models of organisational change.

Participants will also explore a number of different models for becoming a successful digital institution, based on the outcomes of previous JISC work.

Image CC BY-NC-SA Simon Greig

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Part I

Background

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Context

Many learners enter further and higher education lacking the skills needed to apply digital technologies to education.

As 90% of new jobs will require excellent digital skills, improving digital literacy is an essential component of developing employable graduates.

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What is our definition of digital literacy?

We’re working with colleges and universities to embed core digital skills into the curriculum. By digital literacy we mean those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society: for example, the skills to use digital tools to undertake academic research, writing and critical thinking; as part of personal development planning; and as a way of showcasing achievements.

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What have we learned to date?

2006-08 – Learners' experiences of e-learning programmeStudents' success depends on strategies for integrating ICT into academic practice; students' strategies and preferences differ widely

2009 – Learning Literacies for a Digital Age studyDigital literacy needs to be integrated across the curriculum: learners develop through authentic tasks in meaningful situations

2010 – Supporting Learners in a Digital AgeNine institutional case studies in developing learners' digital capabilities: listening to and responding to learners as a theme

2011 – Digital literacy workshop seriesCascading outcomes of LliDA and SLIDA: tools for organisational and curriculum development; sharing best practice

2011-13 – Developing Digital Literacies programmeFunded institutional projects, integrating digital literacy development across the board; community consultation

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Enhancing the student experience

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Being able to learn fluently across technologies and contexts

Building academic/professional

digital identity

Getting access tolearning opportunities

Integrating diverseliving/learning experiences

Having critical judgementin relation to digital means and media

Knowing what I need to know, and how to express it

Being a participant in the digital learning community

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Improving graduate attributes

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Sense making

Social intelligence

Adaptive thinking

Cross-cultural competency

Virtual collaboration

Computational thinking

New media literacy

Cognitive load management

Transdisciplinarity

Design mindset

Davies, A., Fidler, D., Gorbis, M. (2011) Future Work Skills 2020. Institute for the Future, for the University of Phoenix Research Institute. University of Phoenix.

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Why digital literacy?

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Impacts of digital technologyon practice

(research, teaching, learning, professionalism, knowledge transfer,

development)

New demands on the sector (graduate attributes and outcomes,

the learning experience, lifelong learning)

Fair access and opportunity(digital technology reduces some

barriers/inequalities,can introduce others)

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Part II

JISC Developing Digital Literacies Programme

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Developing Digital Literacies Programme

A sector-wide programme promoting the development of coherent, inclusive and holistic institutional strategies and organisational approaches for developing digital literacies for staff and students in UK further and higher education.

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Developing Digital Literacies Programme

University of Bath

University College London

Oxford Brookes University

Cardiff University

Worcester College of Technology

Institute of Education, Londonslide 13

University of Greenwich

University of the Arts London

University of Exeter

Coleg Llandrillo Cymru

University of Plymouth

University of Reading

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/developingdigitalliteracies

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Engagement with Sector Bodies

JISC is working in collaboration with sector bodies and professional associations to:

Gather information and user requirements

Develop professional frameworks and practices

Synthesise and validate outcomes from the programme

Raise awareness and consult widely with stakeholders

Opportunities to involve and engage others will follow.

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Engagement with Sector Bodies

The sector bodies and professional associations JISC is working with initially include:

Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)

Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Association of University Administrators (AUA)

Heads of Educational Development Group (HEDG)

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Organisational Development in Higher Education Group (ODHE)

Standing Conference on Academic Practice (SCAP)

Staff Development Forum (SDF)

Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA)

Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL)

Vitae

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Design Studio

The JISC Design Studio is a developing set of resources for institutions to use and share, including:

Tools

Resources

Research papers

References

Project resources

Project outputs

slide 16http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com

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JISC e-Learning Programmes blog

The JISC e-Learning Programmes blog includes information from the Developing Digital Programme, including:

Outputs from projects

Contributions from experts

Details of upcoming and past events relating to programmes

slide 17http://elearningprogs.jiscinvolve.org

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JISC Mail list

JISC-DIGLIT-PUBLIC is a JISC Mail list for those interested in digital literacies but not directly involved in the JISC Developing Digital Literacies programme.

Resources, opportunities for funding, and general information about the programme are posted on a regular basis.

slide 18http://jiscmail.ac.uk/JISC-DIGLIT-PUBLIC

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Project blogs

The projects funded by the JISC Developing Digital Literacies programme all have blogs.

The RSS feeds from these project blogs are aggregated at a Netvibes page.

slide 19http://www.netvibes.com/jiscinfonet

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Part III

Initial findings from Baseline Synthesis report(written by Helen Beetham, JISC Digital Literacies consultant)

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Difficulty of benchmarking complex practices

“The practices we are most concerned to develop are critical to institutions - the core practices of learning and teaching, research and knowledge transfer, and the necessary administrative and managerial activities that support them. Such complex practices are extremely difficult to benchmark, and there is a temptation to focus on issues that are more amenable to measurement such as access to and use of specific technologies.”

Image CC BY-SA nerovivo

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Major barriers to digital literacies (1)

Time – both staff and students perceive that they lack time to practice and become proficient in new technologies, even if they are generally aware of their potential.

Transferability – although the majority of students are comfortable with using digital technology for social and personal ends, they can struggle to transfer these skills to academic study.

Assumption – many staff believe that students are 'digitally ready', an assumption which is challenged when they set students specific tasks to do

Motivation – there is low take-up of learning opportunities that are obviously skills-based as students can see them as remedial, irrelevant to their main programme of study

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Major barriers to digital literacies (2)

Conflicting beliefs of academic staff – there are fundamental debates over how far digital technology is 'spoon feeding' students and whether 'traditional' academic methods have value that should be asserted as an alternative to habits of reliance on digital technology

Overload – a sense of being overwhelmed by the availability of information and services, and the pace of technological change

Digital divide – a minority of staff and students have real problems accessing digital technology, either for reasons of background, culture, previous educational experience, or simply a lack of means.

Image CC BY-NC-SA Norma Desmond

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Assumptions around digital literacy development

“But while the best tutors clearly do address personal readiness for study and even provide guidance on digital study practices, many others expect students to progress simply by engaging in their course work:

At the beginning of the [dissertation] year [academic literacy] is pretty dire but by the end when they’ve completed it they improved a 100% from where they were. To some extent, part of that is that they are

actually up against it and they’ve got to get it sorted.

Image CC BY-NC-SA alandberning

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BYOD

“The philosophy of 'bring your own device' is being extended to 'bring your own services' and even 'bring your own skills', as most staff and students have achieved basic levels of digital access and are choosing technologies for themselves. This rationale, however, is not always expressed clearly, and nor are policies always in place to identify and support those with less digital capital to draw on.”

Image CC BY Adam Selwood

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Marginalisation through technology?

“There is nowhere for most students to find out what devices are required, expected, or recommended for their course, or having invested in a device, how best to use it to support their studies. Students who lack digital capital of all kinds – devices, know-how and positive experiences with technology – risk being marginalised.”

Image CC BY CarbonNYC

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Mobile technologies

“Students' use of mobile technologies is being acknowledged in the support for mobile networks and the use of text messaging, for example, to provide updates on the timetable or reminders of overdue library books, but there are very few examples of it being used for reciprocal communication or for data capture i.e. in learning and teaching contexts.”

Image CC BY Dominik Syka

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University of Plymouth

At the University of Plymouth, support for the development of digital literacy is provided by:

Computing Services | IT Training and Skills Development | Faculty Support and Strategy | Educational Development | Learning Development | Employability Centre/Careers | Learning and Research Development | Library | Disability ASSIST | Extra-curricular Learning Support | Widening Participation | Work-based learning team | Technology-Enhanced Learning Team | Media Hub

Each service supports a different aspect of digital capability or a different context of digital participation.

Image CC BY-NC-SA foto_mania

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Co-ordination of digital literacies in FE

“In FE, support for students' digital literacy is generally better coordinated, perhaps because of the small size of colleges and small number of professional staff involved in student support, or perhaps because of the focus on individual students' learning needs. Support tends to be provided in a wider range of formats, from training sessions through online support to hand-outs and videos.”

Image CC BY-NC-SA scalefreenetwork

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Part IV

What forward-thinking institutions are doing(taken from report by Helen Beetham, JISC consultant)

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Strategy

The most forward thinking universities and colleges are: Creating opportunities for digital issues to be discussed across

policy arenas. This might mean appointing a 'digital champion' whose remit crosses existing strategic boundaries, or providing forums where senior managers meet to discuss digital challenges and opportunities

Ensuring strategies translate into practical actions and include indicators of success

Drawing on the lessons and legacies of previous change initiatives at the institution

Describing carefully what is meant by 'digital literacy' or 'digital capability' or similar terms where they appear as aspirations

Involving students in strategic thinking

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Developing capability

Forward thinking universities and colleges are: Providing face to face training in the use of academic systems Embedding key technologies, methods and aptitudes into

programmes of study Articulating learning and teaching practices clearly, so that students

can anticipate digital requirements Identifying sources of digital disadvantage and planning to

remediate them Sustaining role-specific support networks, for example around

specialist technologies, practices or roles Offering clear rewards to staff and students for developing and

sharing their digital expertise Creating technology mentor or champion roles where appropriate

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Support and professional services

Forward thinking universities and colleges are: addressing the digital capability of professional staff working across professional and support services to articulate what

digital capabilities students should be developing if they are to be successful in their studies

involving students in supporting other students' development, and even reverse-mentoring staff

providing students with clear signposts to support and guidance

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Cultures and attitudes

Forward thinking universities and colleges are: explicitly rewarding innovation in learning, teaching and scholarship; recognising students' digital cultures and identities while making

explicit the practices of academic spaces (e.g. peer review, positive critique, language, referencing);

enabling departments and professional services to evolve their own definitions of digital capability and their own means of developing it (but also);

providing cross-departmental forums for sharing learning, teaching and research ideas;

involving students as digital ambassadors and change agents.

Image CC BY Aunt Owwee

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Going further

More information and links to JISC resources can be found at the links provided in your handout.

http://embedit.in/zeJc7xeI82

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© HEFCE 2011

The Higher Education Funding Council for England,

on behalf of JISC, permits reuse of this presentation

and its contents under the terms of the Creative Commons

Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK

England & Wales Licence.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk

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