Influencing policy (training slides from Fast Track Impact)
Developing digital literacy, Highbury College
1. SUPPORTING DIGITAL LITERACY
DEVELOPMENT IN OUR STUDENTS
Dr. Rhona Sharpe
rsharpe@brookes.ac.uk
For Highbury College, Portsmouth
12 December 2012
Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development
brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld
2. How are learners making use of
technology to support their studies?
4. OVERVIEW OF CURRENT
RESEARCH
Literacy practices in everyday life:
Multi-modal Purposeful
Multi-media Clear sense of
audience
Shared
Generative
Non-linear
Self-determined
Agentic
Ivanic et al (2007) Literacies for learning in Further
Education. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/lflfe/index.htm
5. NEW DEMANDS ON EDUCATION
Sense making Computational thinking
Social intelligence New media literacy
Adaptive thinking Cognitive load
Cross-cultural management
competency Transdisciplinarity
Virtual collaboration Design mindset
FUTURE WORK SKILLS 2020
6. OVERVIEW OF CURRENT
RESEARCH
Digital natives are not necessarily digitally literate,
although they:
1. Demonstrate literacy practices informed by
use of technology
2. Have high expectations of institutions to
provide robust and accessible technology
3. Have a very broad view of the role of
technology in learning
4. Sometimes use technology in ways that we
have not predicted and that we can learn
from.
7. How would you characterize
a digitally literate learner?
8. DEFINITIONS
“The use of the term literacy implies a broader
form of education about media that is not
restricted to mechanical skills or narrow forms of
functional competence. It suggests a more
rounded, humanistic conception‟
(Buckingham, 2006)
“Digital literacy expresses the sum of capabilities
an individual needs to live, learn and work in a
digital society” (JISC, Developing Digital Literacy
Workshops, 2011)
10. DEVELOPMENTAL MODELS
Sharpe and Beetham 2010
attributes „I am . . .‟
personal
practices
„I do . . .‟
skills „I can . . .‟
functional
access „I have . . .‟
11. BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
At Oxford Brookes University, digital and
information literacy is defined as ..
The functional access, skills and practices
necessary to become a confident, agile
adopter of a range of technologies for
personal, academic and professional use
https://wiki.brookes.ac.uk/display/slidacases/Oxford+Brookes
12. REFLECTION POINT 1
What definition of digital literacy would
make sense and help people to take
action, in your context of work?
Tweet your thoughts using the tag
#dlhighbury
20. What does it mean to be
digitally literate in . . .?
Use online databases to
conduct systematic reviews.
Analyse data in Excel to
produce scientific reports.
Health and life Maintain electronic patient
sciences care records appropriately.
Evaluate the role of assistive
technologies in advancing
health and social care
practice.
21. What does it mean to be
digitally literate in . . .?
Use relevant software to
solve complex automotive
engineering problems.
Technology Work with models that
simulate the behaviour of the
and
physical world.
engineering
Produce high quality output
using the latest software
tools.
23. REFLECTION POINT 2
What experiences which move students on
already exist at Highbury?
What more could you be doing?
Tweet your thoughts to #dlhighbury
24. WHAT MOVES LEARNERS ON?
Digital literacy developments that seem to be
working well are:
Rooted in the disciplines
Developed in role, as and when needed
Allow students to learn informally from peers
Encompasses learners’ digital identity
Formal learning in curriculum structures
remains critical
26. SHARING RESPONSIBILITY
WITH STUDENTS
InStePP project, Oxford Brookes
The staff are asking us to do things like, "how do
we integrate Twitter with this?" and, okay, I don't
know, gimme five minutes and I'll go and find out.
And that's how I've always worked.… I will go
away and make myself an expert in that field and
then come back and pass on that
knowledge, enable other people to go and use that
software
(ePioneer 2, JISC cluster group 6 Sep 2012).
28. REFLECTION POINT 3
What will you personally do next to move
this agenda on?
Tweet your thoughts to #dlhighbury
29. SUMMARY
Graduates who will thrive in the digital age
will need the confidence and agility to
respond to complex and changing
circumstance.
The powerful influence of context means that
teachers and their institutions should take
the lead in developing their learners.
Learner development can be understood as
developing functional access, skills,
personal practices and attributes.
30. CREDITS
Much of the research on which this presentation is
based was funded by the JISC, including
• The Learners Experiences of e-learning programme
• The Supporting Learners in a Digital Age project
• The InSTePP project
The images used in this presentation are taken from
the JISC Learner Experiences with E-learning key
messages slides, available from
https://mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/JISCLE2
Sources can be found on my Delicious account, tagged
„Highbury‟.
Editor's Notes
What we do know is that -
All agree? Are these statements enough?Probably not, in fact the 2012 European Commission report on expert’s view of digital competence, starts from the premise that educators require more clarity from such definitions.
Students appreciate being allowed - encouraged – to use their own devices, and similar cheap accessible devices (flip cams) purchased by the college.
It’s about authentic, informal learningBUT, until this happening well, formal learning remains critical.
In other words, in a multiplicity of ways some of the existing ePioneers exemplify the Oxford Brookes digital and information literacy graduate attribute, being ‘confident, agile adopter(s) of a range of technologies for personal, academic and professional use’. It is this confidence and agility, rather than specific knowledge of software or devices, that is of greatest value to the project and to developing the digital literacies of others. The ePioneers suggested that as far as possible supplementary ePioneer training on how to use various digital tools should be made available online so that ePioneers can ‘do all the training in their own time and then in their e-portfolio tick off the training when it's done’ (ePioneer 1, 14 Sep 2012).
In other words, in a multiplicity of ways some of the existing ePioneers exemplify the Oxford Brookes digital and information literacy graduate attribute, being ‘confident, agile adopter(s) of a range of technologies for personal, academic and professional use’. It is this confidence and agility, rather than specific knowledge of software or devices, that is of greatest value to the project and to developing the digital literacies of others. The ePioneers suggested that as far as possible supplementary ePioneer training on how to use various digital tools should be made available online so that ePioneers can ‘do all the training in their own time and then in their e-portfolio tick off the training when it's done’ (ePioneer 1, 14 Sep 2012).
Flipcharts headed…Teaching staffStudents Support staffSenior Management
.. Rather than mastery of specific system. . Of course all students need baseline skills, but graduates need to have applied these skills in challenging contexts and with high-level tasks. (GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES)Digital skills should not be bolted onto existing provision. Rather, the institution needs to renew its core practices in the light of new digital challenges and opportunities. Digital literacy can be incorporated into the student experience as an aspect of professionalism, employability, citizenship, and other core values and attributes of becoming a graduate.Students' technology skills are shared very readily, including with academic staff! Students may lack experience in professional and academic practice, but their technical know-how can be harnessed through peer working, paid support roles, internships and mentoring schemes.Students needopportunities to express and develop their personal preferences for technology. Use of their own devices and services for study should be encouraged and supported. Social and personal uses of technology are important in their own right to help students fit learning into their lives and maintain their commitment to study. Institutions should find different ways to involve students in shaping their experience of learning with technology. This might be directly, for example giving choices about technology, or asking for and responding to feedback in class. Or it might be indirectly, such as working with course representatives and the Students Union to improve the learning experience.All of the institutions involved in SLIDA were taking a long-term view of development. They were not interested in quick fix investments but an iterative process of consultation and review, embedding new practices of student support in ways that could be sustained.