Incorporating Digital Literacies into an embedded employability skills development programme

Incorporating Digital Literacies into an embedded employability skills development programmeNitin Parmar & Louise Oliver

4 July 2013#maharauk13 | @nrparmar

Background

• Mahara at the University of Bath

• Mahara UK 2012, Lancaster

• Piloting Mahara 1.5 (with Moodle 2.2)

…. and conversations with Catalyst IT and Southampton Solent University

Skills Development Programme

Employability skills development programme developed in 2011 A specifically designed blended learning course was designed to

support students and to submit assessed work, alongside signposting to other relevant information

Sessions delivered by relevant employers Sessions included relevant industrial activities Programme incorporated as a credit-weighted unit in 2012 Mahara used as an assessed component

Digital Literacies Development

• JISC funded PriDE project [2011-2013] sought to define and embed digital literacies within a range of areas at the university.

• Discipline-specific statements were developed for digital literacies skills, competencies and attributes.

• Developments provided added direction and motivation for mini-projects around the university

Workflow

1. Attend Skills Training Session

2. Visit Moodle to find out about Activity

3. Watch screencast outlining Mahara task

4. Complete Mahara task as directed

5. Submit link to Page via a Moodle Assignment activity

Leadership skills

Activities included• An exercise in envisioning• An exercise in engaging• How do YOU energise your team• Exercise in Enabling your team• SMART – specific, measureable, attainable, relevant, time-bound• Blakes and Moulton managerial grid

A typical Page

[ REMOVED PRIOR TO UPLOAD ]

Other Development Areas

• Enhancing Case Study based learning

• Supporting PGCE-related PDP initiatives

• Showcasing development activities for Elite Athletes

• Exploring evidencing The Bath Award (with Open Badges?)

Next Steps [Programme]

• Applications phase

• On-placement phase

Next Steps [Mahara]

• Exploring "Mahoodle“ functionality (again)

• Third Party plugins e.g. exporting Pages to multiple file formats

• Further integration with University of Bath systems

• Discussions around continued access for students (post graduation) and archiving of data

Contact Details

• Nitin Parmar, N.R.Parmar@bath.ac.uk, @nrparmarLearning Technologist

• Louise Oliver, L.Oliver@bath.ac.ukFaculty Placements Officer