Digital Literacy, the Community College,and Student Success
Charting digital literacy: A framework for information technology and
digital skills education in the community college
www.lanecc.edu
A project by:
Jeremy RielPrimary Investigator
Georgetown University
Sonya ChristianVice President
Academic and Student AffairsLane Community College
Brad HinsonAcademic Dean
Instructional TechnologyLane Community College
- Present Lane’s digital literacy project & recent research
Our goals for this forum
- Discuss the findings and implications we see
- Ask our colleagues at Innovations what they see happening on their campus and
- Share ideas on how to use this research and to discuss our next steps for research to get your ideas
- Spurred by OER initiative at Lane in 2010
- Put the cart before the horse in many ways: researchers assumed a uniform degree of digital skills and information literacy and were surprised to the degree to which it varied
- Needed to figure out a common language and framework for our digital efforts
Why Did We Start This Research?
- We knew there was something drastically changing with how people used technology and the skills that the workforce demanded
- We wanted to know what was changing from a research perspective
- Plenty of anecdotal stories and ideas, but not enough evidence or actual formalized classroom integration
- Dual problem: Identifying what digital literacy is and how to disseminate it
Why Did We Start This Research?
- We are moving toward a knowledge-based economy that uses ubiquitous digital tools
Why Is Digital Literacy Important?
- Mission of the community college to empower student success and robust workforce skills
- National emphasis on STEM education, particularly the integration of STEM principles and tools into the social sciences to provide exposure
- A hunch that there are some universal tech skills that are required for success today
- 1st Paper entitled “Charting Digital Literacy”
About the 2011 Study
- Categorizes 4 dimensions of digital literacy
- Provides a framework for future analysis
- Allows for creation of actionable metrics
1) What technologies and functionalities exist today within the global information economy and how are they used?
Research Questions
2) What is digital literacy and what digital skills do students and faculty need to know?3) How do digital literacy and technology skills differ among educational levels and different groups of students?(i.e., high school, remedial learning,
career/techincal, transfer programs, four-year university)
- Hasn’t been defined uniformly across disciplines
Defining Digital Literacy
- Part of the problem is that we didn’t know what it even was or where to look to begin defining it.- Gilster (1997): “the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers.”
- not just technical skills
- Martin & Madigan (2005): “the ability to succeed in encounters with the electronic infrastrutctures and tools that make possible the world of the twenty-first century.”
Defining Digital Literacy
- Similarities to other literacies appearing in the literature:
- Information literacy- Computer literacy- Library literacy- Media literacy- Network literacy- Informacy- Mediacy- Common to most themes: literacy is
contextual, changes based on the environment, intended outcomes, and social cues/rules
- Meta-analysis of 20+ studies on digital literacy:
* Theoretical Studies* Benchmarks for science/tech competency* Commissioned reports
Methodology
- Coded for the presence of specific digital or related skills that a “digitally literate” person would have
- Tools & Interface
Findings: Four Dimensions
- Information
- Sharing & Creation
- Historical & Cultural Context
Findings: Tools & Interface
Computational Basics
Computer Hardware
Computer Software & Applications
Networks
Design
Augmentation
Findings: Information
Representation
Search
Assembly
Analysis & Judgment
Synthesis
Archiving
Navigation
Findings: Sharing & Creation
Inventive Thinking
Documents (text)
Multimedia
Communication
Online Persona
Productivity
Sharing & Collaboration
Findings: Historical & Cultural Context
Digital Citizenship
Diversity
Intellectual Property
Privacy and Identity
Programmed Agendas
Technology Impact
- Assessment rubric
- Moodle course for faculty professional development opportunities- Documents, videos, walkthroughs, guides- Best practices sharing site and blog for faculty- Student challenges and contests- In-class assignment and project ideas
Our Next Steps
- We have yet to really start! Our goal to begin was to define what we were even looking at
- Have any campuses here had any wide-scale or pilot digital literacy initiatives and if so, what are they composed of?
Digital Literacy Initiatives & Ideas
- What are some of the ways that you could recommend to engage faculty to pilot some digital literacy initiatives or integrate practical digital literacy assignments into their curriculum?
Faculty Adoption of Digital Literacy Integration
- Have any campuses attempted to measure the digital literacy skills of their students?
- Have there been any efforts to analyze the types of digital literacy offerings in classes? If so, what do these look like?
(we think this could be useful to take inventory of what we’re offering and to see what is already working well)
Measurement
- Common framework and definitions to discuss material for innovative pedagogies
Implications: Short-term
- Common language by which to communicate the value of digital skills across the disciplines- Allows for creation of uniform resources for new innovations; common understanding- Research to find measurable correlations between specific digital skills and student success measures (completion, retention, grades, satisfaction)
- Students and faculty as better consumers of information and digital tools
Implications: Long-term
- Formalized coursework and best practices for assignments/assessment tools
- Common language that can be shared across institutions- Institutionalization of the value and practice of digital literacy instruction
- Text
TechLiterate.org
- We’d love to hear your feedback!
Any Other Ideas?
- Please take our cards and feel free to contact us
- Visit TechLiterate.org
Thank You!
Jeremy RielPrimary Investigator
Georgetown University
Brad HinsonAcademic Dean
Instructional TechnologyLane Community College
Sonya ChristianVice President
Academic and Student AffairsLane Community College