Digital literacies in UK Universities: the state of playHelen BeethamDeveloping Digital Literacies programme consultant

Why is digital literacy an issue just now?

Capacity buildingNew local and global markets

Borderless institutionsDifferentiation, unique brand

Perceived vfm

EmployabilityGraduate attributes

Digital reputation/capitalResilience

New social practicesDigital media and file sharingUbiquitous connectivityMass customisationContractual relationships online

Digital scholarship/researchOpen publishing/open dataDigital learning/teaching mediaUbiquitous knowledge/dataMethodological revolution

Organisational futuresEducational digital practices

Personal digital practices Personal aspirations

How are Universities defining digital literacy?

Ensuring students are prepared for study and employment in the digital age, with a range of Learning Literacies embedded into the curriculum in addition to the subject knowledge

Consider the potential of technology to promote knowledge building and reflective, student-centred, creative and collaborative learning;

[develop] self-regulating citizens in a globally connected society, able to handle multiple, diverse information sources and media, proficiently mediating their interactions with social and professional groups using an ever-changing and expanding range of technologies and able confidently to use digital technologies to reflect on, record and manage their lifelong learning;

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Baselining the state of play

What does a 'digital literacies' agenda look like at the level of the curriculum, institutional infrastructure, policies, academic cultures, professional services?

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Baselining the state of play

Organizational factors:

Policy and strategy, including 'offer' and 'brand' issues

Technical infrastructure (e.g. supporting use of personal devices and services)

Professional and support services

Rich evidence from sample stakeholders about their:

Personal/professional digital skills and practices

Personal/professional development

Attitudes and beliefs about digital technology

What is the strategic environment?

Average = 6-10 strategies

Focus on responding to crisis/change

The diversity of documents covering... digital matters for staff and students means there are few members of the University aware of it all – and policies may be devised and revised without much engagement across departments...

Traditional mechanisms for developing and agreeing strategies lack sufficient agility.

Learning and Teaching | e-learning | IS/ICT Library and Information Management

Research and Knowledge Transfer | EstatesStudent Experience | Student Charter | HR

Strategic issues

Increasingly persuasive digital 'offer' to prospective students

Strategic aspirations may not be enacted in departments and programmes of study

Few opportunities for digital issues to be discussed across strategic territories

Momentum lost between change initiatives, change weariness

Lack of senior management vision BUT requires people with vision and commitment in all roles

Infrastructural issues

BYODevice/BYOService/BYOSkills Data/information environment that is platform, device,

and application agnostic Providing an equivalent infrastructure across distributed

sites of learning How borderless?

– public pedagogies

– public scholarship

– new partnerships

– students and staff building independent digital reputations and careers

Organisational/cultural issues

Are digital capabilities a pre-requisite for access to higher education in the UK?

If so, how do universities support students who are otherwise capable of benefiting from HE?

How do universities ensure digital capital does not become another barrier or structural inequality (is it our responsibility)?

What uniquely does higher education offer, in a digital age, that is not available through informal opportunities to learn?

Digital practices

Hybrid practices: informal/formal contexts, insitutional/personal/public technologies, academic/digital know-howwork/home life

Hidden practices: personal study habits; the outsourced curriculum

Students’ digital literacy practices are predominantly contextualised within their programmes of study

Personal/professional development

Self-reliance for adoption of generic technologies e.g. apps, web services, devices

Structured development to introduce complex systems that support complex practices

– e.g. data analysis, reference management, institutional business systems, editing software, design systems

Local peer or mentor support for advanced and contextualised use

Perceived lack of relevant, timely, local training/support

Attitudes and cultures

Students' digital capability still regarded with more fear than excitement

Culture clash more evident where

– students/staff successful with 'traditional' modes of study

– Wide 'academic generation gap' Experience with technology leads to a more critical and

discriminating attitude Wholesale shift of focus from teaching staff using

technologies to use by students is still to happen

Conclusion

A digital University is not simply one that provides up-to-date facilities but one that prepares students

to live and work in a digital society, and fosters digital scholarship as a mainstream activity.

Baselining tools, resources and findings are available here:

http://bit.ly/baseliningDL

Discussion time

What are the key messages?What would help your institution to develop?