OCSLD digi lit presentation

09/03/10 | | Slide 1

Introducing Literacies of the Digital

Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development10 March 2011

Helen Beetham

Not defining digital literacy

■ How are (personal, social, workplace, community, political, academic, professional...) practices changing as a result of digital technologies and networks?

■ What will be needed to thrive in these new practice contexts? (Graduate attributes...)

■ What experiences do learners need to have to become fluent in these practices? What challenges do they face?

■ How can institutions better value, support and develop these practices?

practicespracticespracticespracticespractices

contexts

09/03/10 | | Slide 5

Unpacking some tensions

Instrumental (skills-based) definition

This course teaches absolute beginners to computing about what a valuable tool computers can be in society today, and the basics of using the mouse and the keyboard. There are two versions of the Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard curriculum... the examples and screen shots in the original curriculum feature Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Windows XP, while Version 2 of the Digital Literacy Curriculum offers examples and screen shots from Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Windows Vista.

Socially situated definition

information

representation

media

knowledge

interpreting

understanding

analysing

creating

sharing

meaning-making...CriticalityAgencyValuePurposeIdentity

Kahn and Kellner (2005) Reconstructing Technoliteracy: a multiple literacies approach

Literacy is not a singular set of abilities but multiple...

effectively using socially constructed forms of communication and representation...

requires attaining competencies in practices and in contexts that are governed by rules and conventions...

necessarily socially constructed...

continuously evolving and shifting in response to social and cultural changes...

tethered to issues of power.

http://und.academia.edu/RichardKahn/Papers/76417/

digital = ‘tools are changing really fast!”

literacy = ‘learning stays much the same!'

Reframing literacy for a digital age

'we need a much broader reconceptualization of what we mean by literacy in a world that is increasingly dominated by electronic media' David Buckingham (2008)

'ICT is now integral to the development of early literacy and numeracy' National Literacy Trust study on Young People's Writing (2008)

Far from being one among a multitude of capabilities, digital literacy is at the heart of what it means to

learn, communicate, study and know.

Changes in knowledge practice: evidence

Transfer of attention from print to screen Multiplicity of media: hyperlinked and hybrid media Blurred boundaries of information and communication Ubiquitous access to information and connectivity to others Networked societies and interest groups Offloading of cognitive tasks onto digital tools and networks Power of the crowd (web 2.0 services, harnessing of communal

'knowledge' in new ways) Presentation of self in digital contexts Evidence of new modes of writing/composition (Cushman 2004) Evidence of new preferences for visual media (Nicholas 2008) Evidence of new participatory practices (Jenkins 2006)

(digital) literacy as a personal project or attribute

Working on a project this size is quite a mammoth task under a tight timeframe...we had to organise video calls... it actually led us to better understand how a team would operateStudent, Surrey case study

The reason why I think it's so important to embed [digital literacy] is it's about scholarship and to be a student is to be part of a scholarly community. Lecturer, Salford case study

(digital) literacy as a political projectICTs play an essential role in supporting daily life in today's digital society. They are used at work, to stay in touch with family, to deal with public services as well as to take part in culture, entertainment, leisure and political dialogues. European Commission (statement on e-inclusion, 2010)

Why does digital literacy matter?Political agendas

Digital inclusion (entitlement, e-inclusion, digital society)

Employability and the digital economy

– Building Britain’s Future – New Industry, New Jobs. Focus on the digital and creative industries

World-class skills (Leitch)

UK FE/HE in a global education market

Student satisfaction and meeting student expectations

Organisational capacity-building and workforce development

Why does digital literacy matter?Emerging educational contexts

'Educating the digital natives': new techno-social practices and their impacts

Connectivism and the limits of information literacy

Open content, learning in the wild

Open data, developing citizens of a new knowledge commons

Deepening inequalities including digital inequalities

What are the challenges for learners?

The 'native' case

Learners are developing their own digital knowledge practices with little help from the formal education system

online social networking as a paradigm of active learning in communities (Redecker 2009)

evidence of deep networking and knowledge building in learners' informal practices (Siemens 2006)

participative practices as a new model for learning, which formal education should emulate (Jenkins 2006)

Literacies for Learning in Further Education (Ivanic et al. 2007) found features of Jenkins 'participative practices 'in learners' informal behaviour

Against the 'native' case

Learners ICT skills are less advanced than educators and learners think (Nicholas et al. 2008, JISC 2008-09)

Characterisation of young people as 'digital natives' hides many contradictions in their experiences (Luckin et al. 2009)

Learners' engagement with digital media is complex and differentiated (Bennet et al 2008, Hargittai 2009).

Learners experience many difficulties transposing practices from social contexts into formal learning (Cranmer 2006)

Active knowledge building and sharing, e.g. writing wikis, tagging, reviewing, recommending, repurposing, are minority activities to which most learners are introduced by educators (Selwyn 2009).

Some aspects of learners' everyday practice with technology are at odds with practices valued in traditional academic teaching (Beetham 2009)

Known pinch points in the learning experience

Information skills, critical information literacy (Google Generation, LXP, PIL, Learning from Digital Natives, ReVEEL, Digital Britain)

Support for use of technologies for learning, use of personal technologies (LXP, Learning from Digital Natives)

Induction and pre-induction, expectations of study (TESEP, LXP)

Tutor skills (Becta, LXP, Digital Natives)

Plagiarism, originality and authority, intellectual property

Confidence, criticality and curiosity about technology (LXP, Digital Natives)

Feedback and assessment, especially high stakes (REAP, NSS)

Digital identity/reputation, issues of safety/integrity (DigEULit, CEDEFOP)

09/03/10 | | Slide 21

Supporting C21st graduate outcomes

What would you describe as the priority for a literate graduate of the C21st?

A high level skills for a knowledge economyB creative production of ideas in multiple mediaC critical information and technology literacyD digital participation and citizenshipE personal and social resilience...

What would (any of these) look like in practice?

How might you describe the relevant capabilities?

Discuss!

09/03/10 | | Slide 23

Looking at literacies developmentally

Helen BeethamLou McGillAllison Littlejohn

Small-scale JISC studyReported in March 09

academic literacies

Aspects of practice

information and media literacies

ICT literacies

critical thinkingproblem solvingreflectionacademic writingnote-takingconcept mappingtime managementanalysis, synthesisevaluationcreativity, innovationself-directed learningcollaborative learning

searching and retrievinganalysing, interpreting critiquingevaluatingmanaging resourcesnavigating info spacescontent creationediting, repurposingenriching resourcesreferencingsharing content

ICT skillsweb skillssocial networkingusing CMCusing TELEusing digital devicesword processingusing databasesanalysis toolsassistive techpersonalisation…

Stages of development

access

skills

practices

attributes

relatively stable aspects of the person

changeable and context-related aspects of the person

(Beetham and Sharpe 2009)

Problems with current approach

Competence frameworks maintained by separate professional communities – how do learners integrate them in authentic tasks?

Little effort to interpret frameworks in subject contexts – how do learners develop new stances/identities in relation to knowledge?

Despite theoretical and professional commitments of support staff, access to support often based on model of competence and deficit

Competence frameworks reify current practice – how do learners respond to changing social/technological environments?

ICT frameworks focus on competences (rapidly obsolescent) rather than on situated, creative and critical technology use

Little or no support for media literacy – critical reading and creative (re)production – outside of specialist courses

Supporting Learners in a Digital Age (SLiDA)

Findings from SLiDA

1 Prepare students for their experience of learning with technology

2 Enable learners to use their own devices and services

3 Reconfigure campus spaces for social learning with technology

4 Listen to learners talk about their experiences of learning and technology; involve them iteratively in developments

5 Take a strategic approach to course design in which blended/technology enhanced learning is taken as the norm

6. Contextualise digital literacies within the discipline: give staff time to rethink their own practice and understand learners' needs

7. Start by recognising what students already know and use

8. Expect change to come about through multiple projects working across levels (curriculum, services, policy, learner experience)

.

Key questions for us

In what knowledge practices do learners need proficiency, if they are to thrive as graduates in a digital economy and society?

What kinds of learning experience help them to develop these knowledge practices?

literacy as common entitlement

a foundational knowledge or capability, such as reading, writing or numeracy, on which more specific skills depend

a cultural entitlement – a practice without which a learner is impoverished in relation to culturally valued knowledge

access

skills

strategies

attributes

entitlementequality of

access

Ensuring all learners have functional access to core technologies, services and devices; developing core literacies; building capacity to learn across the lifecourse.

literacies as difference

access

skills

strategies

attributesenhancementexpression of

difference

Enabling learners to access and integrate own technologies, services, and learning communities; supporting the development of socio-technical practices; supporting achievement of personal goals and learning journeys.

What kind of experiences do learners need to have to develop literacies of the digital?

How are those experiences best supported:

A by institution-wide strategies and initiatives?B by specialist staff offering learner-centred support

outside of the curriculum?C in the curriculum?D by other learners, informally and through groupwork

and mentoring?

Discuss!

Recommendations: what should we wish for?

Learning, living and working are understood to take place in a digital society: there is no separate space of learning which is 'digital'

Learners are blending their own personal and shared learning environments

There is an entitlement to access and basic skills of learning in a digital age, plus a recognition of diverse needs and preferences for study

Literacies for learning are continually assessed and supported: the emphasis is on producing digitally capable lifelong learners

The focus is on what formal post-compulsory education can uniquely provide:

– e.g. self-direction, self-awareness, depth of attention, a critical stance, apprenticeship in professional and academic practice, creativity and innovation, social entrepreneurialism...

Students become 'qualified' in specific kinds of academic knowledge practice

Students need to strategically manage a range of knowledge practices, for different contexts

Technologies are introduced according to the requirements of the curriculum

(Yes, and) the curriculum is continually modified by the impacts of technology in the environment

Disaggregated services, deployed at particular points in the learning cycle (library, ICT, study skills, careers)

Integrated support for students' learning development and different learning pathways

Stable job market, 'employability' has clear features, particularly in specific vocations and professions

Unstable job market: adaptability, resilience, multi-tasking, capacity to exercise judgement and management of multiple roles to the fore

Students typically on two-year (FE) or three-year (HE) programmes of study: ongoing relationship with institution

Students engaged in multiple forms of learning, often while employed and/or attending several institutions: relationships more flexible, short-term and contractual in natureModular assessment: focus on achievement

within clearly defined curriculum goalsSome cross-modular assessment: focus on self-efficacy and the ability to integrate skills/know-how

Emerging educational agendas'Educating the digital natives': new techno-social practices and their

impacts

Connectivism and the limits of information literacy

Open content, learning in the wild

Open data, developing citizens of a new knowledge commons

Globalisation

Deepening inequalities including digital inequalities

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