Engagement with the DEBUT Project

Kay Hutchfield, Senior LecturerDepartment of Health, Wellbeing and the Family

Canterbury Christ Church UniversityCanterbury, Kent

Background2007 CCCU involved in HEA benchmarking exerciseGenerated significant debate around the future direction

of CCCU in relation to e-learningInstitute wide review resulted in focus on specific aspects

of e-learning Quality The student experience The staff experience Strategic use of e-learning

Outcomes of benchmarking exerciseWidespread usage of VLE to support learning and

teachingHOWEVER, only limited examples of full use of the

technology availableStaff were not generally aware of other digital tools Aim: to further develop the use of learning technologies

in a more sustainable way using new staff development approaches that would increase the overall digital literacy of the staff

DEBUT (Digital Experience Building in University Teaching)

An HEA Pathfinder funded project which piloted a staff development approach which recognised the individual needs of academics and explored a range of different staff development methodologies

The project piloted a personalised, contextualised and intensive approach to developing digital literacy in academics based on the individual context and needs of a group of 25 academics

A bit about digital literacyMartin suggests that for the individual, e-literacy consists of five elements:  

awareness of the IT and information environmentconfidence in using generic IT and information toolsevaluation of information-handling operations and products;reflection on one’s own e-literacy developmentadaptability and willingness to meet e-literacy challenges.

The DEBUT project used these elements to construct the digital literacy scale on which participants could position themselves, from 1 (complete beginner) through to 5 (expert), at the beginning and end of the project.

http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/italics/vol5iss4/martin-grudziecki.pdf (DigEuLit project)

DEBUT Participants25 participantsRepresentative of the academic and

demographic profile of CCCURange of levels of digital literacyDevised a development plan and selected six

digital tools they would access within DEBUT

MethodologiesPrior to 2007 facilitation of individual requests from

academics to the LTEU faculty learning technologistDEBUT

List of e-learning opportunitiesRange of modes of delivery including online

worksheets, one to one facilitation, group workshops and follow-up sessions

Digital toolsStandard learning technology available within

the institution External web2-type toolsOther web technologies new to the institution

My selection1. PDA

2. Podcasting

3. Netvibes

4. Wikis

5. Refworks

6. Ning social networking

Later

7. Interactive white board

8. Desk-based video conferencing

9. Flickr

Lessons learned and findings to

shareKey issues:

Mixed ability groups could be an issueRelationships built on expertise and trustTime available to spend on staff developmentEasy access to appropriate technologies

 The findings from DEBUT present a challenge: in developing digital literacy skills staff clearly value a contextualised and personalised approach, with follow-up sessions and support through people contact. The issue for institutions is how this can be delivered in a manageable and sustainable way.

Su Westerman, LTEU team leader

Lessons learned and findings to

share

Many participants also immediately integrated the use of their chosen tools into their practice.

Su Westerman, LTEU team leader

The key indicator of DEBUT’s success was evidence of a marked increase in the digital literacy levels of the participants. All but the most experienced had made progress on their digital journey, very significant progress in a number of cases.

Participants commented on the increase in their ability and confidence not only with the tools they had experienced as part of DEBUT, but with digital tools generally.

Personal perspectiveLearnt new skills that I am using in my teachingMore aware of how little I knowSharing new learning with colleagues to increase

disseminationKnow most of LTEU staff now and their areas of expertise

so can make direct approach for advice/support.Opportunity to continue learning with each new DEBUT

group