Plymouth Digital Literacy presentation

www.technologyenhancedlearning.net 31/08/2011 1

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How we live now students' attitudes to technology and

learning

Helen BeethamDr Neil Witt


Background: the digital literacies challenge (10 mins)

Activity: 'what do you know about your learners'? (5 mins)

Methods: investigating students' use of technology for learning (5 mins)

Activity: practising a card-sort interview in pairs (5 mins)

Findings: what learners are saying at Plymouth (10 mins)

Final discussion: how should institutions respond? (10 mins)

Structure of the workshop


The Digital Literacies challengeLLiDA study (JISC 2009)

Ideas of employability, citizenship and graduate identity are being re-interpreted for a digital age, in which knowledge is ubiquitously available and relationships are increasingly managed online. Institutions must position themselves to respond quickly and flexibly to the need for new kinds of capability, and to recognise and represent graduate capabilities in new ways.


The challenge at Plymouth:Graduate destinations

Loss of traditional professional jobs: more associate professional, technicalEmerging ('modern' and 'new') professions dominated by ICT and digital mediaMore graduates go on to be self-employed; rise of the 'portfolio; careerChanging career patterns and employment opportunities>90% of all jobs require ICT competence

This is not real data from the University of Plymouth but an image released by flickr user bitchcakesny under CC by-nc-sa


The challenge at Plymouth:TEL as the norm

Technology-enhanced is the norm ('embedding of TEL and associated pedagogies')Institutional technologies are not the only show in townMultiply-located, discontinuous, multi-media, interdisciplinary experiencesOnly 'digitally literate staff and students' can knit it all together


Activity: how welldo you know your learners?

Read through the questions on sheet 1

In pairs/threes: Choose a section Share the information you know already Think about how you would find out more

(optional) edit tinyurl.com/digilearners


Activity: how welldo you know your learners?

Feedback

Take away and read through sheet 2:from the literature

Bear in mind that local research is best: ideas for getting quick feedback from students


• Review of best practice and sector recommendations

• Focus groups of institutional decision makers

• Institutional audit of all strategic documentation, policies, processes etc.

• Cross faculty student focus groups

• Cross institutional survey of students’ attitudes, experience, confidence and needs related to the use and ownership of technology

What we did


The focus groups

• Students across faculties (x3) plus sixth form students (x1)

• Card sorts, open ended questions

• Exploring tech ownership, use, and practice

• Exploring expectations and ambitions for university study


Activity – card sort

• Working in pairs/threes

• Sort the cards into piles according to how valuable students might find them for study

• It's up to you how you label the piles


Finding information

Essential Google (highly valued by all)Google ScholarAthens/online journals

Valued lecture notes, textbooks, Tulip, Metalib, Voyager (all 'official' course materials)Google Bookscitation software (highly valued by the few who used it)e-portfolio (highly valued by the few who used it)

Background use assignment criteria, module overviewfacebook, chat, email, wikipedia, mobile phone (text, voice) (all for contacting other students or, occasionally, former colleagues and tutors)

Not valued podcasts, iTunesU, skype, twitter, MySites, old assignments/feedback


Finding information

If I don't know a subject, or maybe a term...I'll look at it through wikipedia first so that I have a general idea about it. But then of course I don't rely on wikipedia, so maybe I check the endnotes to see if I can find some other more reliable sources. But if I actually know what to look for I go to Metalib, to the journals there.


Finding information

I mean I like the idea of using online journals but I actually don't think I've ever put one into my assignment unless I've read it in like an appendix or had it in a lecture or something.

I'll get to a certain point and then I just get really confused. I can't find where the journals have gone, I can only see some of it.


Finding information

If you don't get it right the first time, Google will suggest a different way of searching for something. It's certainly a lot easier to use than Uni systems [yeah, agreement all round]. And you don't have to log in 500 times before you get something [yeah, laughter].


Finding information

Google scholar is more up to date, so if you're looking at articles you're looking at something that's been produced in the last three to five years. If you're looking at a book, by the time it's been published it's ten years out of date already, generally.


Using social media

I remember when we first started on our course i'd be on MSN talking to my friends all the time, 'what's the answer to this, quick quick quick', and it was really useful, incredibly useful. Like mini conferences but online and not face to face.

I use all of these [social media], but when I'm with someone I find out what they prefer. Some people prefer skype, some people prefer facebook, or MSN.


Using capture media

I always take pictures of, like, this is what it looked like before, this is what it looked like afterwards, and then I can put them in my report or just refer back to them for revision.

We took pictures at each stage of the design. It's a quick document of what you've done in that day.

In lectures loads of people [have recording devices]. Some people find it goes in really well when they hear something.


Expectations of technology at University

• Students want 24/7 access to course info & learning materials, on the devices they use

• Personal devices are often not up-to-date, portable or robust• They have diverse preferences for social and communicational media: some

like to separate personal / study spaces• They need opportunities to reflect on and develop their own strategies for

using TEL: induction, skills sessions, e-portfolios help• There is a need for consistency from tutors, and clarity about digital practices

at course level• 'Light bulb' technologies are introduced by teaching staff through specific

exercises e.g. library catalogue, Excel, design software• Students expect the use of technology at University to enhance their

employability, confidence, and subject know-how.

Education

Plymouth Digital Literacy presentation