Slides from the JISC Developing Digital Literacies workshop, 2011 (with Rhona Sharpe)

1. Date
Venue
Developing Digital Literacy
Helen Beetham, Rhona Sharpe, Greg Benfield, Sarah Knight

2. Digital Literacy
Why are we here?
“digital literacy expresses the
sum of capabilities an
individual needs to live, learn
and work in a digital society”
•what capabilities will your graduates need in the C21st?
•what challenges do they face in developing them?
•how can you help them develop literacies of/for the digital?

3. Digital Literacy
Maps of the territory
Programme of the day – activities! – we will capture and share
Reflective pro-forma for you to take away
Twitter/blog tag #JISCdiglit
Delegate list – follow people up
Online materials:
http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/.../digital-literacy
.../JISC-Digital-Literacy-Workshop-materials
available under CC (by-sa) license for repurposing and reuse

4. Digital Literacy
Activity
1. Label your diagram with key features of a 'digitally literate
graduate'
2. Use terms and ideas that will be familiar in your
institution, subject area, or setting
3. There will be opportunities to add and refine your ideas
during this session

5. Digital Literacy
Why is this an issue now?
Impacts of New demands
digital media on education
on knowledge

6. Digital Literacy
'New ways of knowing'

7. Digital Literacy
'New ways of knowing'
Transfer of attention from print to screen
Multiplicity of media: hyperlinked and hybrid media
Blurred boundaries of information/communication
Ubiquitous access to information and to connected others
Routine surveillance and capture of processes/events
Networked societies and interest groups
Power of the crowd (web 2.0, massive social data sets)
Offloading of cognitive tasks onto digital tools and networks
Presentation of self in digital contexts
Open scholarship and open publishing

8. Digital Literacy
Using 'ways of knowing' to expand your
characterisation of a digitally literate learner.
What kinds of How is it expressed What new data is
expertise and know- and shared? being captured and
how? managed?
What does What does it mean What forms of
innovation look like? to be critical? judgement are
needed?

9. Digital Literacy
What are graduate attributes?

10. Digital Literacy
What are graduate attributes?

‘These attributes include, but go beyond, the
disciplinary expertise or technical knowledge
that has traditionally formed the core of most
university courses.

They are ability, dispositions, qualities which
enable knowledge gained to be translated
into a discipline and work place context.
Bowden, J., Hart, G., King, B., Trigwell, K., & Watts, O. (2000) Generic
capabilities of ATN university graduates, Canberra: Australian
Government Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs

11. Digital Literacy
Why graduate attributes?

‘qualities that prepare graduates as
agents of social good in an unknown
future.’ (Bowden et al, 2000)

‘attributes that help prepare our
students to tackle the ever evolving
challenges facing them during and at
the end of their studies’ (University of Edinburgh)

12. Digital Literacy
An example: Oxford Brookes University
Five graduate attributes agreed at Oxford
Brookes University.
Digital literacy defined as…

The functional access, skills and
practices necessary to become . . .

a confident, agile adopter of a range of
technologies for personal, academic
and professional use.
(https://wiki.brookes.ac.uk/display/slidacases/Oxford+Brookes)

13. Digital Literacy
An example: University of Wolverhampton
Three graduate attributes at University of
Wolverhampton
Digital literacy defined as

our graduates will be confident users of
advanced technologies; they will lead
others, challenging convention by
exploiting the rich sources of connectivity
digital working allows.
(https://wiki.brookes.ac.uk/display/slidacases/Wolverhampton)

14. Digital Literacy
Using graduate attributes to expand your
characterisation of your digitally literate learner.
What What for? What context?
confidence exploit professional
technology
agility challenge personal
convention
communicative