This document discusses promoting teaching excellence through developing digital capabilities. It begins by asking how digital capabilities can promote teaching excellence. It then outlines six overarching principles for doing so: 1) start with pedagogy, 2) recognize context is key, 3) create a digital capability threshold for institutions, 4) use communities of practice to share good practices, 5) introduce a robust change management strategy, and 6) develop a compelling evidence-based rationale. The document discusses defining digital capability as skills for living, learning, and working in a digital society and teaching excellence as enhancing and transforming the student learning experience. It proposes using action-oriented inquiry, which applies engagement, curiosity, and questioning to practical issues, as a process to

1. Promoting teaching excellence through
the development of digital capabilities:
can it be done?
Charlie Davis and Sue Pears

2. Something of
a dilemma!?

3. The QAA asked the question “How can digital
capability promote teaching excellence?”
QAA, (2016). Subscriber Research Series 2016-17: Digital Capability and Teaching
Excellence
Overarching principles:
1. Start with pedagogy every time,
2. Recognise that context is key,
3. Create a digital capability threshold for institutions,
4. Use communities of practice and peer support to share good practice,
5. Introduce a robust and owned change management strategy,
6. Develop a compelling evidence-informed rationale.

4. QAA, (2016). Subscriber Research Series 2016-17: Digital Capability and Teaching
Excellence
6. Develop a compelling evidence-informed rationale.

5. What do you understand by the term…
Digital Capability

6. JISC defines Digital Capability as…
“the capabilities which fit
someone for living, learning
and working in a digital
society”
JISC, (2014) Developing digital literacies [online] Available at
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-students-digital-literacy [Accessed 26
January 2017].

7. What do you understand by the term…
Teaching Excellence

8. The QAA defines Teaching Excellence as…
“Evidence of enhancing and
transforming the student
learning experience”
Derived from the Higher Education Academy (HEA) (2015) National Teaching Fellowship
Scheme (NTFS) resources

9. We define Action-Orientated Inquiry as…
“participative communities of inquiry
in which qualities of engagement,
curiosity and question posing are
brought to bear on significant
practical issues.”
Reason, P & Bradbury H. eds., (2008). The Sage Handbook of Action Research:
Participative Inquiry and Practice. 2nd ed. London: Sage.

10. Action-Orientated Inquiry Process
Power, R., (2005). Action research: a guide for associate lecturers. Milton Keynes: Open
University. [online] Available at http://www.open.ac.uk/cobe/docs/AR-Guide-final.pdf
[Accessed 25 April 2017].
Plan
Act
Observe
Reflect
Plan
Act
Observe
Reflect
Initial
question
Further
question

11. Plan
• Inquiry Focus
• Questions
• How can I change…?
• How can I develop…?
• How can I build on…?
Act(ion)
• What are you going to do?
Observe
• Data generation
• Methods
• Analysis
Reflect
• What will you do with the
data?

12. Plan
• Assessment
• How can I develop non-
traditional assessment
formats?
• The instruction is wholly
online
• The exam is on paper
Act(ion)
Observe
Reflect
Here’s a fictitious example…

13. Plan
Act(ion)
• Create online quizzes
• Rollout formatively
• Self-assessment
Observe
Reflect
Here’s a fictitious example…

14. Plan
Act(ion)
Observe
• Test scores
• Focus groups
• Interviews
• NSS
Reflect
Here’s a fictitious example…

15. Plan
Act(ion)
Observe
Reflect
• What went well?
• What could be better?
Here’s a fictitious example…
Design
dialogue

16. Task
You’ve been asked to identify ways that support/enhance/develop
student personal tutoring experiences through the development of staff
digital capabilities.
Identify:
1. Inquiry focus and question(s)
2. An action
3. How you will generate data from which to make claims
4. How you will analyse the data to make claims
5. How you will use evaluation findings:
• to inform staff development initiatives,
• to identify the promotion of digitally capable teaching excellence, and
• to identify any barriers to the promotion of digitally capable teaching excellence

17. Image Credit: OpenClipart-Vectors (CC0)

18. What now?

19. What now?
•Collaboration document - http://bit.ly/2pgAVq0
•References - http://bit.ly/2q2nCqm