Digital Literacy ProjectThe world has changed and digital literacy is now considered a core skill needed in 21st Century education

Workshop Itinerary • 1st half

Overview of project findings and progress

• 2nd halfYour input to steer the way forward

Building the Landscape – Not Building Assumptions

• Literature Review – Understanding the vast interpretation of the term digital literacy(inc digital literacies and associated terms)

• Literature Key Texts – Understanding the debates and assumptions around 21st century learners including the digital divide

• We’ve spoken to schools To find the background journey of our FE learners

Before we got started…

Project Themes to Explore in the FE Landscape

• Digital Divide – Just Curious – do different generations really see things differently

• Audit of Skills/Usage and Exposure

• Perceptions/Expectations of Each other (teachers/students)

• Teacher skills/confidences – The PAL issues

• Information Literacy – A concerning picture in Literature but to what extent is it true in Worcester College of Technology?

• A bit extreme perhaps but this belief exists (Prensky, 2001)

• But do they actually interpret things differently? (STUDY)

The digital divide in Further Education?

Findings

For example: How is the Word ‘Information’ interpreted by teachers and students?

Results of a large cross-college skills/usage survey

• 240 Completed• Student and staff• Technology – Ownership– Experience– Use (How and

frequency) – Confidence– STUDY

Findings

ICT General

Multimedia

Information

Social Tools

Confidence ScoresConfidence scores Student Confidence scores Staff

Student/Teacher – Perceptions & Expectations

• What skills are needed by 21st century teachers and learners?

• We asked them how they perceived each other• STUDY

Both had concerns about each others abilities.

•Students had concerns about their teachers use or lack of up to date knowledge of technologies

•Teachers feared that although their students used technology they did not apply these skills effectively to an educational setting or when finding or using information for educational processes. •STUDY

Keeping up as a 21st Century Teacher

• The PAL demands• The teacher profile• The teacher skills need

(not that simple)

• Are all learners really the same: The homogenous Digital Natives?

• A-Levels V Vocational learners (Challenging the ‘Natives’ stereotype – are all learners at this age the same?)

• Poles apart in terms of the way they seek and select information (THE RESULTS)

• So we took the investigation further…

Deeper info lit

• A more in depth cross-college study (163 students) (20 staff)

• From School age – Professional courses

• Quick Example - findings from 2 tasks (Book / Lottery) (Newspaper)

• Staff V Student Strategies

• No pattern of progress – differentiated skills/abilities/patterns

• Much more support is needed in this area – our research just scratched the surface (EdD)

The Information Literacy - wider study

OCN Recommendations & Planning• Information Literacy is crucial to education (both in

teachers and learners)• Teachers need support to follow the PAL

agenda/Student expectations for learning technologies• Tutorial framework an ideal platform for delivery for

students – induction period?• ILT CPD Programmes for staff

• Info Lit 3 x units written and approved so far

• First pilot course almost complete (Moodle) (blog)

• Moodle/PAL x 1 units written and approved (Moodle)

• First pilot course almost complete (blog)

OCN SO FARStudent OCN Units Staff OCN Units

• Project has just scratched the surface – we could learn so much more

• Further OCN unit pilots beginning of 2012/13 term

• Wider options for units could be considered, this is just the beginning for us!

Longer term potential

Findings

• All draft content can be found at:• http://bradyx.pbworks.com

• We now need your help to fill the gaps

• The HE Expectations Workshop

• Fill in survey• Discussion