Paper on strategic approaches to developing digital literacy presented to ALT-C 2012 as a short paper, on behalf of the JISC Developing Digital Literacies programme

1. Digital literacies in UK Universities:
the state of play
Helen Beetham
Developing Digital Literacies programme consultant

2. Why is digital literacy an issue just now?
Capacity building
New local and global markets
Borderless institutions
Differentiation, unique brand
Perceived vfm
Employability
Graduate attributes
Digital reputation/capital
Resilience
New social practices
Digital media and file sharing
Ubiquitous connectivity
Mass customisation
Contractual relationships online
Digital scholarship/research
Open publishing/open data
Digital learning/teaching media
Ubiquitous knowledge/data
Methodological revolution
Organisational futuresEducational digital practices
Personal digital practices Personal aspirations

3. How are Universities defining digital literacy?
Ensuring students are prepared for study and employment
in the digital age, with a range of Learning Literacies
embedded into the curriculum in addition to the subject
knowledge
Consider the potential of technology to promote knowledge
building and reflective, student-centred, creative and
collaborative learning;
[develop] self-regulating citizens in a globally connected
society, able to handle multiple, diverse information
sources and media, proficiently mediating their
interactions with social and professional groups using an
ever-changing and expanding range of technologies and
able confidently to use digital technologies to reflect on,
record and manage their lifelong learning;

4. 44
Baselining the state of play
What does a 'digital literacies' agenda look like at the
level of the curriculum, institutional infrastructure,
policies, academic cultures, professional services?

5. 55
Baselining the state of play
Organizational factors:
 Policy and strategy, including 'offer' and 'brand' issues
 Technical infrastructure (e.g. supporting use of personal
devices and services)
 Professional and support services
Rich evidence from sample stakeholders about their:
 Personal/professional digital skills and practices
 Personal/professional development
 Attitudes and beliefs about digital technology

6. What is the strategic environment?
Average = 6-10 strategies
Focus on responding to crisis/change
The diversity of documents covering... digital matters for
staff and students means there are few members of the
University aware of it all – and policies may be devised
and revised without much engagement across
departments...
Traditional mechanisms for developing and agreeing
strategies lack sufficient agility.
Learning and Teaching | e-learning | IS/ICT
Library and Information Management
Research and Knowledge Transfer | Estates
Student Experience | Student Charter | HR

7. Strategic issues

Increasingly persuasive digital 'offer' to prospective
students

Strategic aspirations may not be enacted in departments
and programmes of study

Few opportunities for digital issues to be discussed
across strategic territories

Momentum lost between change initiatives, change
weariness

Lack of senior management vision BUT requires people
with vision and commitment in all roles

8. Infrastructural issues

BYODevice/BYOService/BYOSkills

Data/information environment that is platform, device,
and application agnostic

Providing an equivalent infrastructure across distributed
sites of learning

How borderless?
– public pedagogies
– public scholarship
– new partnerships
– students and staff building independent digital
reputations and careers

9. Organisational/cultural issues

Are digital capabilities a pre-requisite for access to higher
education in the UK?

If so, how do universities support students who are
otherwise capable of benefiting from HE?

How do universities ensure digital capital does not
become another barrier or structural inequality (is it our
responsibility)?

What uniquely does higher education offer, in a digital
age, that is not available through informal opportunities
to learn?

10. Digital practices

Hybrid practices: informal/formal contexts,
insitutional/personal/public technologies, academic/digital
know-how
work/home life

Hidden practices: personal study habits; the outsourced
curriculum
Students’ digital literacy practices are predominantly
contextualised within their programmes of study

11. Personal/professional development

Self-reliance for adoption of generic technologies e.g.
apps, web services, devices

Structured development to introduce complex systems
that support complex practices
– e.g. data analysis, reference management,
institutional business systems, editing software,
design systems

Local peer or mentor support for advanced and
contextualised use

Perceived lack of relevant, timely, local training/support

12. Attitudes and cultures

Students' digital capability still regarded with more fear
than excitement

Culture clash more evident where
– students/staff successful with 'traditional' modes of study
– Wide 'academic generation gap'

Experience with technology leads to a more critical and
discriminating attitude

Wholesale shift of focus from teaching staff using
technologies to use by students is still to happen

13. Conclusion
A digital University is not simply one that provides
up-to-date facilities but one that prepares students
to live and work in a digital society, and fosters
digital scholarship as a mainstream activity.
Baselining tools, resources and findings are available here:
http://bit.ly/baseliningDL

14. Discussion time
What are the key messages?
What would help your institution to develop?