Slides from Learning and Teaching conference, YSJ

1. Who are our ‘digital’ students
and what do they want from us?
University of York St John
Talking about Teaching, 20 January 2017
#YSJTAT

2. critical global outlook socially responsible
collaborative inclusive resilience future job market
Talking about Teaching, 20 January 2017
Who are our ‘digital’ students

3. what kind of digital experiences can we offer that...
prepare them for an uncertain future?
”
“

4. Some navigation for today
‣ Who are our ‘digital students’?
‣ Digital students are (no) different
‣ What do they want from HE?
‣ What can we offer?
‣ Digital experiences in the
curriculum: examples
‣ Discussion

5. Some digital navigation
‣ Twitter #YSJTAT for questions and contributions
‣ bit.ly/YSJTATlinks for refs and links, including:
‣ bingo: bingobaker.com/play/1020649
‣ PollEverywhere:
PollEv.com/helenbeetham013
or text HELENBEETHAM013
to 020 3322 5822 to join in

6. Investigating ‘digital students’
Image CC Jisc 2015
literature reviews | focus groups | consultations
learner stories | data from the digital student Tracker
jiscinvolve.digitalstudent.org

7. CCimagesviawikimedia
‘Digital students’ bring their own digital
devices

8. ‣ ...whether we direct them to or not...
‣ Is this alternative space complementary, integrated... ?
‣ How do we introduce academic/professional judgment?
‘Digital students’ access their own digital
media, content and networks

9. IconsCCBY3.0byhttp://www.freepik.com
‘Digital students’ bring their own digital
practices
What are the top three social media services for under 25s?

10. ‘Digital students’ bring their own digital
cultures and expectations
‣ information <=> communication
‣ continuous recording and sharing of experience
(continuous reputation management)
‣ seamless connection and inter-connection
‣ ease of adoption
‣‘content is free’
‣ rapid feedback
‣ visual bias...

11. Image CC from CNN
Image CC BY 3.0 from
AmericanPressInstitute.org
‘Digital students’ are connected

12. with thanks to Simon Rae 2015
‘Digital students’ are connected

13. How different are ‘digital students’ to us?
A. Not so different - we are all living in a digital world
B. Rather different - they are more immersed in digital
cultures and practices
C. Very different - their worldview and experiences are
those of a ‘digital generation’
PollEv.com/helenbeetham013
Use twitter to say more! #YSJTAT

14. Digital students are different...
from each other
and from themselves
(in different settings)

15. Not all students thrive in digital spaces
‣ Digital divide narrower
but deeper
‣ Digital inequality mimics & amplifies other inequalities
‣ ‘Digital natives' story hides many contradictions
‣ Learners' engagement w digital world is culturally
differentiated e.g. language, privacy norms

16. Many have negative digital experiences
‣ Young women more likely to have been harrassed
‣ Other features of public identity may be targetted

17. Some are data aware & privacy conscious
If the Uni is collecting this
data, we ought to be able to
see it and use it for ourselves.
”
“

18. Others are highly critical of digital
trends
Image CC BY 2.0 by Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go via flickr.com
I read zines to escape
surveillance and clickbait.
It's the new teen rebellion
”
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19. They have diverse preferences for
learning with/out technology
Our participants were fairly evenly split
between using their social media
informally for learning, using it as an
essential and integrated element of their
learning, and keeping it quite separate
from their learning, with informal use
marginally the more popular.

20. How do we best serve these diverse
learners?

21. ‣Learning relationships with teachers and peers
‣Deep engagement with a subject
‣Sense of belonging (to their course, cohort, institution)
‣Safe spaces to rehearse: closed, supported → open, public
Many continuities in what they want and
expect from HE
Image credit Jisc 2014

22. Most advanced digital practices
are still acquired in educational settings
‣Knowledge creation and co-creation usually initiated by an
educator
‣Don’t know how they might be learning with digital technology
... until they do it
‣Most don’t appreciate
the value of e.g. a
digital portfolio or web
presence... until they
have one

23. Most students value most highly the
authentic digital practices
of their profession or subject area
‣ data analysis and management
‣ design systems
‣ collaborating on authentic projects,
research or client-based
‣ use of specialist tools and applications

24. 73% under 35s >90% new jobs 7-10 careers
2020 in the UK 43.5% graduates
1.5 million
UK contracts
36% UK jobs
(40% US jobs)
2.5% EU jobs 89% recruiters
Pick a number... any number...
What do these students really need?

25. Their work prospects are uncertain
bit.ly/digitalknowhow
but work is likely to be...
‣less secure
‣project or gig based
‣uncertainly located
‣constantly changing
‣monitored, quantified
‣distributed human/
machine
LatrellG:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMWPLYKFLAVGSuTFCbj2kGQ

26. What kinds of digital literacy
is this going to demand?

27. “cross-cultural
awareness”
“respect”
“citizenship”
The shape of society and its institutions
is uncertain

28. “cross-cultural
awareness”
“respect”
“citizenship”
X
The shape of society and its institutions
is uncertain

29. The shape of society and its institutions
is uncertain
‣75% of <25s are politically active on FB
‣25% of <25s have any faith in political parties
Source:LSE2016http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/

30. What kinds of digital literacy
is this going to demand?
resilience and repertoire
critical thinking
data literacy - understanding evidence
media literacy - checking facts
new ways of organising and participating
...?

31. Example: followthethings
www.followthethings.com

32. Example: PhonarNation
CC phonarnation 2015

33. promotes interdisciplinary questions and challenges, encouraging
both staff and students to question critically the nature of evidence
and knowledge production ... in our digitally mediated world.
UCL’s Connected Curriculum (Fung et al 2016)
Example: connected curriculum

34. Example: BYOD4L
https://byod4learning.wordpress.com/topics/

35. Example: digital champions
and change agents
@CANagogy

36. Students care about digital issues
It is not the technology in itself that is transforming
education and society; it is, rather, the creative ways in which
people are using technology to educate and drive change.
Radical interventions in learning and teaching, NUS 2014 ”
“

37. Over to you for discussion
Twitter: #YSJTAT
what kind of digital experiences can we offer that...
prepare students for an uncertain future?

38. The shape of society and its institutions
is uncertain

39. Digital students can bridge worlds...
online | offline
learning | living
formal | informal
here | elsewhere