JISC

In addition to access and participation, students require digital skills and literacies to make best use of the opportunities available to them. The JISC/British Library funded Google Generation report and two iterations of the JISC/Ipsos-MORI research into Student Expectations of ICT all concluded that new students are over-confident about their ability to find and manage digital information. A positive finding from the Learners’ Experiences of e-Learning programme is that students do mature in their use of technology during their time at University, particularly in their ability to use online journals and databases, and course-specific technologies. The subject portals offered to students via JISC Intute, and training in their use (Intute Virtual Training Suite) are becoming essential passports to a higher qualification.

JISC is now developing resources to support institutions in auditing digital literacies provision, and to help embed considerations of digital literacy into the curriculum (LLiDA). A database of students’ own strategies for effective learning is shortly to be launched by TechDis: the original 100+ strategies were provided by disabled students, who are a particularly agile and creative group of technology users (LexDis project). Students are also being encouraged to support each other through digital mentoring [Morse, one of the recently-funded projects under the Transforming Curriculum Delivery programme.

Projects that have pioneered the use of digital technologies for academic skills development include ELISA; UKAN-Skills; Skillsclouds; and Awesome. Turning the tables, many students arrive at University already skilled at content creation and sharing, and with highly attuned social networking capabilities. Such students can be frustrated by their lecturers’ lack of confidence in using these technologies for learning. Web 2.0 technologies are also little-used by teaching staff, but are in many ways uniquely suited to developing students’ academic practice, with their focus on collaborative knowledge building and peer review. JISC Netskills has provided high quality staff development since 1995, and is now geared to help institutions take a strategic approach to upskilling of staff. Enhancing the student experience is at the heart of its training mission.