JISC

Summary

The development of digital literacies is becoming an urgent priority across higher education, as the prevalence of digitally-mediated contexts increase across all professional fields and arenas of social practice. Financial pressures, changing patterns of participation and increased internationalisation are also resulting in a drive towards innovation in online modes of research, interaction and pedagogy. However, if universities are to harness the potential of these new media for educational process and graduate preparation, they must view development of digital literacies as a mainstream priority across all areas of activity. This is challenging where staff and students have greatly varying degrees of experience of these technologies and their associated social practices, and is arguably even more challenging where mature postgraduate students predominate. The timeframe for study is short, the curricular ‘space’ is severely constrained, and the burden of responsibilities outside of university is greater.

At the IOE, all these factors prevail. Additionally, a large proportion of our students enter after many years out of formal education, and many come from very different educational cultures.  For these students, taught master programmes can present a considerable challenge in terms of literacies and modes of scholarship online. The ‘Digital Literacies as a Postgraduate Attribute’ project will investigate the needs of our three main groups of students: doctoral; taught Masters; and PGCE. We will also investigate our institutional readiness for change around digital literacies; in terms of processes, relationships, staff expertise and quality of developmental resources. Guided by our in-depth baselining exercise, we will implement four pilot innovations, each addressing a different area of need. Throughout these pilots, a process of reflection on institutional change will take place, leading to the development of exemplar business models to inform future developments at institutional level, to be shared with counterparts across the sector in useable and relevant formats. We will work closely with a range of stakeholders within the IOE to ensure that we have sustainable developmental processes across the institution for both students and staff.  We will also seek to embed findings across the sector, via close consultations with three sector partners (SEDA, ALT and SCONUL) from the outset of the project.

Objectives

1. To gain in-depth understanding of our students’ digital literacies via analysis of existing datasets and new ethnographic research 
2. To evaluate our current provision and opportunities for our students
3. To review our institutional readiness for change around digital literacies
4. To implement four pilots developing digital literacies across different contexts
5. To explore the needs of staff tasked with developing student digital literacies
6. To develop exemplar organisational strategies focused on digital literacies as a graduate attribute
7. To maintain constant dialogue with our partners SEDA, ALT and SCONUL, to ensure dissemination and sector embedding of project findings

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes

1. An analysis of a rich multimodal dataset documenting student experiences, attitudes and identities in relation to digital technologies
2. A comprehensive review of our current provision and support for students throughout their varied study trajectories
3. A review of our institutional processes and structures in relation to digital literacies,
4. Four detailed evaluation of the pilots, providing models for future change
5. Exemplar resources for staff to develop digital literacies within the curriculum
6.  Exemplar organisational strategies based on a holistic, integrated and curriculum- embedded model
7. A range of outputs for dissemination and embedding in partnership with SEDA, ALT and SCONUL