JISC

Developing professionalism in the digital environment (PriDE) in which we live, requires us to take an institution-wide approach to developing digital literacies.
As the digital society fast evolves and becomes increasingly more complex, it is critical that institutions, in their role as custodians for the development of future academic literacies, understand how they can equip their staff and students with appropriate skills, tools and the language to articulate these literacies to ensure transferability across the full range of different life contexts.

The PriDE Project, situated within the research intensive and science and engineering based environment, of the University of Bath, will define and develop discipline-specific digital literacies.

PriDE’s aims and objectives are set within the context of the University of Bath’s strategic priorities which include:

• Employability – an outstanding portfolio of student support exists in this area including placements, with 60% of undergraduate students completing a placement year, many with blue chip companies.
• Student Experience – student participation in all aspects of University life is actively encouraged and supported through, for example, partnership working between University senior managers and the Students’ Union.
• Learning, Teaching and Research – informed by the student voice, the University provides a distinctive international learning environment which recognises the prominence of its discipline-based research, is intellectually challenging and is applied with a strong focus on employability.

The delivery of PriDE’s objectives will be achieved by:

• Working in partnership with key stakeholders including learners, academic and research staff, librarians and learner support staff, administrators, managers and institutional support staff.
• Establishing both discipline-specific and cross-institutional ‘learning communities’.
• Adopting an action-learning approach within discipline-specific contexts.
• Locating digital literacies within relevant local and national frameworks including a strong emphasis on employability, UK Professional Standards Framework and the Researcher Development Framework.

 PriDE will be the vehicle which informs and shapes the digital literacies strand of the University’s Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy, a review of which commences in autumn 2011.

Objectives

PriDE’s objectives are to:

• Establish an institutional vision for the development of digital literacies;
• Embed digital literacies at the core of the institution’s strategic planning process;
• Engage students in the process as change agents;
• Map how disciplinary differences and cultures shape the development of digital literacies;
• Explore how institutional structures and processes enable and/or hinder the embedding of digital literacies;
• Partner with relevant sector organisations to support development and aid wide and effective dissemination.

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes

PriDE will deliver:

• Discipline-specific statements for digital literacies skills, competencies and attributes;
• Good practice case studies on embedding discipline-specific digital literacies;
• Findings from an institutional internal audit of digital literacies;
• Guidance on effective organisational change informed by project experience;
• Change management tools/staff development resources made available as Open Educational Resources (OERs);
• Institutional processes that support digital literacies as an integral component of the student experience;
• A framework for evaluating the impact of integrating departmental/institutional digital literacies initiatives;
• Final project report evidencing the tangible benefits of developing discipline-specific digital literacies.