Developing Digital Practices

Jim Pettiward (London Metropolitan University)

Photo: www.123rf.com

ALT-C Riding Giants, 2014

Small-scale, subject-specific, student-staff partnerships

• Rationale: Why did we start this project?

• Outline: What does the project involve?

• Challenges: What difficulties have we encountered with the project?

• Next steps: Where does the project go from here?

Supporting students

Developing staff “lack of time to engage with new tools, distrust of the academic benefits or cultural attitudes.” (Jisc, 2014)

“Although many learners arrive at college or university with their own laptop or tablet computer and smartphone, few know how to use technology to support their learning at the appropriate level.” (Beetham, 2011)

Two sides of the same coin?Image: CC-BY 2.0: James McCaffery/Flickr

Diverse practices and experience.

• What devices do you use for study?• What digital tools are you familiar with?

• Support student digital literacy development

• Create a group of Digital Ambassadors

• Build Student – staff partnerships in subject areas

• Support staff development of digital practices in their subject areas

• Time & Money (as always..)

• ‘Buy in’ from senior management

• Identifying interested/enthusiastic staff

• Sharing good practice

• Start small

• Create focal point for dialogue

• Harness the enthusiasm, interest & skills of students and staff

• Don’t be afraid to fall off

Beetham, H., McGill, L., Littlejohn, A. (2009) Thriving in the 21st Century: Learning Literacies in a Digital Age (LLiDA Project) Available at:http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/reports/2009/elearningllidareport.aspx [Accessed April 2nd, 2014]

Beetham, H. & Oliver, M. (2010) The changing practices of knowledge and learning. In Sharpe, R., Beetham, H. and de Freitas, S. (Eds.) Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age. London, Routledge.

Benfield, G. & Sharpe, R. (2011) Supporting learners in a digital age (SLiDA): synthesis report. Oxford, Oxford Brookes University. Available at:http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/briefingpapers/2011/slida.aspx [Accessed April 2nd, 2014]

JISC (2014), hosted by Northumbria University.  Developing Digital Literacies. Available at:http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/digital-literacies/ [Accessed: 02/04/2014]

Lea, M.R., 2013. Reclaiming literacies: competing textual practices in a digital higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(1), pp.106–118. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562517.2012.756465 [Accessed April 1, 2014].Trowler, V. & Trowler, P., 2010. HEA Report: Student engagement evidence summary. Available at:http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/studentengagement/StudentEngagementEvidenceSummary.pdf [Accessed June 3, 2014]