Digital Diversity in Higher Education

Sue Watling s.watling@hull.ac.uk @suewatling

Academic Advisor for Technology Enhanced Learning University of Hull

SRHE Conference December 2015

Image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/111692634@N04/16388916661/

Visitors and Residents Typology of digital engagement (White and Le Cornu, 2011)

Paper available from http://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049

e-learning and e-teaching

“…there is no doubt that the transition from being an effective classroom practitioner to an effective online practitioner is complex and challenging…” research data

• Blackboard has a lot to offer. We have not been using it to its potential …i.e. for student participation and not just instructions.

• I will look into the possibility of sharing my social bookmarking site with my students in order to promote the use of quality and peer-reviewed articles in their assignments and reports.

• I have been introduced to things I would probably otherwise not have encountered such as Social Bookmarking, and participated in Blogs and Wikis which again, I probably would not have done.

• The emotions involved with being a student helped me reconnect with the Student viewpoint. This has impacted on my teaching style.

• There has been extensive opportunity to consider the evidence-base for the use (or not) of social tools, allowing me to develop critical perspective on how to apply new experiences for teaching purposes.

Benefits and BarriersQAA 2015/16 Digital Literacy http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/HER-Themes-Guidance-15-16.pdf

JISC Developing Digital Literacies (2011-13) https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/digital-literacies

HEA Digital Literacies in the Disciplines (DLinD, 2013-14) https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/workstreams-research/themes/online-learning/online-learning-projects/digital-literacies-disciplines

HEFCE Changing the Learning Landscape (CLL, 2012-2014) http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/programmes-events/your-university/cll/

UCISA Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Surveys (2012, 2014) http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/tel

UCISA Digital Capabilities Survey (2014) http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/digcap

HEA Flexible Pedagogies (2014) https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/workstreams-research/themes/flexible-learning/flexible-learning-projects/flexible-pedagogies

Chatterton, P (2015) How do you change the learning landscape? Challenges in the strategic use of technology to support the student experience http://repository.jisc.ac.uk/5891/1/JR0018_CLL_REPORT_6.0.pdf

• Sometimes I think the internet is the problem. Many students express frustration at where to find things, to the extent that I think some give up looking.

• I know my students are digitally savvy, I only have to look at them in lectures, they’re always online, but since we adopted the policy of making module guides only available on Blackboard they don’t seem to be accessing them. It’s like they want us to push the information towards them and are not prepared to look for it.

• ‘…you’ve got to slow up the digital environment which is a challenge. I think that’s the danger of virtual learning, that’s the difficulty, students are not really reading. I think virtual learning environments do somehow discourage deeper reading and its affects degrees. I think it’s that fundamental.

Developing Digital Capabilities (JISC, 2015) • ‘Digital literacy is ideasnot keystrokes.’(Gilster, 1997)

• Critical thinking; the internet is unfiltered

• Digital diversity– TEL and TET– e-learning and e-teaching

• Avoid making assumptionsabout digital confidence

Digital Diversity; extending the continuum

Change the way you think about Hull | 7 October 2009 | 11

Multimedia Birds of a Feather image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/james_nash/

Sue Watlings.watling@hull.ac.uk@suewatlinghttp://suewatling.blogs.lincoln.ac.ukhttp://ammonitie.tumblr.com/lifeinhull