Digital Literacies in Transition
A Model for Transforming Graduate Attributes part of the Developing Digitial Literacies strand within the e-Learning programme
Why is this project happening? Recent research into what employers look for in graduates indicates that digital literacies are a core expectation (Badcock et al. 2010; Borrego and Cutler, 2010). Digital literacies are intimately bound up in our Greenwich Graduate Initiative (http://bit.ly/GGIonline), affecting inquiry, creativity and sustainability in the 21st Century.The project will therefore help us to achieve our vision and commitment to developing graduate attributes. What we will do Create a student-led interdisciplinary research group (IRG) to identify effective practice; Prepare student and staff material on developing digital literacies to support transition into and through university; Provide staff development opportunities; Publish School-based eMagazines; Establish student scholarships; Develop a programme mapping approach and toolkit to enhance design and delivery; Produce evidence-based case studies; Enhance Alumni/Employer engagement; Scope and integrate digital literacies into university strategies; Implement a process for employers to ‘Rate our Graduates’.
The impact at Greenwich
The impact beyond Greenwich
The development and successful implementation of this project will lead to: Students showing initiative in developing digital literacies, based upon greater understanding of their role in learning, research and professional practice; Evidence of enhanced student transition and concomitant increased retention; Increased student versatility with digital tools for learning and professional development; Improved staff satisfaction through enhanced curriculum design and delivery strategies; New and enriched staff and educational development initiatives; Evidence of an enhanced reputation for our graduates amongst employers through the development of graduate attributes aligned to digital literacies.
Through the contributions of our benefits realisation CAMEL and dissemination of the project outcomes, we will: Contribute to a greater understanding of the impact and affordances of digital literacies at points of transition into, through and out of higher education; Crete sector-wide OERs to support the development of digital literacy strategies; Offer toolkits and new approaches for designing and developing curricula that are aligned to digital literacies; Build staff development opportunities through our relationship with SEDA; Develop a special interest group for the continuation of the work of the project and the benefits realisation CAMEL.
Digital Literacies in Higher Education is a JISC-funded project
For further information and to join our community of inquiry, visit us at http://dlinhe.com
Project Manager Dr Mark J. P. Kerrigan
Project Team
A model for digital maturity linked to graduate attributes The challenge this project sets us is to locate and understand the thresholds of digital literacy development that enable students to move effectively through their higher education experience. Our goal is to equip students and staff to navigate these thresholds successfully in their own ways. Our starting-point for this process is the model shown in the diagram below. Students enter higher education with differing levels of digital literacies, developed in diverse contexts through prior experiences and interests; these need to be understood, supported and aligned as the students transition into university.
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Transitioning into their second year, they enrich their understanding of their professional identity and the digital literacies encompassed by this. In their final year, students exist and engage as ‘early professionals’, having developed the core digital literacies for their profession.
The development of digital literacies will be driven by: Working across schools, units and student cohorts using the IRG as a hub for communication, development and dissemination; Recognising and building on staff and student diversity around skills, interests, abilities, experiences, and opportunities; Aligning, enhancing and repurposing current models of best practice to our vision for digital maturity linked to graduate attributes; Activities reflecting professional body and employer requirements; Alumni networks that inform our knowledge of how digital literacies impact upon practices in professional life; A deeper understanding of transition and how the enhancement of curriculum design and delivery can help support students through university and onwards into the workplace.
Antony Coombs Juliet Hinrichsen Simon Walker
References Badcock, PBT; Pattison, PE; Harris, KL (2010) Higher Education 60:4, pp441-458. Borrego, M; Cutler, S (2010) Journal of Engineering Education 99:4, pp355-369.