LLiDA Study

By ‘learning literacies’ we mean the range of practices

that underpin effective learning in a digital age

We use the term ‘effective learning’ as characteristic of

‘skilled, digitally aware learners with the capacity to

participate in learning using technologies of their own choosing’.

We use the term ‘digital age’ as a shorthand for technical,

social, economic, cultural and educational contexts in which

digital forms of information and communication predominate

approach

• Review available evidence

Current research into literacies

Conceptual and competency frameworks relevant to UK HE and FE

The changing context and requirements for learning and literacy

• Investigate current provision in UK HE and FE institutions

Institutional audits

Best practice exemplars

• Present conclusions

Expert advisory group (institutional auditors, stakeholders)

critical understanding

Informed

by current

developments

in the

subject

An awareness of the

provisional nature of

knowledge, how

knowledge is created,

advanced and renewed,

and the excitement of

developing knowledge.

The ability to identify and

analyse problems and issues

and to formulate, evaluate

and apply evidence based

solutions and arguments

An ability to

apply a systematic and critical assessment

of complex

problems

and issues

An ability to deploy

techniques of analysis

and enquiry

Familiarity with

appropriate techniques

and skills, including

presentation and

communication skills

Originality and creativity in

formulating, evaluating and

applying evidence-based

solutions and arguments

An understanding of the need for a high level of ethical, social, cultural, environmental and wider professional conduct.

literacies

• Learners can, under the right conditions, become more critical, evaluative, self-aware, self-confident, skilled and capable in the use of technologies
• Learners can also, under the right conditions, develop a wider and more effective range of strategies for their own learning
• While some of these capabilities may be 'generic', they are best supported in 'communities of practice', 'communities of inquiry', or 'learning groups' focused on tasks of value and interest to the learner
• Capacities acquired iteratively and progressively, through practice of authentic tasks, and as needed, are better retained than those gained one-off, in isolation, and through instruction.
• There is a tension between recognising an 'entitlement' to digital literacy as a foundational capability, and recognising technology practice as diverse and constitutive of personal identity

• economic uncertainty
• high competition for employment in the global knowledge economy
• increased alternative, contract-based and self-employment
• the rise of inter-disciplinarity and multi-disciplinary work teams
• a networked society and communities
• multi-cultural working and living environments; internationalisation
• blurring boundaries of real / virtual, public / private, work / leisure
• increasingly ubiquitous and embedded digital technologies
• increasing ubiquity, availability and reusability of digital knowledge
• distribution of cognitive work into (human + non-human) networks of expertise
• rapid social and techno-social change

• Exercise multiple modes of meaning-making
• Contribute to knowledge and understanding in hybrid networks
• Exercise judgement and expertise, bring knowledge to bear
• Social entrepreneurialism – understand, act strategically in, and innovate social systems
• Collaborate across national & cultural boundaries, using a variety of technologies and media
• Develop and project identities, manage reputation
• Reflect, plan, seek support, learn from situations and from others
• Manage career path, learning path and professional development; manage work/life balance, as technologies erode boundaries
• Act safely, ethically and responsibly in environments where public and private are being redefined
• Assess and address threats to health and to the environment

• Learners consistently over-estimate their own information skills
• Many also lack general academic critical and inquiry skills: 'digital scholarship' is poorly communicated and modelled
• Most learners are still strongly led by tutors and course practices: tutor skills and confidence with ICT are therefore critical to their development

Most learners use only basic functionality and are unwilling to explore or creatively appropriate technologies to suit their own needs

• Separate 'skills' provision can be demotivating: support needs to be situated, integrated, relevant
• Learners do not readily transfer ICT practices from personal or social contexts to study or work
• There is a potential clash of academic/internet knowledge cultures, e.g. around plagiarism, criticality, and originality

academic literacies

critical thinking

problem solving

reflection

academic writing

note-taking

concept mapping

time management

analysis, synthesis

evaluation

creativity, innovation

self-directed learning

collaborative learning

information literacies

searching and retrieving

analysing, interpreting

critiquing

evaluating

managing resources

navigating info spaces

content creation

editing, repurposing

enriching resources

referencing

sharing content

ICT literacies

ICT skills

web skills

social networking

using CMC

using TELE

using digital devices

word processing

using databases

analysis tools

assistive tech

personalisation

…

60 relevant strategy documents from participating institutions (n=16)

• Most strategies address more than one literacy from our framework (mean = 2.25) but only two address 'digital literacies' holistically
• There is a lack of strategic concern with media literacy, either in the context of information literacy or as a separate issue
• Information strategies tend to be the most clearly focused on learner capabilities (influence of SCONUL 7 pillars model)
• Employability is widely referenced as a concept but is rarely linked to interventions around specific capabilities
• Strategies apportion responsibility for students' developing literacies fairly evenly between academic staff and central services
• Students themselves are rarely addressed as responsible actors

Features of the two exemplary strategies on digital literacies:

• institution-wide changes to policy, linked to main institutional drivers
• actions cascaded through other institutional strategies e.g. quality, ICT
• an incremental approach, spearheaded by pilot projects/initiatives
• collaboration between central services and academic staff, principally around...
• course development and review, involving multi-disciplinary teams, with intensive resourcing
• large central unit driving policy, with substantial national profile and hybrid teaching/development/research agenda
• ongoing research, evaluation and evidence-gathering about students' experiences with technology and learning
• creating hybrid and/or 'roving' roles

Support in silos: library, learning development/skills, ICT, WP...

• Information literacy well supported but:

media literacy, e.g. critical reading and creative production

communicating and sharing ideas

use of innovative environments to explore ideas

• Central service provision personal and developmental but rarely reaches learners engaged in authentic tasks

Little acknowledgment or support for learners' use of ICT for study

'Employability' poorly articulated: careers staff hard to reach

• Curriculum provision tends to be one-off and cohort-based
• Academic staff perceive students as more digitally capable than is the case: tutor skills are critical to learners' development
• Students often dissatisfied with feedback and assessment: rarely used as opportunities to further reflection and learning literacy
• Great diversity in literacies considered during design and validation
• Three modes of integrating literacies:

Institution-wide programme, usually

portfolio-based

Skills modules or sessions alongside 'subject'

teaching

Fully integrated into modules and/or

programmes of study

• Most examples from vocational and professional courses... (but)
• … deeply embedded examples perhaps not visible to our study

• Social software widely used for informal sharing and more formal peer support
• Study buddy and student mentor initiatives rarely address digital literacies directly, but have scope to do so
• Student help-desks commonly support learners' use of digital devices and networks
• Much peer support takes place under the academic radar (but)
• Academic staff can help by:
• being explicit about what kinds of collaboration are appropriate
• establishing peer review processes
• setting group assignments
• arguing for access to social media in college

• Learning, living and working are understood to take place in a digital society: there is no separate space of learning which is 'digital'
• Learners are blending their own personal and shared learning environments
• There is an entitlement to access and basic skills of learning in a digital age, plus a recognition of diverse needs and preferences for study
• Literacies for learning are continually assessed and supported: the emphasis is on producing digitally capable lifelong learners
• The focus is on what formal post-compulsory education can uniquely provide:
• e.g. self-direction, self-awareness, depth of attention, a critical stance, apprenticeship in particular practices including knowledge practices, creativity and innovation, social entrepreneurialism...

• Work across curriculum / services boundaries to integrate provision
• Respond to the need for new kinds of capability: recognise and represent graduate capabilities in new ways
• Articulate vision for '21st century graduate skills' and embed ambition for students to thrive in C21st across the curriculum
• Prepare themselves and their students for an uncertain future
• Develop institution-wide approach to assessing and progressing learners' capabilities
• Foster digital talent and innovation, wherever found (staff/students)

ilearn

I-Learn aims to develop independent learners by building on existing good practice to embed academic, information and digital literacy skills in the curriculum.

• requires the engagement and collaboration of management, central services and academic departments.
• collaboration, sharing and partnership in knowledge development are implicit throughout the framework.

ties in with institutional strategies

academic literacies

A developmental model of pedagogical support derived from current evidence-based research on academic literacies. The ELS’ approach is also informed by the team’s ongoing research/scholarly activities in learning and teaching and widening participation.

The tutor team work in collegiate and academic partnerships with colleagues across all the Schools to develop discipline-specific materials and participative workshops that help students develop critical understanding and appropriate application of academic skills and conventions.

The ELS aims to help students understand the requirements of academic activity and to enable independent learning through the development of key academic skills: presenting information orally and in writing, critical thinking, referencing, maintaining structure and coherence and demonstrating critical analysis in essay, project and dissertation writing. These are taught and improved through a combination of individual and rolling programmes/series of workshops, individualised support, handouts, online guidelines and podcasts. The service has significantly developed such input with U/g, P/g and PhD students from across the university for several years. http://www.gcal.ac.uk/els/

digital literacies

The ICT Skills Unit has researched and developed a range of learning and teaching solutions to ensure that students engage with and develop lifelong independent learning skills through the use of technology. These employ sound pedagogic methodologies developed in partnership with other academic institutions. Support is available through the ICT Skills web site, guides, drop-in and training sessions. Digital tools may include email; internet; Word, Excel, Powerpoint; Blackboard; accessibility software; web 2.0 tools; e-portfolios; statistical software tools; and devices such as mobile phones and i-Pods. The Spoken Word project also encourages lecturers and students to develop different ways of working with audio, and a series of case studies is being created to support this approach. The unit has access to content that is not available from other sources including full access to BBC archives. They are also developing the use of wikis and blogs to support teaching and learning as well as looking at the use of modern Web 2.0 technologies. http://www.gcal.ac.uk/student/ictskills/ and http://www.spokenword.ac.uk

information literacies

The library underpins many programmes with high quality resources. The subject librarians work with academic departments to embed these resources and information literacy skills into the curriculum, and they welcome inclusion on programme and module development groups. Collaborations may include in context workshops and seminars on themes such as basic inductions to systems, using databases, using Refworks to manage references, evaluating sources and search methods to fit with information needs. The librarians can also advise on digitising and linking to information within e-learning programmes. They will also prepare Base staff to support students with problem based learning enquiries. The librarians source and write learning materials and manage websites to support academics and students, for example, subject guides, subject and resource tutorials. The librarians also run one-to-one drop-in support and help with complex information needs for students, researchers and academics. http://www.gcal.ac.uk/library/

what has to change to make

this holistic vision become

practice?

changing

hearts

and

minds

institutional transformation

LLiDA

http://prezi.com/vv_ynswlwwkv/

http://www.caledonianacademy.net/spaces/LLiDA/index.php?n=Main.FrameworkOfFrameworks

slow change

cultural &

institutional

inhibitors

rapid change

economic &

technological

drivers

strategies

services

curriculum

Basic concepts

Likely futures: educating graduates for...

'21st century graduate skills'...?

Challenges facing learners

peer-review

Institutions will need to:

challenges for institutions

Reassess the capacities that are taught for, supported and assessed:

• Digital participation, production and enquiry
• Multiple modes of knowing, multiple media, multiple communities
• Self-management of learning, career and reputation
• Creativity, innovation and agility

Reassess how these capacities are supported

• Peer learning, informal learning, 360 degree support and review
• Authentic contexts for practice, including digitally-mediated contexts
• Individual scaffolding and support
• Making explicit community practices of knowledge and meaning-making
• Anticipating and helping learners manage conflict between practice contexts
• Recognising and helping learners integrate practices
• Interdisciplinarity? Cross-contextual learning? Learner-generated contexts?

Reassess and reassert how these capacities are valued

• Transparency over processes and values
• Recognition and reward (staff and student, cultural and financial)
• Digital scholarship needs to saturate learning and teaching practice
• Digital talent needs to be recognised and nurtured

a wishful future

Glasgow Caledonian University

initial focus on staff and undergraduate students

collegiate and holistic approach

subject discipline approaches

connects with a range of institutional initiatives

ICT Skills & Spoken Word

Learning Teaching and Assessment Strategy http://www.gcal.ac.uk/quality/strategy/ltas.html

CPD Policy and framework

http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/professional/GCUCPDPolicy2008.pdf

library

Quality Enhancement Strategy http://www.gcal.ac.uk/quality/strategy/index.html

Scottish Information Literacy Project

http://www.gcal.ac.uk/ils/index.html

Moving Forward Project: enhancing progression through partnership

http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/movingforward/

REALWorld Employability http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/realworld/

Lou McGill | Educational Consultant | http://www.loumcgill.co.uk

http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/llida/

effective learning services