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Digital Literacy and Technological Transformations: Developing Critical Digital Skills Supports for Students in Accredited Programmes

Overview

Digital Skills Symposium: Project Lead and Guests

This Learning Enhancement project has been funded through SATLE (Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement) with the support of the National Forum / HEA.

PROJECT TITLE: Digital Literacy and Technological Transformations: Developing Critical Digital Skills Supports for Students in Accredited Programmes
PROJECT COORDINATOR: Dr Marta Bustillo, UCD Library
COLLABORATORS: Alexa MacDermot, Aoife Reilly, Professor Crystal Fulton, Dr Ernesto Vasquez del Aguila, Faye Carrie, Feargal Keenan, Dr John Gilmore, Liam Fogarty, Sara Forghani, Sarah Hanly
TARGET AUDIENCE: The initial audience were students in professionally accredited programmes across University College Dublin who were about to join the workforce. The overall audience are students in all programmes across the University wishing to develop digital literacy skills for the workplace, as well as the general public.

Background

The world of work presents new challenges to students. Importantly, they may find they must adapt their digital strategies for successful collegial interactions and collaboration, information processing, and progression. However, how to approach this constantly evolving digital space can be daunting and requires specific approaches and skills.

This project developed a GPA neutral, self-directed, five-unit online course, Digital Skills for Success in the Workplace, to help students who may already be working and studying, or about to transition from education to the workplace. The course empowers students to develop key digital literacy skills that are essential to work successfully in rapidly evolving online environments, with a particular focus on ethical practices in online professional contexts.

Content creation for the course involved a students-as-partners approach that focused on the student voice and reflected the digital literacy needs identified by a multidisciplinary team of students and staff from three UCD Colleges led by UCD Library. This multi-disciplinary collaboration between students and staff was key to delivering high-quality, relevant content and fully accessible outputs, not just for the UCD community but for anyone interested in developing digital skills for the workplace.

Goals

Project aim:

To equip UCD students in professionally accredited programmes with key digital literacy skills that are essential to study and work successfully in rapidly evolving online environments. Provide co-curricular opportunities for students to develop digital literacy skills.

Project objectives:
  1. Develop a GPA-neutral, non-credit bearing, self-directed online module consisting of 5 units covering the five themes in UCD Library's Digital Literacy Framework:
    • finding and using digital information
    • understanding digital identities and practices
    • creating and communicating digital information
    • thinking critically and evaluating digital information
    • collaborating and sharing in digital spaces
  2. Pilot test the module with professionally accredited programmes in Schools participating in the project.
  3. Evaluate pilot results using both quantitative and qualitative measures [module surveys, content analysis of reflective assignments, focus groups].
  4. Roll out the module to other programmes across all UCD
  5. Create a public project website showcasing all outputs as Open Educational Resources, to be maintained by UCD Library after project completion.
  6. Organise a symposium on digital literacy in higher education to launch project outputs.

Approach

This project used a co-learning approach and conceived of students as pedagogic partners with staff across three Colleges in UCD in the design, implementation and evaluation of the online module:

  • Students were co-designers, co-implementers and co-evaluators of all project outputs, including Universal Design for Learning approaches to the content.
  • Students led the promotion of project outputs.
  • Students were encouraged to work in teams and co-learn with their peers in the project team.

To ensure successful integration as pedagogical partners in the project team, students were mentored by other team members to acquire practical skills in:

  • Articulate Rise 360 content authoring software
  • Facilitating focus groups to evaluate project impact and implement results
  • Participatory research skills for impact evaluation
  • Communication and dissemination of project outputs

As a result of these strategies, all project goals were achieved: the project pilot was launched on March 11 2024, and the final version of the course was rolled out across the University in September 2024, and made available both on UCD’s VLE, Brightspace, and on the project website: https://www.ucd.ie/digitalliteracy/.

Results

Online course:

Since March 11, 2024, 412 UCD students and staff enrolled in the online course on UCD’s VLE and 111 received a digital certificate of completion. Of these, 40 (35%) were registered in the School of Education’s Diploma in Continuing Education Inclusive School Support and will bring the digital skills acquired through the course back to Irish schools. 19 Business students (16%) completed the course from overseas campuses, e.g. Singapore.

Evaluation of Pilot:

Students returning to education to retrain for a career change observed that the module provided useful skills to use in their future workplaces. They also enjoyed the accessibility options, e.g. audio and plain-text content versions. The evaluation was shared with UCD’s Strategic Planning Team to help inform the University’s approach to the role of co-curricular activities.

Symposium and impact beyond UCD:

The project launch symposium took place on June 25, 2024, and was attended by the Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital Transformation and Company Regulation Dara Calleary, who stated that

Digital transformation is something we want to be a major part of the national conversation. Programmes such as this bring that conversation to workplaces, to homes, and to every part of the country.

The symposium elicited interest in the course content from Limerick and Cork universities. The HSE’s Adult Mental Health Service in Cork introduced the public online course to their nursing staff.

Resources