Digital fluency at Sheffield Hallam University is characterised by the fluencies necessary "to live, learn and work in the digital age." Encompassing information literacy, IT competency, online interaction and critical thinking, it is suggested that digital fluency should underpin the academic experience at Sheffield Hallam. It is directly aligned to theme 1 of the University’s LTA Strategy, “promoting vibrant and challenging learning opportunities” and enables students and staff to maximise their engagement with “learning opportunities that integrate e-learning, promote learner autonomy, and embed employability”.
The Digital Fluency Initiative will focus upon raising the profile of digital fluency at Sheffield Hallam, recognising it as a core graduate attribute and a key element of professional development for staff. The Initiative will explore how we might enhance the digital fluency of students and staff, in the context of blended learning opportunities designed to draw upon high quality interactions and information resources, and with specific consideration of the fluency requirements of an increasingly social, participatory and collaborative online environment. Its inception is not intended to supersede any work already underway in developing information literacy, IT competency, online interaction and critical thinking, but recognises that to develop high levels of digital fluency it is important to consider these attributes holistically, considering how the elements interrelate and where there may be opportunities for synergy, coordinated development and integrated support. The Initiative will assess and inform institutional readiness for embedding digital fluency within the academic experience, recognising and sharing existing elements of good practice, proposing a holistic developmental infrastructure and exploring innovative ways to empower students and staff as they enhance their own digital fluency.
These are the original notes scoping out the initiative - the only significant change to scope is the proposed move from IT competency to IT confidence - how do we get people into a place where they are confident to cope with perpetual change?
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I think you have to really understand the difference between what makes DF people more DF than un-DF people. It's a total shift in thinking that is simply, and in the long term unhelpfully, categorised according to generational labels. The more useful characteristic behind this is attitude. It's not that they know more techniques, but it might in part be that they know more about techniques (awareness). If that is right there are two essential challenges: how to pursuade the un-DF that they don't need to be 'technical', just 'aware'; and how to support them in becoming confidently aware.
Answer to part 1: demonstrators eg digital stories, a dilbert-style cartoon strip on coasters!, mentoring, etc
Answer to part 2: quick link to anger management service, well let's think about that. Actually I think it comes to training that points to Help menues and social support nd emphasises play and exploration - rather keystrokes, mouse clicks and... techniques.
The other challenge we have is daring to be very, very assertive about the importance of the initiative in everything we think and do.
Sorry, Friday evening and my brain starts making weird connections. Just visited your ELI reflections and a post by Kay prompted me to think:
I'm beginning to realise that expert labels are there to reinforce the perceived DF barriers: "if it needs an expert (ie librarian, technologist, instructional designer) then of course I can't do it!" Removing developer teams is only the start of it, we need to start removing labels and words that suggest barriers. Is the DF tag a barrier or an enabler? It can be both but we must make sure that it is communicated in a confidence enabling way.
transferring this from a tweet to a comment - re: 'weightings' of 4 strands of df.
thinking aloud here, so it may not make much sense (obviously). but because it confidence is quite an intangible idea, what about an approach that took the other 3 strands (information literacy, online interaction, critical thinking) as distinct, explicit skills to be developed, with it confidence being 'nurtured' along the way? so its an essential but almost incidental outcome - in order to enable high quality online interactions, for example, you *need* to have the confidence to engage with different forms of online communication and technologies. it could potentially help make the synergies more explicit, while also shifting the emphasis away from it skills.
now, if only i could summarise the above in <140 characters...
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