Digital student skills workshop - 17 February 2016
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As part of our digital student project, this series of consultation events will help inform our digital student: skills sector study. We are exploring the technology expectations and experiences of different learners’ including adult and community learners, work based learners, apprentices and offender learners.
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Digital student skills workshop - 17 February 2016
- 1. Skills sector digital student project Sarah Knight, Senior Co-design Manager, Student Experience, Jisc 17/02/2016 #digitalstudent http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org
- 2. Jisc digital student projects »Phase 1 study reviewed students’ expectations and experiences of the digital environment at university and we spoke to 500 staff and students during our consultation (2013-2014) »We conducted a review of practice in schools to identify likely incoming expectations (2014) »In phase 2 we focused on FE speaking to 220 learners and 300 staff from colleges across the UK (2014-2015) »Prototyping a digital student data service to support providers and universities to gather their learners experiences of technology http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 3. Skills sector digital student project team » Giles Pepler, Senior Consultant, Sero, project manager and lead consultant » Nick Jeans, Sero, Senior Consultant (LearningTechnology) » Barry Phillips, Senior Consultant, Sero » Support by Seb Schmoller (Sero Associate) » With support from Ellen Lessner, consultant 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 4. Aims of today » How should Skills providers respond to learners' changing expectations of their digital environment? » What experiences prepare learners to flourish in a digital world? » What are providers doing to engage their learners in dialogue about their learning environment and to gather intelligence about their changing needs? » Who needs to be involved? 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 5. Skills sector digital student project » What do learners WANT (expectations) in relation to the digital? » What do learners NEED to succeed (experiences)? » Literature review| stakeholder interviews | learner focus groups | consultation events » Guidance for providers on how to gather learners’ views, how to engage learners in an ongoing dialogue about the digital and how to better support learners digital experience » Identify top challenges in relation to the digital learner experience and identify what support providers need in addressing these challenges 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 6. Feedback via: 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk » TextWall: Send a text to 0207 183 8329 starting with digi » NOTE - if you don’t start the text with digi, it won’t go to our inbox » http://padlet.com/sarahknight/digital studentskills » #digitalstudent What one thing should providers do to enhance learners’ digital experience?
- 7. For findings and workshop resources: http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 8. http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND Find out more… Digital Student #digitalstudent Giles Pepler Giles.Pepler@sero.co.uk 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk Sarah Knight Sarah.knight@jisc.ac.uk
- 9. Meeting the needs of all learners: What the research says 17/02/2016 #digitalstudent http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org
- 10. How do learners experience the digitalenvironment? 17/02/2016 Vocational Basic skills Apprenticeships Recreational Background Prior educational/work experience Achievement 14-90 years old Full/part-time Day release Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 11. Desk review of literature » Databases » Abstracts + proceedings of conferences » Journals » Websites of organisations » Collections of case studies » Ofsted reports » Institutional documents 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 12. Work-based learning » Problems: access to good laptops, printers and internet connectivity » Students want experience with software + hardware that’s used in their work places » VLE / LMS are NOT redundant - maybe yet to reach their potential » Students’ technology skills vary widely – even amongst same age groups.We can’t take skill levels for granted » Lack of student voice in the sector 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 13. Adult and community learning » Lack of good equipment + wifi » Difficult transporting equipment to venues, blocks on websites at schools, not getting passwords from venue » Teachers lack training in how to use technologies + no time to prepare materials / backups » Shortage of tutors » No uniform skill levels » No enthusiasm for MOOCs from learners » Little student voice in the literature. But with a wide range of learners, it may be nearly impossible to act on it anyway 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 14. Offender learning » Restricted access to devices, internet, information and support » Limited access even to existing technologies due to competing priorities / philosophies » Access to meaningful learning opportunities often decreases as students near release » No continuity of learning support after release » Need for dedicated technology-enabled learning space » Limitations of access, support and quality content, but Virtual Campus still has potential » Can’t take students’ digital skills levels for granted, but do not assume the worst 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 15. Overall conclusions (1) » Clear need to assess and cater for different digital literacies across the sector » Jisc pages on Developing Digital Literacies with resources and links is first point-of-call: https://www.Jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies) » “But, learner voice studies…have provided evidence to suggest that the “digital native” is a chimera and that we are all – and always have been –immigrants (digital or otherwise) to any community of practice.” (Roberts 2011) » Need to focus on infrastructure and access above more “charismatic” technologies 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 16. Overall conclusions(2) » Little quality research in the sector » Reports of practice are largely from a teacher’s perspective » Collections not tagged for learner experience 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk
- 17. Gathering learners’ views Nick Jeans and Ellen Lessner 17/02/2016 #digitalstudent http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org
- 18. Learners want a say » Learners in our studies saw the digital student project as an opportunity to contribute and get involved » Digital engagement methods such as social media, Padlets, Twitter walls, vox pops etc., are popular... » … and once established can be used for other issues too » Digital learners are varied – it is important that the experience of different groups is represented » Learners can get involved in different ways e.g. advocate, researcher, representative, intern, change agent, project lead, buddy, mentor, designer... » Make sure learners can share ideas and see how they are acted on 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 18
- 19. Focus groups » The target now is to reach at least 100 learners » Groups cover a good geographical spread » Learners are from a range of skills sectors and study levels: apprenticeships, adult and community learning and offender learning » Dropouts (of providers and learners) has been challenging We conducted 8 focus groups: 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 19
- 20. Focus group process » Learner profile » Focus group process » Card sort Tools 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 20 » What we learnt about conducting research in the Skills sector setting Skills
- 21. The basics: Recording the results » Card sort protocol » Technology » Room arrangement » Permissions (organisations and individuals) 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 21
- 22. Supporting our learners’ digital experience Jane Edwards, Jisc account manager 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 22
- 23. What skills learners sayBristol 17/02/2016 #digitalstudent http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org
- 24. 8 focus groups so far: 17/02/2016 Sheffield InTouchCare Private training provider Social care/ childcare , level 2 7 Stoke-on-trent Stoke ACL ACL Functional Maths, level 2 4 London LESOCO FE college Business management , levels two and three 13 Bristol Lifetime careers Private training provider Hospitality , levels two and three 10 Lowestoft Realise futures Private training provider (social enterprise) Land based, levels E and E1 3 Leicester Leicester ACL ACL IT/ basic skills, levels E, one and two 7 Derby Derby ACL ACL Recreational languages, levels E, one and three 6 Carmarthen Carmarthenshire ACL ACL IT/ art/ functional English and Maths , levels E to three 20 Totals ACL; private trainers 3; FE college 1 70
- 25. Learner profiles (1) » Learners of all ages from 16 to 60+ » Broad range of study programmes Courses of study 17/02/2016 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Other Modern foreign languages Social care Maths English Business Admininstration IT (not computing) Number of learners
- 26. Learner profiles (2) » Females more likely to customise tool bars and colour schemes Customising 17/02/2016 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Toolbar Mouse Colours Language Males Females
- 27. Focus groups Access to technology – relative importance of items 17/02/2016 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 Access to social media like Skype, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter… Access to a digital camera when needed Access to digital storage like Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive Aids like online diary, timetable, work experience information,… Access to class notes, handouts and recordings online Access to a printer when needed A personal email account VLE with tutor contact, group forum, ways to store etc. A device (e.g. laptop) to use on your own when needed Fast wifi that is easy to connect to Mean score of all groups
- 28. Focus groups » “It would be good if we (an apprentice group) had a private Facebook page where you put all the class notes, so we could access them when we’re at work.” 17/02/2016
- 29. Focus groups 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Writing computer code – opportunities and / or training Use of online networks to make connections and share ideas with other learners How to use systems like a library catalogue, VLE etc. and how to do things like submitting work online How to use technology to cope with learning difficulties or disabilities Basic ICT skills e.g. use of internet search, email, word processing, spreadsheets etc. Mean score of all groups Useful skills – relative importance of items 17/02/2016
- 30. Focus groups » “In 5 years’ time, basic IT skills will have changed, so you have to keep learning it. I can learn a lot on my own, but you need to be taught spreadsheets” » “I don’t understand any of that (computer code) I’m not interested. But, if somebody had introduced me to it, it might have been an opportunity” 17/02/2016
- 31. Focus groups 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 Creating or contributing to a public website like a wiki or blog Experience taking part in online discussions Creating and editing with digital media like video, pictures or audio Working with social media like Twitter or Facebook to help you learn Working with others online, e.g jointly writing things or sharing files Presentation software like PowerPoint, Prezi, Slideshare etc Experience with technologies used in the workplace Mean score of all groups Experiences on course – relative importance of items 17/02/2016
- 32. Focus groups » “It’s easy to come across like you’re being really abrupt (online) and you don’t mean to, so you’ve got to be really careful… and I think people really have to learn that.” 17/02/2016
- 33. Focus groups 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 Understanding the latest digital technologies (e.g. gadgets, media, apps) Ability to choose the best technology for different tasks Ability to judge how useful or true things are that you find on the internet Ability to enter a workplace and feel confident with the technology used there Knowing how to present a positive personal identity or profile online Understanding how to use the internet safely and ethically, including cyber-bullying, cheating, e-safety, protecting private information, sticking to a clear moral code etc. Mean score of all groups Making good choices – relative importance of items 17/02/2016
- 34. Emerging conclusions (1) » Learners’ skills + use of technology far from homogeneous – even amongst the same age groups » Learners want access to a device they can use, prefer an open ‘bring your own’ (BYO) device policy 17/02/2016
- 35. Emerging conclusions (2) » Learners highly responsive to being asked how they would like to use digital technology » Process gave providers concrete model for eliciting learners’ views of their provision » Engaging learners in discussions around technology can prompt positive changes in existing teaching and learning practice 17/02/2016
- 36. Session 6: Next steps Sarah Knight, Senior Co-design manager, student experience, Jisc 17/02/2016 #digitalstudent http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org
- 37. What one thing? » What would you most like Jisc/the sector bodies to do after today? » What does your organisation need to do? » What help do you need from Jisc to do this? » http://padlet.com/sarahknight/onething » TextWall: start your text with ‘digi’ 0207-1838329 http://can.jiscinvolve.org 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 37
- 38. Jisc Change Agents’ Network » Supporting staff – student partnership working and student engagement » Joining the network mailing list CAN@jiscmail.ac.uk by visiting jiscmail.ac.uk/CAN » Follow us onTwitter @CANagogy #JiscCAN » Visit our website for the CAN student partnerships toolkit – resources to support staff-student partnership working http://tiny.cc/can001 » Participate in the series of CAN webinars to share best practice » Share your experiences with us as part of the CAN case studies http://can.jiscinvolve.org 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 38
- 39. For findings and workshop resources http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 39
- 40. Digital students are different posters… 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 40
- 41. Enhancing the digital student experience 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 41
- 42. Consultation events 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 42 Desk research Focus groups Consultation events Date Location and venue 17 February Bristol – At-Bristol 14 April Leicester - Mercure LeicesterThe Grand Hotel 27 April Manchester -The Studio
- 43. http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND Find out more… Digital Student #digitalstudent Giles Pepler Giles.Pepler@sero.co.uk 17/02/2016 Jisc Digital Student http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org.uk 43 Sarah Knight Sarah.knight@jisc.ac.uk
Editor's Notes
- Housekeeping Fire drills Lunch and refreshments – make yourself known to catering staff Toilets Wifi access Photos – approval and let us know if you don’t wish to be photographed
- An initial study reviewed existing evidence about students' expectations and experiences of study in a digital environment. This includes both: digital environment generally e.g. wifi, IT support, access to devices and printers the study environment in its digital aspects e.g. how digital resources and media are used; what software students access, how they use their own devices and services to support learning The study also looked at how universities collect, manage and analyse such information locally, and how they engage students in a productive dialogue about their digital experience.
- Lets remind you the team…
- This Jisc project is exploring Skills sector learners’ expectations and experiences of technology and future work will expand the remit to the wider FE and Skills sector. Building on earlier work, these consultation events are highly participative and will help answer questions such as:
- Modelling ways to connect with students – using a Text Wall In pairs or threes – depending on who has the most free texts! (always check with the students if you decide to use this) Please start your text with digi and then Q1
- All the resources are available on the Digital Student blog http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/fe-and-skills-digital-student-study/agenda-for-events/
- Skills sector is its diversity - in qualifications, places and modes of learning, and the learners themselves. Some organisations, colleges and lecturers are responding with enthusiasm to the digital age, with many examples of creative uses of technology in the classroom. This diversity of educational contexts, learners and teaching practices combined with little formal evaluation of learners’ experiences, makes it difficult to interpret and learn from the many case studies that are shared in the sector. Our approach has been to make use of frameworks and findings based on trustworthy research and then to illustrate these with stories and quotes from the case studies. The sector reports were largely used to set the research in context. Photo stolen from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/universities-and-colleges/9981664/Coleg-Sir-Gar-Carmarthenshire-College-guide.html
- We tried a number of search terms; the ones that turned up hits were: further education/FE AND technology/IT (or “ILT” Information and Learning Technology, as we found out in the previous Jisc experts’ meeting that in FE, technology is often referred to like this), post-compulsory education/VET/Vocational studies/A levels/apprentices AND digital environment/use/practices, VLE, learning technology or any combination of these terms. In addition to searching these, we scanned bibliographies of articles found and their citations. We also searched the content pages of relevant journals in the field. We searched for reports at the websites of several organizations and we included the ofsted reports. Regarding the institutional documents, we contacted individually all the colleges that had expressed an initial interest in the study (or offered to share relevant documents) – I must say that some also suggested some relevant reports.
- There are deep-seated and persistent problems with regards to students accessing the quality of devices and internet connectivity that they require and expect. Their expectations of the technical-infrastructure are not excessive and chiefly involve the ability to use machines running standard Office and Word type packages (or similar) over a domestic equivalent-standard internet connection. That access to a decent quality laptop, or the facility to use their own, high speed, reliable wifi and printers is consistently the top-rated student priority suggests that policy makers at all levels may be wise to focus on these rather prosaic goals above more “charismatic” technologies. Learners expected the same or better services that they had had in school. Given that spending at school level – whilst also under severe pressure – is relatively protected there has to be a risk that students become disillusioned when they experience a notable decrease in the quality and availability of the technology. On another level, students working in industries which make use of specialist packages expect their providers to furnish them with those packages – and machines of sufficient power to run them. Generally, students expect their colleges to provide the experience of the hardware and software, and opportunity to develop the skills, which will prepare them for work and enhance their employment opportunities. VLEs and LMSs are far from redundant technologies. It may even be that they are yet to approach reaching their potential. Students’ technology skills are far from homogeneous – even amongst age groups. Do not take skill levels for granted. Students’ skills with “learning technologies” further complicate this. The digital immigrants versus digital natives typology is not particularly helpful. There is a lack of student voice (with some honourable exceptions) in the research. This leads one to ask whether there may be a lack of student voice in the sector. By comparison with the HE sector and the compulsory education sector (or perhaps age group? NOTE TO SELF) there is little research focusing on learning with technologies. There does not seem any desire amongst students for anything resembling MOOCs. In fact, some college (skills) students were clear that they did not want any “external” engagement other than that which involved their places of employment. That is not to say there is no potential. Persistent problems with access to the quality of devices and internet connectivity that learners require and expect.: access to a decent quality laptop, or the facility to use their own, high speed, reliable wifi and printers are consistently the top-rated student priority suggests. Generally, students expect their training providers to prepare them to use the technology they will find in their work places Students working in industries which make use of specialist packages expect their providers to furnish them with those packages – and machines of sufficient power to run them. VLEs and LMSs are far from redundant technologies. It may even be that they are yet to approach reaching their potential. Students’ technology skills are far from homogeneous – even amongst age groups. Do not take skill levels for granted. Students’ skills with “learning technologies” further complicate this. The digital immigrants versus digital natives typology is not particularly helpful. There is a lack of student voice (with some honourable exceptions) in the research. This leads one to ask whether there may be a lack of student voice in the sector.
- Again, the existential issue is the lack of good quality equipment and unreliable and/or limited wifi - but with the added challenges of transporting equipment to venues, blocks on sites when using school venues, not being provided with passwords by the venue. Not surprisingly, the practitioners faced their own barriers in terms of obtaining training in how to use technologies and insufficient time to prepare materials or backups and these will have impacted on the learner experience. There is also a lack of tutors. Do not take skill levels for granted. On the other hand, do not assume the worst. Again, there seems to be little enthusiasm for MOOCs in their current guise amongst learners in the Community and Adult Learning Sector. There is obviously some potential but the need to identify correctly and address the skills of the learners against the skills require may be too onerous at the present. Given the high dropout rates for MOOCs and the impact that perceived “failure” has on non-Higher Education adult learners serious consideration must be take place before deploying a technology and pedagogy which could potentially do more harm than good. Again we found little student voice in the literature – once again with honourable exceptions. Again, this raises the possibility that student voice is little heard in the sector. It may, of course, be that the research was not easily identifiable. But, given the heterogeneous nature of the learning constituency, even if student voices were collated, it may be nearly impossible to act on it. Lack of good quality equipment and unreliable and/or limited wifi - but with the added challenges of transporting equipment to venues, blocks on sites when using school venues, not being provided with passwords by the venue. Practitioners faced their own barriers in terms of obtaining training in how to use technologies and insufficient time to prepare materials or backups and these will have impacted on the learner experience. There is also a lack of tutors. Do not take skill levels for granted. On the other hand, do not assume the worst. There seems to be little enthusiasm for MOOCs in their current guise amongst learners in the ACL sector. Little student voice in the literature – once again with honourable exceptions. Again, this raises the possibility that student voice is little heard in the sector. It may, of course, be that the research was not easily identifiable. But, given the heterogeneous nature of the learning constituency, even if student voices were collated, it may be nearly impossible to act on it.
- Access to devices, access to the internet, access to information and access to support are all priorities for incarcerated learners. At times, this is further complicated by students being denied access to existing technologies due to competing priorities and/or philosophies. Access to meaningful learning opportunities often decreases as incarcerated students progress through the prison system towards release. This is further aggravated by the lack of continuity of learning, support and access post-incarceration. Amongst the key student requests is for a dedicated technology-enabled learning space within prisons. Despite persistent problems, in terms of access, support and quality of content, the Virtual Campus is still viewed by incarcerated learners as having considerable potential. Perceptions of a lack of tangible progress may ultimately erode this enthusiasm. Do not take students’ digital skills levels for granted. In addition, do not assume the worst. There is more student voice evident in the literature for this sector (particularly for the incarcerated learners). But there is little evidence of student-voice actually influencing anything on a substantial scale. Champion and Edgar (Champion & Edgar 2013) are reasonably positive about the potential for MOOCs as a supplement to the prison learning toolkit. Of course, there are possible explanations for what might at first seem counter-intuitive: not least that whilst the vast majority of prisoners have below average qualifications there are prisoners of all ability levels and some are already graduates and/or post-graduates. “Eynon and Helsper (2011) identified the relationship between digital exclusion and digital choice as important in students’ use of new technologies for learning. There is, however, a fundamental assumption in their discussion that people should have empowered and informed choices in how they access or use technology for learning, which is not necessarily the case in a prison context.” (Pike 2015) “The best practice was observed where a prison had a learning ethos which was shared by the staff, where higher-level learners were given dedicated space and time for learning and where learners were encouraged to take responsible peer-support positions which raised self-esteem and helped to develop a community.” (Pike 2015)
- Overall, we found little quality research investigating learner experiences and expectations, with a notable decrease in relevant reports in the past five years.
- Hand over to Nick
- 8 completed, with at least two more planned The target is now is to reach at least 100 learners, covering a good geographical spread, a range of skills sectors, study levels, apprenticeships, adult & community learning and offender learning Aim to complete the final run in the second half of February Dropouts (of providers and learners) have made this difficult Training provider groups completed at InTouch Care (Sheffield), Lifetime Careers (Bristol) and Realise Futures (Lowestoft). Another in the process of being arranged ACL groups completed at Stoke-on-Trent, Leicester, Derby and Carmarthen FE Apprentice group completed at LESOCO; another arranged for Somerset College Offender learning group arranged at Shotts Prison (Scotland)
- Chance to see learner profile later. (check if LP and FG process have been included in folder) Nick to add thoughts on what we learnt – Difficulties with contacting and enlisting organisations and students. Learners are not in one place for a long time like FE and HE so not a ‘captive’ group.
- Consent form, permissions from organisations, especially prisons Hand over to EL
- The largest numbers in IT and digital literacy, Business Administration and English and Maths (including functional skills). Courses grouped under ‘Other’ include Construction, Hospitality, Retail and Sales, Art and Pottery.
- Just under three quarters of the sample claim to use their PC or laptop every day, with females slightly more likely to do so and more likely to customise tool bars and colour schemes. They are also more likely to use social media and messaging (though not directly for learning) and to upload photos to a device. Over 80% of both sexes use Google.
- The card sort results for each table in the focus groups were scored from 5 (most important) to 1 (least important), with items not ranked in the prioritising exercise scored as 0. Where fewer than 5 items were prioritised, all those not included were scored as 0. Patterns are starting to emerge, with fast wifi with good connectivity and the availability of a PC, laptop or tablet at the course centre identified as the most important aspects of access to technology. “At my work there’s 2 buildings with wifi but I’m in a building that doesn’t have it, so whenever my trainer comes in or I’m trying to do an exam, it’s just a nightmare.” A multi-functional VLE also considered important by some groups, more so than simply access to digital storage. However learners were often not aware of the potential of online storage. While discussing Dropbox, Learner A commented: “I can’t see the point of that.” Learner B responded: “Say you’re at work, you have a file, you put it in Dropbox, you can open it at home.” Learner A: “Oh, wow, cool!” Learner C: “It’s very handy for sharing videos. So if I wanted to send a video to you, they’re usually too big to send as an email attachment, so I stick it in Dropbox and send you the link.” Learner A: “Oh wow, that’s useful then. I’ll get it!” At the other end of the scale, access to social media has attracted little interest, reflecting the perceived lack of connection between social media and learning and access to a digital camera was not seen as relevant to the majority of courses. This is not to say that learners were not using social media – far from it. However they were not conscious of using it to support their learning and, as with online storage, the focus group process may have raised awareness of its potential benefits.
- The card sort results for each table in the focus groups were scored from 5 (most important) to 1 (least important), with items not ranked in the prioritising exercise scored as 0. Where fewer than 5 items were prioritised, all those not included were scored as 0. Patterns are starting to emerge, with fast wifi with good connectivity and the availability of a PC, laptop or tablet at the course centre identified as the most important aspects of access to technology. “At my work there’s 2 buildings with wifi but I’m in a building that doesn’t have it, so whenever my trainer comes in or I’m trying to do an exam, it’s just a nightmare.” A multi-functional VLE also considered important by some groups, more so than simply access to digital storage. However learners were often not aware of the potential of online storage. While discussing Dropbox, Learner A commented: “I can’t see the point of that.” Learner B responded: “Say you’re at work, you have a file, you put it in Dropbox, you can open it at home.” Learner A: “Oh, wow, cool!” Learner C: “It’s very handy for sharing videos. So if I wanted to send a video to you, they’re usually too big to send as an email attachment, so I stick it in Dropbox and send you the link.” Learner A: “Oh wow, that’s useful then. I’ll get it!” At the other end of the scale, access to social media has attracted little interest, reflecting the perceived lack of connection between social media and learning and access to a digital camera was not seen as relevant to the majority of courses. This is not to say that learners were not using social media – far from it. However they were not conscious of using it to support their learning and, as with online storage, the focus group process may have raised awareness of its potential benefits.
- In spite of slight confusion surrounding the phrase ‘basic ICT skills’, confidence in using technology scored most highly in the useful skills category. “In 5 years’ time, basic IT skills will have changed, so you have to keep learning it. I can learn a lot on my own, but you need to be taught spreadsheets.” Using technology to cope with learning difficulties or disabilities was seen as important both by those who identified themselves as having specific needs and by their peers. This highlighted an ambiguity in the card sort process: whether you’re supposed to be selfish with the cards, only prioritising the things that matter to you. But learners recognised that technology to cope with learning difficulties was extremely important for students who need it. Since none of the sample was taking a programming course (the IT courses were all connected with basic ICT skills or digital literacy), it is unsurprising that there was little interest in writing computer code. Again, however, the card raised learners’ awareness of wider opportunities. On computer coding one learner said: “I don’t understand any of that, I’m not interested. But, if somebody had introduced me to it, it might have been an opportunity.”
- In spite of slight confusion surrounding the phrase ‘basic ICT skills’, confidence in using technology scored most highly in the useful skills category. “In 5 years’ time, basic IT skills will have changed, so you have to keep learning it. I can learn a lot on my own, but you need to be taught spreadsheets.” Using technology to cope with learning difficulties or disabilities was seen as important both by those who identified themselves as having specific needs and by their peers. This highlighted an ambiguity in the card sort process: whether you’re supposed to be selfish with the cards, only prioritising the things that matter to you. But learners recognised that technology to cope with learning difficulties was extremely important for students who need it. Since none of the sample was taking a programming course (the IT courses were all connected with basic ICT skills or digital literacy), it is unsurprising that there was little interest in writing computer code. Again, however, the card raised learners’ awareness of wider opportunities. On computer coding one learner said: “I don’t understand any of that, I’m not interested. But, if somebody had introduced me to it, it might have been an opportunity.”
- Experience with technologies used in the workplace was considered extremely important, both by those learners with employed status and those who were unemployed and using their learning programme as a springboard to potential employment. Learner conversations during the group sessions suggested that the use of presentation software was both useful on their course and in presenting a positive online identity – see Making Good Choices below. On working with others online, one learner commented: “It’s easy to come across like you’re being really abrupt and you don’t mean to, so you’ve got to be really careful.” Another learner added: “And I think people really have to learn that.”
- Experience with technologies used in the workplace was considered extremely important, both by those learners with employed status and those who were unemployed and using their learning programme as a springboard to potential employment. Learner conversations during the group sessions suggested that the use of presentation software was both useful on their course and in presenting a positive online identity – see Making Good Choices below. On working with others online, one learner commented: “It’s easy to come across like you’re being really abrupt and you don’t mean to, so you’ve got to be really careful.” Another learner added: “And I think people really have to learn that.”
- A number of learners – especially younger trainees who had recently left school – dismissed the importance of learning about internet safety, “I think it’s really important but I think schools will have covered that before people leave and start apprenticeships.” However another learner said: “I don’t think the teachers at school knew about social media, so they didn’t bring it up.” It appears that schools are very variable in how they cover internet safety: some schools clearly deal with it comprehensively, sometimes to the extent that pupils lose interest, while others simply ignored the issue and banned access to social media. However the majority of learners felt internet safety was important and it was the most highly scored item in this section, often linked to presenting a positive identity online: “I think people forget that even though it’s for your personal use, everything’s open, nothing’s lost.” As in the Experiences section, learners felt it important to feel at ease with the technology they might encounter in a workplace. However, keeping up with the latest gadgets and apps was not seen as important, reflecting a preoccupation with fitting in with current work practices rather than offering new ideas that might help the employer work more efficiently.
- All the resources are available on the Digital Student blog http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/fe-and-skills-digital-student-study/agenda-for-events/
- All the resources are available on the Digital Student blog http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/fe-and-skills-digital-student-study/agenda-for-events/
- All the resources are available on the Digital Student blog http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/fe-and-skills-digital-student-study/agenda-for-events/
- All the resources are available on the Digital Student blog http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/fe-and-skills-digital-student-study/agenda-for-events/
- All the resources are available on the Digital Student blog http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/fe-and-skills-digital-student-study/agenda-for-events/
- All the resources are available on the Digital Student blog http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/fe-and-skills-digital-student-study/agenda-for-events/