by Sarah Knight and Heather Price

1. How can we support students with the
development of their digital capabilities?
#digitalcapability

2. #digitalcapability http://ji.sc/building-digicap
The Six-elements of digital capability
Available from:
http://bit.ly/digcap18

3. #digitalcapability http://ji.sc/building-digicap
What is the Digital discovery tool?
It is:
»A self-administered quiz about
digital practices in education
»Designed to give useful
feedback including 'next steps'
and links to resources
» Reflective, informative and
developmental
»A pilot (not finished yet!)
It is not:
» An objective measure of digital
competence or performance
»A complete learning resource or
course of study
»Validated and proven in
practice (we are still learning!)

4. Learner profile
http://ji.sc/Digi-cap-different-roles

5. #digitalcapability http://ji.sc/building-digicap
Learner discovery tool - principles
»Practice based: users start with practical issues, and the
language is designed to be accessible and familiar
»Self-reported: we trust users to report on their own
digital practices
»We attach very little weight to self-reported confidence,
but we do expect learners to report accurately on what
they do in specific situations (depth), and on which digital
activities they undertake routinely (breadth)

6. #digitalcapability http://ji.sc/building-digicap
Learner discovery tool - principles
»Nudges and tips: the questions are designed to get users
thinking about new practices and ideas before they even
get to their feedback report
»Generic: different subject areas present very different
opportunities to develop digital skills – and make very
different demands
»We aim to recognise practices that have been gained on
but where possible we reference co-curricular activities
that all students could access

7. New elements
»The ‘learning’ element of the framework is split across two areas to
reflect its importance to students.
»These are ‘preparing to learn‘ with digital tools (mainly issues
around managing access, information, time and tasks), and ‘digital
learning activities‘.
»There is also an additional element, ‘digital skills for work‘, that sits
at the same level as ‘digital identity’ and ‘digital wellbeing’ in the
framework, reflecting the importance of the future workplace in
learners’ overall motivation to develop their digital skills.

8. When to use the tool with learners?
» It is not intended for arriving or pre-arrival students. We are considering
a special assessment for students at this important transition, but there
are some problems with developing this:
› These students vary much more in their experience of digital learning,
so it is much harder to design content that is not too challenging (and
off-putting) for some, while being too basic for others.
› We are concerned that organisations might see it as a substitute for
preparing students effectively to study in digital settings – this is not a
responsibility that can be delivered by a self-reflective tool.
› We have learned from students that the most important content of an
induction or pre-induction ‘toolkit’ is institution-specific – depending
on the specific systems and policies in place.

9. #digitalcapability http://ji.sc/building-digicap
Activities and discussion

10. Digital induction ‘toolkit’
»Kit
› a framework that
organisations can use to
determine for themselves –
from their Tracker findings
and other data – how they
want arriving students to
think about digital learning
»Tools
› ‘kit’ of skills, devices etc
»What could go in this toolkit
for your students?
› Share on post its
› Padlet http://bit.ly/2F1qzNU

11. Student sign up process
One year course
First year
Middle year(s)
Final year

12. Personal report
PDF
download
Report
navigation
Each element has:
» Level: developing | capable | proficient
» Score: how you assessed yourself to
achieve this level
» Next steps: what people at this level can
try to develop further
» Resources: links to selected resources for
further exploration

13. #digitalcapability http://ji.sc/building-digicap
Discussion
» What works?
» How do you think it could/should be used with students?
» When to use with students?
» How could it be better?
Please use the feedback
form you can access from
the padlet
http://bit.ly/2F1qzNU

14. #digitalcapability http://ji.sc/building-digicap
Find out more
› See project blog for updates on new developments & guidance
for pilots: www.bit.ly/digidiscoveryguide
› Visit project page http://bit.ly/jiscdigcap
› Institutional approaches to digital capability guide -
http://bit.ly/digcapguide
› Email the project team at: digitalcapability@jisc.ac.uk
› Follow #digitalcapability on Twitter