RU Digitally Ready? Digital Literacies Skills for the future Example version for HEA Conference 2012 Pat Parslow Maria Papaefthimiou m.c. Nadja Guggi

Skills for the future Digital Literacies: – Make your life easier – Increase your employability – Allow you to have an Agile approach

Employability?

What are “Digital Literacies”? Yes, that is a question – that means you get to answer it! Please fill in Questionnaire 1 now

The JISC defines them as: By digital literacy we mean those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society: for example, the skills to use digital tools to undertake academic research, writing and critical thinking; as part of personal development planning; and as a way of showcasing achievements.

How do you learn new digital skills? License Some rights reserved by DeusXFloridaSome rights reservedDeusXFlorida

Parrot fashion Or… Trial and error Networking – learning from friends Web searches Methodical exploration of tools Training courses … How do you work out the best way to learn, for you?

CC-BY-SA licence Pirate Learning Assess, Analyse, Acquire, Articulate, Reflect: AAAR!

Why? Maybe a little motivational song…

Using the Twitter, Facebook or , Doing our best, So we don't fail.

Finding the data, Joining the dots, It's all about makin’ Best use of the COTS

Whether you're a student, Or in your career, You need ICT skills, So people don't sneer

Skills for the future, They matter to me, It's all about being, Digit'ly Ready

Evaluate these systems, learning with friends, picking the best ones, it's a means to your ends

Excel, Google, Apple or others, You need all your bases pretty well covered, Picking the right tool for the job, No point in being a software snob

Skills for the future, They matter to me, It's all about being, Digit'ly Ready

Grab your mobile, Your laptop or phone, Learn in the classroom, Or even at home

No-one can see the future for you, So learning how to do it is cool, We all need to know how it is done, And learning about tech can be lots of fun

Students, professors, And lecturers too, Try some new tools, Get a new view

Skills for the future, They matter to me, It's all about being, Digit'ly Ready

So come on in and tell us what's best, You'll find we'll listen with interest, What helps you learn, How you use your computer, Do you play an iPod while you're a commuter?

Audio, video, making and using, Working real hard, or maybe amusin' If it helps you learn things We wanna know, And maybe put your ideas In their very own show

Skills for the future, They matter to me, It's all about being, Digit'ly Ready

We need to build A plan for us all, Learning together, Picking our tools

My story's near done now, I'm no Ali G, But we can build our e-Strategy

Skills for the future, They matter to me, It's all about being, Digit'ly Ready

The Digitally Ready project is funded by JISC and the University of Reading Neither of those organisations is in any way responsible for this song! You are welcome to take the lyrics and make something better… (CC-SA) Lyrics and vocals by Pat Parslow (who has no shame), music by Microsoft Songsmith

Learning goals Understand need for continuous improvement of digital literacies Recognise importance of self assessment Understand importance of Digital Literacies for Employability Understand the Pirate Model of learning (AAAAR!)

Need for continuous improvement of digital literacies Rapid rate of innovation Adaptation of skills to new working environments Always-beta style of software Knock on effect to your learning in general…

Importance of self assessment Provision of courses is sub-optimal You need to understand your own skills You need to be in charge of your learning Understanding your “knowledge gaps” is critical

Importance of Digital Literacies for Employability e-Skills UK research reported in their ‘Technology Insights 2011’ demonstrates the demand for digital literacies for employability: Across the UK economy, 22 million people, 77% of the workforce, use IT in their jobs, and this will continue to rise. 92% of job advertisements require applicants to have basic IT skills and 1 in 10 UK businesses report gaps in IT user skills. 1.5 million people in the UK are currently employed in the IT sector and 500,000 new staff will be required in this sector over the next 5 years. videos/technology-insights-2011/technology-insights-2011-key-findings

Pirate Model of learning (AAAAR!) AAAR! Assess – yourself, and your needs Analyse – the gaps between these two Acquire – gain skills and competencies Articulate – communicate your skills to others Reflect – on the process, how you can learn better

And now….. A chance to have a look at some of the support materials For this workshop – a paper based wiki!

What are “Digital Literacies”? Yes, that is a question – that means you get to answer it! Please fill in Questionnaire 2 now

Thank you - RU Digitally Ready? Digital Literacies Skills for the future Example version for HEA Conference 2012 Pat Parslow Maria Papaefthimiou m.c. Nadja Guggi