1. “Why should I bother?” - Engaging learners in digital literacy skills development Association for Learning Technology Conference University of Manchester,11-13 September 2012 Marion Hall and Ingrid Nix Faculty of Health & Social Care, Open University Kirsty Baker Open University Library Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills

2. Open University Health & Social Care students –Arrive with poor digital literacy skills + low confidence –We developed skills activities to support them Good digital literacy skills –Demanded by employers –Required by QAA as part of ‘graduateness’ –Required by professional regulators –Expected by students as part of their degree But learners often seem: –To be reluctant to engage with skills learning –To prioritise subject-specific learning over skills Background

3. EADDLS project aims to explore: –Learner perceptions of skills development –Factors motivating engagement with skills learning Data from 3 modules using either: –‘Contextualised’ activities (set in module subject context) –‘Generic’ activities (usable by any FH&SC module) Collected via: –Online questionnaires (N=298, submission rate 23%) –Interviews (N=18) Quantitative data analysed re 3 demographic factors: –Gender –Age –Level of previous educational qualifications : Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills

4.  Large majority of students think skills important, especially for future study and in employment, but also personal life

5.  1 st statement - fewer than 17% learners unhappy with generic activities  But responses to other 3 statements show:  Much prefer skills in module context + related to study/work  More likely to complete skills if in context, especially module context  Fits findings other projects e.g. JISC Developing Digital Literacies

6.  Men are more likely than women to be happy about completing a generic skills activity – looking for possible reasons in qualitative data

8.  Lack of assessment not a major factor in deciding not to do activities

9.  Only reason where difference found between demographic groups  Learners 35 or under are more likely than older learners to find an activity not useful, or not do it, because it was a skill they already had  Under 35s are ‘digital natives’ – maybe bring more existing DL skills?

11.  Only reason where difference between demographic groups  Younger learners more likely to find more activities useful for the module  Unclear why – looking for possible reasons in qualitative data  One possibility – maybe better able to see DL skills as way to help them study because more used to using computers?

12. Learners believe digital skills important to all areas of life, especially work and study Key motivators: importance of skills for work/study (assessment may not be key driver) Prefer skills activities in module context, though find generic OK (men more so than women) Younger learners may arrive with more existing skills and are possibly better able to see how skills can help their study No differences related to level of previous educational qualifications Summary

13. For funding and support the project team would like to thank: The OU Scholarship Fund The OU Faculty of Health & Social Care The OU Library Stephanie Lay (OU Institute of Educational Technology) Robin Goodfellow (OU Institute of Educational Technology) Robert Farrow (OU Institute of Educational Technology) Acknowledgements Marion Hall Ingrid Nix Kirsty Baker

14. For: More information about the project Contact details for the project team See the EADDLES website at: https://sites.google.com/site/eaddlsproject/home More information