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Saturday, 20 February 2010 19:12 |
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A digital literacy proposal in online Higher Education: the UOC scenario - Montse Guitert and Teresa Romeu - eLearning Papers, Nº 13, April 2009
Summary: Universities have a key role in providing students with strategies and competences to allow them to be part of the current information society and hence to be able to develop a productive career. The Open University of Catalonia (UOC) is a fully online university created in 1995 to provide distance-learning university-level education. ICTs were integrated to UOC’s educational activity since its first steps as a compulsory subject common to all degrees, aimed to help students to cope with a virtual environment and to familiarize them with the university’s specific online tools. This subject has been evolving along these last 11 years of existence in line with new technologies and also according to the necessities of students. Nowadays it is a subject that works the basic competences in ICTs and is inspired by the declaration of Bologna. In a scenario in which the university is making strategic decisions about the implementation of the new degrees within the framework of the EHEA, this competence is defined at the UOC as follows: “The use and application of ICTs in the academic and professional environment”. UOC’s proposal of digital literacy for the acquisition of ICT competences in the academic and professional scope is based on a compulsory subject of each degree. This 6-credit ECTS subject is mandatory during the first semester within the cross-sectional basic credits and is based on the rational and critical use of ICTs, some knowledge of digital technology, the procedures of the virtual project and on new forms of constructing and representing knowledge for the new social Internet (blogs, wikis, social markers etc.) and for multiple alphabetizations. On the basis of UOC’s experience we are in a position to single out the key transferable elements for designing a proposal for achieving digital literacy in any educational context: the definition of the ICT competence, the gradual acquisition of ICT skills through creating a project-based work, team work to using and applying new tools and the role of consultants.
Keywords: Digital Literacy, ICT competences, Higher Education, EHEA, online environment, UOC
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Saturday, 20 February 2010 19:11 |
How to strengthen digital literacy? Practical example of a European initiative “SPreaD” - Petra Newrly & Michelle Veugelers - eLearning Papers, Nº 12, February 2009 Summary: Digital Literacy has become one of the main competences in the 21st century. Without being able to use digital media effectively and responsibly the chances on the global market are very low. Nowadays more than 250 million Europeans are regular visitors to the Internet. Yet despite this encouraging figure, large sections of the population continue to be barred from the multiple new opportunities, such as Web 2.0 or mobile learning. But even those who are using the new digital media regularly are not imperatively digital literate. Digital literacy does not only mean that the people possess the technical infrastructure, it also means that they are able to maximise the possibilities these new technologies offer to them. What does this mean exactly? And why is digital literacy of such importance? In the following article we will give answers on these questions. After presenting the different theoretical point of views on digital literacy we will present one best practice example: the European project SPreaD. By developing a toolkit on the management of digital literacy projects SPreaD aims at disseminating digital literacy all over Europe and to raise awareness on this important topic. The SPreaD toolkit gives useful hints regarding the development, coordination and financing of large scaled digital literacy projects. So far we have received very positive response to the toolkit from all over Europe.
Keywords: Accessibility, Digital Literacy, Competence, Skills, Inclusion, Spread, management, dissemination Full text: PDF |
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Saturday, 20 February 2010 19:09 |
Digital Literacy for the Third Age: Sustaining Identity in an Uncertain World - Allan Martin - eLearning Papers, Nº 12, February 2009 Summary: The world in which we live – the world of late modernity – is characterized by a deep uncertainty; uncertainty not only about the foundations of social structure, but also about individual identity. Digital technology offers powerful tools for learning, for self-expression, and for the building, maintenance and sharing of identity. But for citizens of the third age, these aspects of the modern world pose a threat to their identity. Being able to use the technology appropriately in real situations is therefore important to any citizen. Technology has not changed the notion of what learning is, but it has opened up more avenues in thinking how it can be done. If we wish to empower seniors digitally we should focus on their goals for digital usage, the areas in which digital activity is socially meaningful and contribute directly to the development of meaning and identity. This paper presents a three-level model of digital literacy, understanding that by being aware of the challenges older citizens are facing in modern society we can consider more clearly the role which digital literacy, and its relation to learning, may play in addressing their predicament. Because of the particular uncertainties of the role of our seniors in society, digital literacy can be of great value as a means of social involvement and assertion. Gaining a literacy of the digital, senior citizens can retain a hold on the shape of their lives in an era of increasing uncertainty. In a society where inter-generational uncertainty is probably greater than it has ever been, it can also offer the possibility of a bridge of understanding across generations. Keywords: digital literacy; inclusion; learning; senior citizens, identity, third age, generation gap Full text: PDF (145 KB) |
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