Building digital capability across the university sector

Session one in a series of keynotes as adjunct Professor visiting the University of the Sunshine Coast

Debbie worked with the team t embedding a new Virtual Learning Environment (D2L:Brightspace) and will share some of the pedagogic strategies that underpinned our digital transformation work. A case study of our recent curriculum development work in Nursing will be shared, this saw the UK JISC Digital Capability Framework mapped across the three-year undergraduate BSc Nursing Sciences, the first Nursing School in the UK to map these. A curriculum development workshop on how this was accomplished drawing upon staff, students and experts is available during her visit.

1. Debbie Holley Professor of Learning Innovation Bournemouth University UK Building digital capability across the university sector "for a better tomorrow"

2. The Australian Government is committed to a modern public service that puts people and business at the centre of its data and digital transformation Data and Digital Government Strategy 2023

3. There is always a BUT... Image credit: green chameleon on Unsplash  

4. The Australian Government is committed to a modern public service that puts people and business at the centre of its data and digital transformation Data and Digital Government Strategy 2023 But no mention of a digital competency framework

5. Digital exclusion: Australia Nationally, there is a 7.5 point gap in digital inclusion between First Nations and non-First Nations people. In remote and very remote parts of Australia, this digital gap widens. Digital inclusion is strongly related to other markers of social disadvantage.   There are large gaps in Digital Ability scores between employed and unemployed Australians, people with a bachelor degree and those who did not complete high school, younger and older Australians , and those on the lowest and highest incomes. Digital Exclusion Australia 2023

6. Have things really changed? 

7. An education perspective:   A desire to create that 'best learning moment'   The idea of best learning moments builds on the psychological concept of cognitive absorption, or ‘flow’, defined as deep involvement or immersion in an activity or task, often accompanied by feelings of enjoyment.  People experience this mental state and these feelings when engaged in an activity that is appropriately challenging to their skill level, resulting in full concentration and focus.  Best learning moments can result in deep learning and high levels of satisfaction, and they may also be particularly memorable .  ( OU Innovating pedagogies, 2021 ) Read our theory summary paper here Image credit: Anthony Canton (Unsplash) 

8. Our students and their studies

9. We mapped the digital competencies  across the three years of our BSc Nursing programme And drew upon the Humanising   Framework developed by Todres et al. to build our own model for digital identity and wellbeing

10. Values matter

11. Meet Jon and Olivia – both studying at the University of the sunshine coast They are studying at your University Isabella is studying Complex care and wants to find out about the weather conditions in the Antarctic and the impact on non-western indigenous groups Jon is studying for the Graduate Certificate in Aged care,   and is wondering about the impact of climate on the vulnerable Photo by  Sophia Sideri  on  Unsplash Photo by  Hammer & Tusk  on  Unsplash

12. Image: Chris Drury, Artist in Residence, British Antarctic Survey  used with permission What may be possible? 

13. We can bring the outside world  in The British Antarctic Survey already have blogs from their scientists, games, fact sheets, images, information, video clips and even a ‘penguin of the day’ photo Well, with our virtual reality headsets Jon and Olivia can feel like they are there. They can see the sky, the ground covered in snow, the wildlife, and they can visit  the station. With existing technology they can talk to the scientists, They can attend expert talks round the world that are streamed live and ask questions via a twitter wall – just like our one here. They can access the weather data sets, look at specimen collections, maps, research publications and images. Link to site

14. But what can we do on the inside to prepare our students for the outside?  Maximise use of our Virtual Learning Environments – use it as a portal to the outside world, rather than a repository of information – and make sure it is great for bite-size learning students can access on their SMART phones Have confidence in our teaching learning and assessment – we can adapt our assessments to authentic assessments that support the student transition to the outside world The learner analytics journey is just starting – use the data to reflect and improve upon our teaching and their learning – and student attendance is NOT a proxy for LA data! (see Biggins and Holley paper on designing for wellbeing and where our students actually learn! )

15. Your students and their studies Designing for the next generation of learners? Blooms taxonomy of learning – now revised JISC – interdisciplinary applications Beyond the blend (May 2024)   rethinking curriculum and learning design )  State of XR and immersive learning report (2021) update June 2024

16. Some additional references: Ball, M., 2022.  The metaverse: and how it will revolutionize everything . Liveright Publishing. McKinsey and Company. (2021). Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work Available at:  https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/defining-the-skills-citizens-will-need-in-the-future-world-of-work Metaverse  https://mvs.org/ Reimagining Education The International Science and Evidence based Education (ISEE) Assessment UNSECO  https://mgiep.unesco.org/iseeareport Waight, S. and Holley, D. (2020) 'Digital Competence Frameworks: their role in enhancing digital wellbeing in Nursing Curricula' chapter in Humanising Higher Education: A positive approach to enhancing wellbeing (Clarke, S and Devis-Rozental, C eds)  Palgrave 2020