Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Across the higher education sector, aspirations to internationalise the student body, transform approaches to education, increase student recruitment and generate revenue are all on the agenda.

Once, universities might have been able to do all of this on their own. But it looks less likely as we move towards a digitally integrated future. Evidence-based pedagogical approaches for online education mean that very high quality engaged learning is now available at scale. But making the right choices of technologies and deploying them effectively requires effective partnerships and collaborations with providers.

While maintaining a collaborative environment, IT leaders must take a leading role in helping to define the scope and requirements of major projects on their campuses—ensuring needs and wants are defined, understood and kept separate.

Recently a client came to me and asked for a new, very expensive laptop. They touted how light it was—only two and a half pounds! They talked up the fact that this laptop doubled as a tablet and would allow them to take really good notes during meetings. They then switched gears and started complaining about their current computer. It was an immovable desktop. It was old. It was slow.

Our campus communities -- students, faculty, staff, alumni -- deal with information overload across many platforms and apps. Isn't it time we brought campus communication and learning into one high-tech ecosystem?


Editorial by Kathy Edersheim (President, Impactrics LLC) and Yasim Rahman (CEO, Unio)

Today, while we all deal with massive information overload, this is an acute problem for students. Simply by carrying a smartphone, students are bombarded with information almost constantly. And, as mentioned in a recent Nielsen study, 98% of students from age 18-24 own a smartphone. Millennials wake up with their phones, sleep with their phones, take their phones to their bathrooms and, yes, some check it during sex.