Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

By Professor Grainne Conole.

I recently attended a HEA Future-focus Forum on Digital Transformation and Empowering Technologies in Higher Education. Prior to the meeting a paper was circulated setting the scene for the meeting. This contextualized the topic by referencing various Irish and EU relevant documents, including the Irish Future Jobs Initiative, the Digital Agenda for Europe, the European Digital Education Action Plan, the European Higher Education Area in 2018, etc.

The paper argued that digital transformation is pervasive and can be understood as the changes that digital technology causes or influences in all aspects of human life. In addition, Higher Education will change significantly over the coming years due to digital transformation. Critical questions include: how can higher education Institutions (HEI) provide leadership in ensuring an ethical and responsible use of technology and data? How do we empower people to build a data-first culture and future proof our digital infrastructure? What are the challenges and how do we prepare for them? What international best practice exists to inform a national approach to digital transformation in Higher Education?

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.

Pam McKinney here live blogging the final keynote from the LILAC conference featuring Professor  Alison Littlejohn, Dean of learning and teaching in the faculty of social sciences at the University of Glasgow.  Allison began by outlining the neo-liberalisation of the higher education sector, positioning students as consumers and the rise in importance of the national student survey.  Allison was involved with a project called “learning literacies in the digital age” which outlined the need for learning to focus on processes and literacies, not content. Allison discussed the power of MOOCs to disrupt education, and to give people the opportunity to learn in a different way, using digital technologies. 

For students with disabilities, assistive technology isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s crucial to their learning and success in school.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 says that assistive technology is “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities.” It includes both stand-alone devices and software, and encompasses no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech options.