Who are our ‘digital’ studentsand what do they want from us?

University of York St JohnTalking about Teaching, 20 January 2017

#YSJTAT

critical global outlook socially responsible collaborative inclusive resilience future job market

Talking about Teaching, 20 January 2017

Who are our ‘digital’ students

what kind of digital experiences can we offer that...

prepare them for an uncertain future? ”“

Some navigation for today‣ Who are our ‘digital students’?

‣ Digital students are (no) different

‣ What do they want from HE?

‣ What can we offer?

‣ Digital experiences in thecurriculum: examples

‣ Discussion

Some digital navigation‣ Twitter #YSJTAT for questions and contributions

‣ bit.ly/YSJTATlinks for refs and links, including:

‣ bingo: bingobaker.com/play/1020649

‣ PollEverywhere:PollEv.com/helenbeetham013 or text HELENBEETHAM013 to 020 3322 5822 to join in

Investigating ‘digital students’

Image CC Jisc 2015

literature reviews | focus groups | consultationslearner stories | data from the digital student Tracker

jiscinvolve.digitalstudent.org

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‘Digital students’ bring their own digital

devices

‣ ...whether we direct them to or not...‣ Is this alternative space complementary, integrated... ?‣ How do we introduce academic/professional judgment?

‘Digital students’ access their own digital

media, content and networks

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‘Digital students’ bring their own digital

practices

What are the top three social media services for under 25s?

‘Digital students’ bring their own digital

cultures and expectations

‣ information <=> communication‣ continuous recording and sharing of experience (continuous reputation management)‣ seamless connection and inter-connection‣ ease of adoption‣‘content is free’‣ rapid feedback‣ visual bias...

Image CC from CNN

Image CC BY 3.0 from AmericanPressInstitute.org

‘Digital students’ are connected

with thanks to Simon Rae 2015

‘Digital students’ are connected

How different are ‘digital students’ to us?

A. Not so different - we are all living in a digital worldB. Rather different - they are more immersed in digital cultures and practicesC. Very different - their worldview and experiences are those of a ‘digital generation’

PollEv.com/helenbeetham013Use twitter to say more! #YSJTAT

Digital students are different...

from each otherand from themselves(in different settings)

Not all students thrive in digital spaces

‣ Digital divide narrowerbut deeper‣ Digital inequality mimics & amplifies other inequalities‣ ‘Digital natives' story hides many contradictions‣ Learners' engagement w digital world is culturally

differentiated e.g. language, privacy norms

Many have negative digital experiences

‣Young women more likely to have been harrassed‣Other features of public identity may be targetted

Some are data aware & privacy conscious

If the Uni is collecting this data, we ought to be able to see it and use it for ourselves.”

“

Others are highly critical of digital trends

Image CC BY 2.0 by Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go via flickr.com

I read zines to escape surveillance and clickbait. It's the new teen rebellion”

“

They have diverse preferences for learning with/out technology

Our participants were fairly evenly split between using their social media

informally for learning, using it as an essential and integrated element of their learning, and keeping it quite separate from their learning, with informal use

marginally the more popular.

How do we best serve these diverselearners?

‣ Learning relationships with teachers and peers

‣Deep engagement with a subject

‣ Sense of belonging (to their course, cohort, institution)

‣ Safe spaces to rehearse: closed, supported → open, public

Many continuities in what they want and expect from HE

Image credit Jisc 2014

Most advanced digital practicesare still acquired in educational settings

‣Knowledge creation and co-creation usually initiated by an educator‣Don’t know how they might be learning with digital technology... until they do it

‣Most don’t appreciate the value of e.g. a digital portfolio or web presence... until they have one

Most students value most highly the

authentic digital practices of their profession or subject area

‣ data analysis and management‣ design systems‣ collaborating on authentic projects, research or client-based‣ use of specialist tools and applications

73% under 35s >90% new jobs 7-10 careers

2020 in the UK 43.5% graduates 1.5 millionUK contracts

36% UK jobs(40% US jobs) 2.5% EU jobs 89% recruiters

Pick a number... any number...

What do these students really need?

Their work prospects are uncertainbit.ly/digitalknowhow

but work is likely to be...

‣ less secure‣project or gig based‣uncertainly located‣constantly changing‣monitored, quantified‣distributed human/

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What kinds of digital literacy is this going to demand?

“cross-cultural awareness”“respect”

“citizenship”

The shape of society and its institutionsis uncertain

“cross-cultural awareness”“respect”

“citizenship”XThe shape of society and its institutions

is uncertain

The shape of society and its institutionsis uncertain

‣ 75% of <25s are politically active on FB‣ 25% of <25s have any faith in political parties

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What kinds of digital literacy is this going to demand?

resilience and repertoirecritical thinking

data literacy - understanding evidencemedia literacy - checking facts

new ways of organising and participating...?

Example: followthethings

www.followthethings.com

Example: PhonarNation

CC phonarnation 2015

promotes interdisciplinary questions and challenges, encouraging both staff and students to question critically the nature of evidence

and knowledge production ... in our digitally mediated world.

UCL’s Connected Curriculum (Fung et al 2016)

Example: connected curriculum

Example: BYOD4L

https://byod4learning.wordpress.com/topics/

Example: digital championsand change agents

@CANagogy

Students care about digital issues

It is not the technology in itself that is transforming education and society; it is, rather, the creative ways in which people are using technology to educate and drive change.Radical interventions in learning and teaching, NUS 2014 ”“

Over to you for discussion

Twitter: #YSJTAT

what kind of digital experiences can we offer that...

prepare students for an uncertain future?

The shape of society and its institutionsis uncertain

Digital students can bridge worlds...

online | offlinelearning | livingformal | informalhere | elsewhere