This document discusses the need to critically engage young students with digital literacies and explores students' current digital practices. It finds that students are eager to co-create their learning environments but need guidance and support to do so. A study was proposed to map undergraduate students' digital tool use inside and outside of university to understand their expectations, needs, and visions regarding digital practice. The study found students are mostly consumers online rather than producers and creators, and have difficulty networking and exploring new tools without support. This suggests universities need to better facilitate students' digital fluency in academic contexts.

1. C A R O L I N E K U H N B AT H S PA U N I V E R S I T Y
DO WE NEED TO ENGAGE
YOUNG STUDENTS
CRITICALLY WITH
DIGITAL LITERACIES?
Or are they digital natives
?

4. MOOCs
Formal education
YouTube
Professional Development
Personal Learning
Environments
OE
R

8. New Media Consortium
Horizon Report

9. WHAT IS IN THE LITERATURE?
• The Digital Student Project (JISC 2014):
• Students do not have clear ideas when they arrive about how
digital technologies can support their studies or how they may
be important in their lives beyond university.
• Students are eager to be co-creators, not only of content, but
also of their digital environment –context (PLE?)
Being consulted about is not enough
• Students need a flexible environment that allows them to
experiment, tinker with new tools, learn from each other and
create their own blend.
• The ed+social impact of tech (Davies, et al., 2008):
• The fact that students use technologies for their lives does not
imply they do the same in their academic lives

10. *
• Hunch:
• They are not digitally literate in academic settings
• How can they co-create their learning environments?
• How can I engage them to participate in such a project?
• Exploring their current digital practice in and outside
their academic space and hear their needs,
expectations, and experience regarding their digital
practice at the university

12. DANGEROUS!
•The inherent risk when the
university’s philosophy is grounded in
such flawed assumptions around
digital natives and educational
technology, as they might presuppose
there is no need to educate their
students digitally

13. WHAT IS MY PROPOSAL?
EXPLORE THE STATE OF THE ACTUAL
• How do undergraduates in educational
studies engage with the Internet?
• What tools do they use to mediate their
activities in and outside the university?
• What are their expectations, vision and
perceived needs in relation regarding their
digital practice at university?

14. MAPPING AND NOT TRACING AS A
MEANS TO ENQUIRY

15. DELEUZE & GUATARI (1987)
RHIZOMATIC CONCEPT OF MAPPING
• Ontology of becoming and not being
• Becoming  Discloses potential
• The nature of becoming is rhizomatics
• Reality is a continuum process of flux
• It engages with movements of social change thus
change is POSSIBLE!
• Includes analysis of relationships between their actors
and their metaphorical construction of space and place
• Place as a sense of being present with other
Antihierarchical in its
structure
Ever growing
horizontal networks
The structure is
composed of multiple
lines + connections
No points of position
Celebrates
multiplicity + diversity

16. THE MANY POSSIBILITIES OF MAPS

17. ALL A BOARD

18. VISITOR & RESIDENT CONCEPT TO MAP
STUDENTS’ DIGITAL PRACTICE
ResidentVisitor
Institutional
Personal

22. Expansive learning

23. QUOTES
FOCUS GROUP + STUDENTS’ CONFERENCE
• Raised awareness regarding their digital practice otherwise invisible
to them. “Self-consciousness must precede horizontal development
(Engestorm, 2001)”
• They are keen to explore but their perception is that they lack the
skills to do so and they do not feel capable of doing it without
guidance and support
• “It seems like overwhelming once you are out there”
• “ I will not risk my grades”
• “The web is too big”
• “I don’t need more than what I use”
• “Why bother if I have to write an essay or do a presentation”
• “It seems to me there are many tools that do the same thing, how
can I choose?”
• “We are the forgotten generation!”
• “Uni needs to guide us and give us support to start”

24. J I S C D I G I TA L P R O F I L E S U RV E Y
Q U A N T I : 6 6 S T U D E N T S = 4 3 ( 1 9 - 2 6 ) + 3 ( 2 6 - 2 9 ) + 1 0 ( 3 8 - 5 4 )

25. USE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY OR PORTAL
47%
53%
Don't use an electronic library or portal (Wikipedia, subject-based resource)
Using an electronic library or portal (Wikipedia, subject-based resource)

26. PARTICIPATION IN ONLINE
DISCUSSION
88%
12%
Don't participate in online
discussion groups
participate in online
discussion groups

27. USE OF WIKI-BLOG-ONLINE NETWORK
71%
29%
Don't use wiki/blog/onlline
network
Use wiki/blob/online network

28. 95%
5%
Don't maintain my own blog or website
Maintain my own blog or website
I MAINTAIN MY OWN BLOG OR
WEBSITE

29. DOWNLOADING PODCASTS
83%
17%
Don't download podcast download podcast

30. USE VIDEO OR AUDIO CONFERENCE
83%
17%
Don't use video or audio conferencing
Does use video or audio conferencing

31. LEARN VIA MOBILE PHONES OF TABLET
85%
15%
Not learning via mobil phones or tablet Learning via mobil phones of tablet

32. WHAT CAN I SEE?
• More consumers
• Less producing and sharing what they
know or want to know
• Creating a network of people is hard

33. *
• How will higher education advance
digital environments that drive
innovation with students that are not
digital fluent in their academic context?
• Digital literacies are relevant

35. A TOPOLOGY OF SPACE
Properties that are preserved through deformation
 personal + digital
 connecting + social
 motivational + emotional
 creative + experiential
 open + reflective
 flexible + dynamic
 self-organised + knowledge
manager
Mol&Law+Jenkins+IFF+JRC+IPTS+EC

36. DIGITAL PRACTICE UNDER A SOCIO-
CULTURAL ACTIVITY THEORY LENS
R c
D
L
S D
LearningP

37. IDEAS
•Questions
•Suggestions