Presented at LILAC 2015

1. Working collaboratively to
map and develop digital
literacy provision
Susan Halfpenny
David Brown

2. Mapping Digital Literacy
Provision
Restructuring
Digital literacy at York
Strategy development and framework
Working with Health Sciences
Consultation
Deliverables and outcomes
Lessons learned

3. Information Directorate
Library & IT Services merged in 2011 creating a new Relationship Management
Team integrating Academic Liaison and the Application Support Team.
Team restructured in January 2014: Academic Liaison, Research Support , and
Teaching & Learning.

4. Digital Literacy
Increasingly important across the HE sector, linked to employability strategies and
life long learning.
Development of curricula and frameworks to illustrate digital literacy skills,
practices and attributes.

5. Development of York Digital Literacy Framework
The embedded information literacy workshops had developed organically with
academic liaison librarians working independently to design lessons -- time to take
a more structured approach to ensure consistency in the provision across
departments and work collaboratively to address IT skills.
Framework developed to clearly express digital literacy provision to departments.

6. University Strategy
New strategy with a teaching and learning strand: research led teaching, with a
focus on programme level design and student work; resulting in a planned review
of programmes across all departments.

7. Working with Health Sciences
We chose to work with the Health Sciences department due to our strong pre-
existing relationship, which includes a wide range of embedded teaching activities
and student support.
The department is also undertaking work on programme level design and to map
graduate attributes across its programmes.

8. Demographics
The Health Sciences department includes more than 1,300 students, the vast
majority of which are UG students.
Students follow a number of different pathways and are often working part-time
alongside their studies.

9. Aims of the Digital Literacy
Review
• To map the current provision of
digital skills in Health Sciences
• To understand students’ strengths
and weaknesses in digital literacy
• To develop a range of bespoke
materials to support students’ skills
development

10. Collaborating with other departments
Department of
Health Sciences
Library IT Services
Writing Centre
Maths Skills
Centre
E-learning
Development
Team

11. Audit
Analysis of module content across the whole of the BSc Nursing degree. Mapping
digital skills to learning outcomes and assessments.
Review of the current information literacy workshop content and support
materials.

12. Consultation
We gathered a range of feedback from students and staff in the department.
Staff were consulted at various departmental committees and were asked to
comment on our proposals.
Students were asked to complete a bespoke feedback form in classes and online,
which asked them to identify areas in which they would like additional skills
support.

13. The Library literate nursing student
What skills do you need?

14. Results of the consultation
Students and staff identified a number of key areas in which more support
was needed.
Managing information
sources
Critical appraisal and
evaluation
Antonyms and
developing a counter
argument
Digital literacy and
academic skills

15. Deliverables
Training the trainer to enable cascade training for digital skills enabled some of the
responsibility to be passed back to the academics.
Development of online materials meant that face to face encounters could be more
worthwhile and meaningful.

16. Collaborative Digital Skills Provision
As a result of the review we plan to introduce a collaborative digital skills blended
learning programme. Experts from the department, library, IT and academic support
will all contribute to the development and delivery of the programme.

17. Lessons Learned
• Its all about timing: merged service, restructure, new strategy
• Serendipitous encounters result in the most meaningful information and data
• Building on established structures: use and improve what is already in place

18. Rolling the model out across all academic departments
With the new teaching and learning strategy being rolled out to departments over
the next couple of years there will be an emphasis on programme level design and
the integration of skills. As part of the programme review process we need to
emulate what we have done with the Health Sciences Department to develop
digital literacy across the University.

19. Any
Questions?

20. Thank you for listening
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