Digital competence for digital citizenship #ecil2018

Konstatina Martzoukou from Robert Gordon University and Crystal Fulton from University College Dublin started the presentation by reflecting on the popular perception that young people have good digital capabilities but there is still a digital divide particularly in relation to poverty. The JISC digital  capabilities framework was use in the study, which features a combination of functional and high level skills. The European digital competence framework was also used, and a lot of discussion took place about the questions to ask. The objectives include examining the policy landscape around digital competency initiatives, looking at digital competencies in transitioning to university.  Currently a survey is being distributed to students to assess their digital competence as they join university, and then they will interview students and librarians to follow up the survey. The survey themes were drawn from the 2 digital competency frameworks, and 5 levels of digital competence were defined. Students were asked to self assess their level of competence using these 5 levels. For example students were asked to asses their digital creation skills e.g. capturing, editing and producing digital media(video & audio). Extensive testing took place to make sure the wording of the questions was appropriate and understandable. Konstantina and Crystal are keen to invite collaborators to distribute the survey to new populations : https://bit.ly/2xLBSrG
Pam McKinney