Learning Literacies for a Digital Age (LLiDA)

About LLiDA

Background

The UK Government has made clear its expectation that Further and Higher Education will equip learners with a strong foundation of skills and aptitudes to enable them to thrive in an increasingly information-based economy and society. In the past these aptitudes have gone under the broad term 'information skills' or 'information literacies'. However, with the convergence of communications and information media, the rise of user-owned technologies, user-created content, and widespread social networking practices, this term may need to be broadened to encompass new kinds of expertise. We are defining the totality of this expertise as 'the range of practices that underpin effective learning in a digital age'.

Unless these forms of practice are being actively developed by institutions and teaching teams, learners will struggle to reach their full potential. The UK economy will be hampered by a lack of high-level skills and a dearth of future capacity. And the promise behind costly initiatives such as open content, high speed research networks, and personalised learning environments will fail to be fulfilled. The future demands skilled, digitally-aware learners with the capacity to participate in learning across their lifepath, using technologies of their own choosing.

Aims and Outcomes

This study took some initial steps towards defining:

• What skills and aptitudes we should be focusing on (current frameworks for learning literacies)
• How these requirements may be changing due to new demands and opportunities
• What provision is currently being made at a snapshot of UK HE and FE institutions
• What examples of excellent practice we can identify which point the way towards better provision and more effective learner support

Outputs from the project can be found on our outputs page. A public copy of our successful bid is available.

The study aimed to inform JISC and the wider UK FE and HE communities by providing a better understanding of learning literacies, how they are evolving, how requirements are changing, and how they may be supported in different contexts. Outcomes have been embedded into workshops being planned by our partner networks. Recommendations to the JISC  provide a strong foundation for commissioning further work. They also enable informed action on the part of HE and FE institutions, and key actors in the e-learning community, the learning development community, and the libraries community.

By engaging with real examples of academic and learners practices we have provided compelling evidence of how effective digital learners develop and can be supported, and offer materials on which staff development of various kinds can be based.

Methodology

Although LLiDA was essentially funded as a desk study, the team felt that much of the information we needed, particularly about current provision and excellent practice, was simply not available in the existing literature. Therefore as well as a comprehensive desk study, we carried out a small-scale audit of institutional provision, and also issued a wider call for examples of best practice in learning literacy support and enhancement.

1. What practices underpin effective learning in the digital age?
(a) conceptual and competency frameworks relevant to learning literacies in UK HE and FE

This workpackage drew together the most significant competency frameworks that have been developed for or applied in UK HE and FE. This section of the report is available as a smaller pdf file for download or can be viewed on the project wiki Frameworks pages

Method: desk review supported by email or telephone contact with key organisations as necessary, particularly to establish uptake.

(b) the changing landscape of learning literacies

'New literacies' (Lankshear and Knobel 2003) is gaining ground as a term for understanding how changes in technology, in social practice around technology, and in cultures of knowledge are demanding a serious reconsideration of literacies. This section of the study considered these changing contexts and the likely impact on requirements for learning literacy provision in UK HE and FE, over at least the next 5 years. This section of the report is available as a smaller pdf file for download or can be viewed on the project wiki Literature Review pages

Method: desk review supported by email or telephone contact with key programme staff as necessary. This will involve a brief overview of:

• changing learner requirements, backgrounds and expectations
• changing requirements of disciplines and professions
• changing needs of employers, communities and the wider economy
• changing information and communication technologies, including patterns of access and use

2. How are learning literacies currently being supported in UK HE and FE institutions?
(a) instituational audits

Initial scoping work considered how far this question could be answered through existing evidence, but it was not anticipated that these sources would be capable of answering the question with any accuracy. This section of the report is available as a smaller pdf file for download or can be viewed on the project wiki Provision in the UK pages

Method: desk work augmented by an audit of 15 partner institutions, identified as leading current practice in learning literacy provision, but providing a balance of institutional types. The audit tool was developed and piloted at Glasgow Caledonian University as part of the iLearn intiative, before being cascaded to other institutional auditors. Questions covered:

• What learning literacies are visible in policies, strategies, service level agreements?
• What learning literacies are supported by central services (e.g. library, learning development)?
• What learning literacies, if any, are actively embedded into subject curricula?

(b) snapshots of best practice

In addition to 'top down' audits of institutional provision, we also collected best practice examples from a wide range of individuals involved in learning literacy support. We sought examples of the three types of provision audited in 2(a). (policy, central services and curricular), but in addition also looked for evidence of 'learner-led' provision, i.e. development of their capacity to learn effectively which learners are undertaking for themselves. This section of the report is available as a smaller pdf file for download or can be viewed on the project wiki Provision in the UK pages.

Method: online campaign, invited submission of examples using a pro-forma adapted from the JISC 'Tangible Benefits of e-Learning' pro-forma. The examples were concise and accompanied where relevant by evidence of learner engagement or impact.

3. What is the evidence of successful outcomes for learners from different types of learningliteracy provision?

We anticipated that desk research will find limited reliable evidence of the impact of different types of provision. Our analysis therefore drew on:
a. Outcomes of the foregoing desk studies, collated to produce:
b. Evidence of impact/success submitted under (2a) and (2b).
c. Online focus group with researchers in the HEA ELESIG network addressing the question: 'How do 'effective' learners come to be so?' and collating evidence from the many projects represented.
d. Advice and input from our virtual working group, representing a wide range of agencies, special interest groups and personal expertise.

Deliverables

Thriving in the 21st century: Learning Literacies for the Digital Age (LLiDA project). Helen Beetham, Lou McGill, Prof. Allison Littlejohn. June 2009

Thriving in the 21st century: Learning Literacies for the Digital Age (LLiDA project). Ececutive Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations. Helen Beetham, Lou McGill, Prof. Allison Littlejohn. June 2009

The LLiDA Wiki which offers online access to the report, the audit tool and guidelines, and the snapshots of practice.

In addition, selected items from these deliverables will be included in workshops to be run in collaboration with JISC Learners' Experiences of e-Learning programme and a number of our partner networks.

(view Audit page)