A Picture Paints a Thousand Words, Digital Media Makes for A Lived Experience
Brenda Van Wyk
University of Pretoria, South Africa
Globally academic libraries exert great efforts towards enhancing information literacy among higher education students. Academic Libraries in the United States of America boast several examples of the use of digital storytelling in libraries. One such example is the University of Reno, where librarians are deeply embedded into the process of digital storytelling. There various instructors in the college have begun incorporating digital storytelling into instruction in response to a broader push towards strengthening students’ communication skills. In Africa and southern Africa information literacy workshops still concentrate mainly on text, while visual media must also be used accurately and ethically. Regrettably, in many instances visual literacy is rarely addressed in greater depth. Visual literacy entails experiences, attitudes and orientations and are shared via images, video, and other forms of multimedia. Digital storytelling requires high levels of visual literacy. The American Library Association (ALA), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) as well as the International Association of Visual Literacy (IVLA) describe and explain visual literacy. Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyse the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials. The research question is what is the current utilisation of visuals among academic library services in the target group? This study sets out to explore the perceptions, challenges, and experiences of academic information specialists in enhancing visual literacy as a sub-literacy. Through the lens of a critical digital literacy frameworks and informed by recent research, the study looks at the potential value of visual literacy skills to the support of active learning in diverse student communities The study consists of three case studies in three South African higher HEIs. The three selected HEI Library and Information Services all responded and participated fully. Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured survey questionnaires and follow up interviews sent to three institutions of higher learning in southern Africa. Thematic analysis was conducted to code and analyse collected data. The focus of the questionnaire was on their current use of DST in facilitating a range of literacies. Follow-up interviews were conducted at the selected HEIs. Thematic analysis was conducted to code and analyse collected data. In total three (3) participants from each HEI responded in answering the online survey questionnaire, making the total sample size nine (9) participants. When prompted about the Seven Steps of designing and creating a digital story, all participants conceded to lacking the foundational skills, knowledge and understanding of designing and using a digital story. They further shared that their HEIs all have instructional designers responsible for creating storyboards and digital content, but that these were mainly used for discipline-specific instruction only. None of the HEIs had a grounded understanding of metaliteracies and admitted guidelines towards best practice models in enhancing visual literacy. The value of the study lies in adding new knowledge of visual literacy skills, since they are still conducting information literacy training unchanged these past two decades, utilising PowerPoint presentation with limited use of digital storytelling techniques. The study offers communication and literacy awareness pertaining to an unexplored area and to propose best practice models.
Supporting Students’ Digital Literacy
Ane Landøy1, Henry Langseth2, Mariann Cecilie Løkse3
1HK-dir, Bergen, Norway; 2University of Bergen Library, Bergen, Norway; 3UiT – The Arctic University of Norway Library, Tromsø, Norway
In September 2021 the Norwegian government launched its “Strategy for digital transformation in higher education 2021-2025” (Strategy, 2021), and in November 2022 the Action plan building on this strategy was launched (Action plan, 2022). The strategy and action plan are closely related to various European Union initiatives (Digital education action plan, 2021; A Europe fit for the digital age, 2019), and also links to the overall plan for digitalization of the Norwegian society (A digital public sector, 2019).
The strategy and action plan focus on students and academics, and their need for more competencies and enhanced practical knowledge in information technology. The end goal is a more digitally competent workforce.
Neither the strategy nor the action plan mentions academic libraries specifically, but within the actions, there is room for relevant interventions where academic libraries can take a leading role.
In this paper, we would like to share some experiences from development work in this field, from the University of Bergen and the University Library, and from the University Library at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. To meet the increasing demands from the Ministry of Education and Research, the University of Bergen decided to develop a program in digital competencies and digital skills, and the library was invited to participate in the development of this program. The library’s contribution is called Digital source criticism/information evaluation. A short online course primarily targeting first years students teaches them to navigate more critically in a world of facts, opinions and arguments shared in everything from social media to academic textbooks. The three-module course follows a case regarding the increasing amount of plastic waste in the sea, and how research about this finds its way to the debate.
University of Tromsø Library has developed iKomp, a free and open online course for anyone interested in learning more about source use and learning strategies. The main purpose of the course is to make students well equipped to meet the demands and expectations of universities and colleges regarding learning, academic integrity, and use of sources. The course can be taken in its entirety with a final exam and therefore works well as a work requirement for undergraduates. A similar course for sixth form pupils has also been developed, aiming to prepare this group both for higher education and for handling information at work or at home.
In conclusion, we will compare the two approaches through a qualitative cross case-comparison of the two aformentioned courses, investigating scope, learning goals and other relevant aspects, and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the courses (Yin, 2018). We will also give recommendations for development of second-generation information literacy training.
References
A digital public sector. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/en-digital-offentlig-sektor/id2653874/
A Europe fit for the digital age. (2019). Retrieved from https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age_en
Action Plan for digital transformation in higher education and research. (2022). Retrieved from https://hkdir.no/vaare-tenester/handlingsplan-for-digital-omstilling-i-hoeyere-utdanning-og-forskning
Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027. (2021). Retrieved from https://education.ec.europa.eu/focus-topics/digital-education/action-plan
Strategy for digital transformation in Higher Education Sector. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/strategi-for-digital-omstilling-i-universitets-og-hoyskolesektoren/id2870981/
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods. SAGE.
Digital and Media Literacy: Voices of the Teachers. Dilemmas During the Pandemic and Reflections for the Future
Teresa Cardoso, Glória Bastos, Filomena Pestana
Universidade Aberta, LE@D, Portugal
Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, agendas worldwide had been emphasizing the need for the 21st century citizen to develop a wide array of competences and literacies. Hence, digital literacy is an urgency in schools, particularly for teachers, who need to be aware of the advantages and challenges posed by these new contexts, namely those emerging from the digital world. To these ends, national policies in many countries follow and connect to European guidelines. In Portugal, the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) is largely used in teacher training. Therefore, it is important to highlight it as a key tool in the process of the capacity building for the digital transformation of the teaching and learning (Redecker, 2017).
Another transversal topic in educational contexts relates to information and media literacy, drawing from the premise that the school has an important role to play with regard to the challenges of the information society. Bearing this in mind, several authors consider that we are in an era where different competences are converging (Ala‑Mutka, 2011). Moreover, Hobbs (2010) also emphasizes this diversity of interconnected concepts, which have different starting points, proposing the term “digital and media literacy” as the one that best designates the set of life skills that are necessary for full participation in a media-saturated society and simultaneously rich in information; we adopt it as an analytical category in the research put forward within the Erasmus+ project RAPIDE, Reimagining a Positive Direction for Education (2020-1-UK01-KA226-SCH-094495). For this purpose, the data were collected by all the partners, in their national contexts, namely involving teachers; in this paper, we focus on the Portuguese data, thus presenting part of the wider research.
Our study took a qualitative and interpretive approach, “attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005, p. 3). The complexity of the teachers’ personal experiences evidences significant insights about the role of digital and information literacy during the pandemic, besides the impact of these competencies for teaching and learning. The 20 participating teachers were invited to describe, in a written document, (1) a major challenge in their teaching practice, (2) how they responded to it, (3) how they reflected on their actions, and (4) what new insights this brought to them. The aim was to start from real situations, leading teachers to reflect on these situations in order to foster them to envision new pedagogical and didactic paths for the future. The situations experienced during the pandemic, often implying strong constraints in the teaching and learning processes, but also demanding the rapid learning of digital skills, emerge as contexts that provide scenarios that enhance a deeper reflection for the teachers’ professional development. The information gathered was analyzed with the goal of identifying issues related to digital and media literacies, stemming from the teachers’ dilemmas, as well as mapping possible lessons learned and good practices to sustain in the future.
References
Ala‑Mutka, K. (2011). Mapping digital competence: Towards a conceptual understanding. JRC Technical Notes. European Commission. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18046.00322
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hobbs, R. (2010). Digital and media literacy: A plan of action. The Aspen Institute. Retrieved from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/digital-media-literacy-plan-action-2/
Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators: DigCompEdu. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://dx.doi.org/10.2760/178382.
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