evaluating the impact of digital literacy programmes: lessons from student ambassadors
TRANSCRIPT
Evaluating the Impact of Digital Literacy Programmes: Lessons from Student
Ambassadors
Sonia Gomes and Jane SeckerLondon School of Economics and Political Science5th August 2016
Student Ambassadors for Digital Literacy (SADL)
• Undergraduate• Collaborative• Peer support
Completed 3 years
Project Programme
SADL aims
• To understand students’ existing digital and information literacy (DIL) skills.
• To explore how best to support students to improve these skills and to provide peer support.
SADL Welcome eventWorkshop 1: Finding and evaluating informationWorkshop 2: Academic practices: reading and research
Workshop 3: Managing and sharing informationWorkshop 4: Your digital footprintSADL Celebration
All resources on the project website: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl/resources/
Programme overview
Group work
Workshop activities
Dealing with assignments Managing information
SADL Senior Ambassadors
• Completed SADL in a previous year
• Work alongside staff (paid)
• Give input into workshop content
• Guide and support students in workshops
• Lead student projects
Collaboration in action
The evaluation methodology
• Pre and post programme survey• Interviews with students, senior ambassadors,
a SADL graduate and academic staff• Focus group with staff• Visitor and residents workshop• Blog and social media impact analysis
SADL: the impact on students
“I am glad I joined SADL because I wouldn't have known anything about copyright or any qualitative skills if I didn't. So in terms of study skills that really helped me a lot like research and managing information and things. It helped me through my second year.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaUhlWRnTg
Evaluation – Impact on students
Digital & Information Literacy skills+ Transferability ∙ Study ∙ Personal lives ∙ Employability+ Referencing skills ∙ Using new apps ∙ Blogging ∙ Managing their digital identity ∙ Using LinkedIn effectively + Reinforcing and deepening interest in technology for careers− some expected more technical skills; e.g. Excel, coding and more advanced digital literacies
More than ‘tech’ skills + Public speaking ∙ Presentation skills ∙ Confidence ∙ Collaborative working
Evaluation – value of community
Value of collaborative approach to teaching+ Friendly, informal approach, peer support and friendships This point was made by staff and students alike
− Some students wanted more teaching / less discussions
Student project had mixed responses− Need for greater consistency and guidance as dependent on seniors
− Need for more freedom in choice of topics
− Student engagement and effort varied considerably
Getting the right balance
•Structure•Agency
Evaluation – Impact on the SADL team
Significant impact on Senior Ambassadors+ Leadership skills ∙ Teaching skills ∙ Managing projects+ ‘How SADL got me hired’- Role needs more explicit expectations
Important staff development+ Greater level of engagement with UGs
+ New teaching methods and approaches
SADL interactions
•Between students•Between students and staff•Between staff in teams•Between teams (LTI & Library)
Visitors and residents
White, David and Le Cornu, Alison (2011) Visitors and residents: a new typology for online engagement. First Monday. 16 (9). Available at http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049
Students’ online engagement• Institutional tools – mostly used as visitors
• Social media apps – mostly used as residents
– e.g. Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Skype
• Less likely to use the same app for both personal & academic life
How can social media apps be used for academic purposes to encourage engagement?
Engaging with SADL
• visitor• resident
Improving and enhancing SADL• Selling SADL in the right way is crucial: branding
• Catering to different levels of knowledge and interests: entrepreneurs vs academic skills vs career focus
• Scaling up is probably the biggest challenge
– Is it desirable and how to maintain a community
– Developing the ‘ripple effect’ and peer support
• Engage more academic staff with the programme’s aims
Biggest challenges in 2016/17• Scaling up and broadening the programme: LSE Life• Developing the peer learning aspects of SADL to
empower students• Keeping it student-led and student focused• Maintaining the SADL community
Any questions?
Follow the SADL Story!blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl
@LSESADL
Further readingLau, Doriane, Secker, Jane and Bell, Maria (2015) Student ambassadors for digital literacy (SADL): evaluation & impact report. Learning Technology and Innovation (LTI), London, UK. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/63357/
LSE SADL Project website and resources (2014) Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsesadl/resources
HEA (2014) Framework for partnership in learning and teaching. York, Higher Education Academy. Available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/students-as-partners
Jisc (2015) Developing successful staff-student partnerships. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-successful-student-staff-partnerships
Secker, Jane, Karnad, Arun , Bell, Maria, Wilkinson, Ellen and Provencher, Claudine (2014) Student ambassadors for digital literacy (SADL): project final report. Learning Technology and Innovation , London, UK. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59479/
Bell, Maria and Moon, Darren and Secker, Jane (2012) Undergraduate support at LSE: the ANCIL report. The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/48058/
White, David and Le Cornu, Alison (2011) Visitors and residents: a new typology for online engagement. First Monday. 16 (9). Available at http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049