International survey of veterinary students’ digital literacies

An international benchmarking exercise to scope readiness for online open educational resources

Laura Gledhill1, Sonya Powney1, Vicki Dale2 and Nick Short1

1eMedia Unit, Royal Veterinary College, Royal College Street, London NW1 0TU2Learning Technology Unit, Learning & Teaching Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8LB.

Context: WikiVet• Established 2007• Multimedia encyclopaedia,

quizzes, podcasts, videos and more

• Initially RVC, Edinburgh and Cambridge vet schools

• Now over 44,000 registered users from over 90 countries worldwide

• Network of ambassadors in 50 veterinary schools promote use of open educational resources (OERs)

Reasons for study

• Rationale:– Use of e-learning in vet education is expanding– However, limited research on uptake, sharing and

use of e-learning resources globally– Important to have more evidence on digital literacies

of students internationally• Study aimed to identify how e-learning resources

are currently being used to assess potential to:– Support uptake of online OERs generally– Inform further development of WikiVet

Method• Survey design informed by previous RVC work

– Study of Web 2.0 (Dale et al, 2011) & RVC student digital literacy surveys• Online survey (SurveyMonkey), data analysis in Excel/SPSS• Pilot study with WikiVet ambassadors (n=10)• Distribution/promotion:

– Distributed by WikiVet ambassadors– Publicised across US via lead for

Veterinary Educators Collaborative– Promoted by NOVICE partners &

on NOVICE platform• Incentive: Free copy of VBF

“Vet Tips” book on completion

Dale, V. H., T. Kinnison, N. Short, S. A. May and S. Baillie (2011). "Web 2.0 and the veterinary profession: current trends and future implications for lifelong learning." The Veterinary Record 169(18): 467.

Response• 1284 responses• 201 incomplete

responses • 9 from non-vets• Analysed 1074 responses

• Potential biases• Majority of

participants from UK, Europe and North America

• Online survey

Internet access

• Home internet most frequently used, followed by college

• Home internet also most reliable an fastest (enough for videos) followed by college

• Less use of internet cafes

• Most students have mobile internet but daily use <50%

Device ownership

• Colleges still largely supplying desktops

• Laptops and smartphones most commonly owned

International differences:internet access & device ownership

College internet available ‘most or all of the time’

UK 98%N. America 98%Australasia 95%S. America 79%Europe (not UK) 72%Asia 61%Africa 48%

Views on college/university provision

Australasia 94%

UK 92%

South America 86%

North America 66%

Europe (not UK) 63%

Asia 63%

Africa 34%

% Agreement

I tend to make use of my iPad the most. I take all my notes on that device. My laptop I reserve more for writing papers and assignments.

I don't even have a smartphone. Since my old

phone is still working I haven't bought one.

School has dead zones, afternoon load speeds are frequently horrible to impossible. It has taken me an entire lecture hour to download the PowerPoint for a lecture. At home my data is capped and this can occasionally decrease my download speeds.

Comments

Use of Technology Resources

Virtual worlds e.g. SecondLife

MOOCs

Paid mobile apps

Podcasts e.g. iTunesU

Open Educational Resources

Free mobile apps

E-journals

Literature search e.g. WoS

Wikipedia

Search engine e.g. Google

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Once a day or more

Once a week or more

Once a month or more

Less frequently

Never

I don't know what this is

Use of social media for learning

Social bookmarking e.g. Del.icio.us

Microblogging e.g. Twitter

Social images e.g. Pinterest

Video conferencing e.g. Google hangout

Voice calls e.g. Skype

Instant messaging e.g. MSN messenger

Social videos e.g. YouTube

Social networking e.g. Facebook

0%20%

40%60%

80%100%

Once a day or moreOnce a week or moreOnce a month or moreLess frequentlyNeverI don't know what this is

Attitudes about e-learning

Mobile devices (smartphones & tablets) are essential for my learning

Using social media to access or produce content is important for my learning

I enjoy communicating & networking with other learners over the internet

I enjoy learning with new and innovative online technologies

I enjoy learning with computers

Online Open Educational Resources can be a useful supplement to my learning

Online quizzes provide a useful opportunity for my self-directed learning

There is value to my learning in accessing online learning materials from other universities

Learning from multimedia enhances my learning

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Strongly agreeAgreeSomewhat agreeSomewhat disagreeDisagreeStrongly disagree

Africa 100

Asia 93

South America 91

Europe (not UK) 75

North America 75

Australasia 73

UK 70

% Agreement

Multimedia is a vital facet of my learning, particularly in practical/clinical skills

I think there should be more awareness among students of online learning resources provided for veterinary students. There are many resources mentioned here that I did not know about.

Comments

I especially like to look up how specific ideas are taught at different vet schools to see if I can understand it more easily when it is explained differently.

Conclusions

• Global variation in access to devices and internet, which raises issues of equity

• Majority of students consider mobile access as important

• Majority of students ‘digitally literate’ though many unaware of available resources

• Students value e-learning & OERs– Multimedia & online quizzes highly valued

Implications• Issues around equity of

access– Need to continue to monitor

differences between/within continents

– Ethical obligation to continue to makee-learning available for global, open access

– Need to optimise design of open e-learning for mobile access

Laptop by John Loo; CC BY: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnloo/8709720022/

We love technology by studentsforhumanity; CC BY-NC-SA:https://www.flickr.com/photos/studentsforhumanity/3523433498/