Transformative Job Market
- 85% of all jobs available by 2030 will be positions/careers non-existent prior to 2020 (Institute for the Future 2017; World Economic Forum 2018)
- "Soft Skills" remain top priority in hiring practice, but these are increasingly digitally inflected: digital communication, digital collaboration, digital creativity, digital problem-solving (Petrone 2019)
Responsibility in Higher Education
- The digital divide is most pronounced across issue of Race, Gender, and Class. When we fail to integrate digital literacy into higher education, we create double-jeapordy digital inequity (McLay & Reyes, 2019): a process by which we unintentionally widen that gap.
- Bringing digital literacy/digital creativity practices in the classroom has a positive impact on student engagement, performance, and retention. This is even more pronounced (nearly 2 times more) for BIPOC and first generation students (Civitas, Adobe, and UT San Antonio, 2020).
- Over 80% of Students, Faculty, and Administrators agree/strongly agree that teaching digital literacy skills should be part of the curriculum (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
A keynote in 3 parts
A Digital Educator's Journey
Bridging the Disconnect: Video Transitions in Basic & Developmental Writing
- two-course sequence to help students prepare for first-year composition
- credits do not transfer (often labeled as remedial courses)
- populated by underrepresented groups
Four Values for Integrating Digital Literacy
ONE: When we give students the opportunity to learn digital literacy skills and new media authoring practices, we quite literally expand their capacities for expression. This helps students not only to tell better stories but, more importantly, take on greater (or different) degrees of agency.
TWO: When we invite students to create with digital technologies, we give them access to course content, ideas, and practices in new ways. This is not only a matter of what they might make (i.e., a podcast), but fundamentally how they might engage a given course’s content.
THREE: When working in and across digital modalities, students can have meaningful success outside traditional modes of academic discourse. This is especially important for DEI efforts, including 1st gen, non-traditional, and international students, for many of whom traditional academic discourse can be a major hurdle if not insurmountable barrier.
FOUR: When creating digital "things," students actively want to share their work. There is a kind of built-in public-facing condition when making digital things, and many of us, students and faculty alike, see and feel the reality of a persistent digital audience, that underlying ‘meant to be seen’ condition as when we are engaged in digital making.
Accessing Ideas in New Ways
Mia Freeman's "History of Vaccines" Digital Monument
Project created using Minecraft EDU & Adobe CC Express Webpage
Video walkthrough created using Adobe Premiere Rush
Expanding Capacities of Expression
Andrew William's "Picture Perfect" - A Remix Video
This video was a remix of Kat Napiorkowska's "Living with Depression"
William's remix was published in the Journal for Undergraduate Multimedia Projects jumpplus.net
Remix project (re)created using Adobe Premiere Pro
A Digital Transformation Approach
The Digital Gardener Faculty Fellows Program is a system-wide effort to integrate digital literacy, digital creativity, and digital learning across all IU (i.e., 7 campuses, 2 regional centers, medical school, optometry school, dental school, etc.). This is a faculty created, faculty-led, semester-long, virtual professional development program
Three Approaches for integrating Digital Literacy across the curriculum
- Activities are in-class engagements that get students involved with course content in critical and creative ways, working with key ideas and issues, and doing so through the use of particular digital technologies and practices. Examples include Think-Pair-Make-Share, Challenges/Scenarios, Checkpoints (minute papers/1-min notecard), etc.
- Assets are instructor-produced deliverables that help guide students through course content or practices, illuminate course ideas, or simply set-up (or extend) in-class engagements.
- Assignments (or assessments) are invited opportunities for students to create a particular kind of output and for instructors to assess student learning and development. These assessments can range from low-stakes activities (e.g., SSS Vlogs) to capstone projects, but what matters is the learning outcomes being assessed.
Activities
Think-Pair-Make-Share
Think-Pair-Share is a popular Active Learning strategy used in classrooms. The modified version, Think-Pair-Make-Share, brings Digital Literacy and Active Learning together, adding "making" (and reflection/explanation) as a key component. This allows instructors to use what students make as a means to facilitate engagement.
Overview:
- 1 minute: to write down a response to a prompt.
- 2 minutes: Pair up (or group up) and discuss your responses. Select one key takeaway.
- 5-7 minutes: As a pair/group, create an image (using Adobe Express) that conveys that takeaway.
- Share image creation with instructor/class; be prepared to explain both the creation and to expound on the takeaway.
Instructor uses student creations to facilitate a discussion.
Example Prompt: What is Digital Literacy? What does it look like in your Discipline?
Social Media as Model
This activity invites students to "social media making" as a way of knowing/developing understanding. For example, instructors might have students create a TikTok video or an Instagram post that conveys a practice, concept, or structure related to class.
Example Prompt: Pumpkin Challenge in Minecraft EDU (ENG-W171)
Welcome to the pumpkin patch / Minecraft EDU / TikTok challenge! Today we are practicing drafting, building, documenting, and discussing our work.
- Draft: On a piece of paper, plan how you're going to build the pumpkins in Minecraft EDU at different scales (e.g., one that fits in 6x6x6 area; another in a 15x15x15 area). Think about how to represent rounded shapes in a cube form!
- Build: Using the fill command, fill a cube of your desired dimensions with your chosen material. Then "carve" your pumpkin by removing blocks. Do this for both pumpkins.
- Decorate: Decorate your pumpkins and pumpkin patch. Bonus: create Jack O' Lanterns!
- Document: Create a TikTok video introducing your build and build process to an audience of freshmen students at IUB.
- Submit: You should submit an mp4 file or a link to a TikTok. You are not required to publish this video if you do not feel comfortable.mit
- TIPs & TRYs: Use voice-over, sync to music, incorporate transitions, participate in popular trends, etc. Get creative! This will service as your soft launch into the next unit on video/podcasting.
Assets
Assets can be understood in two primary categories: instructional assets and professional assets. The former are things we use to help facilitate the learning experiences in our courses; the latter are things we use to enhance our own career.
Instructional Assets
Assignment Handouts
- Awareness Campaign Assignment for Monica Solinas-Saunders' (IUN) Public Awareness in America course
- SSS Vlogs Assignment for Justin Hodgson's (IUB) Expository Writing Course
- Reflections on Fieldwork in Gina Yoder's (IUPUI) Mathematical Methods course
Instructional Resources
- Guide to Wikipedia Afrofuturism Editathon | Gimmick Piper (IUPUI)
- Talking Fake News Fighting Blues | KT Lowe (IUE) & Jef Reynolds
- Creating Videos and Podcasts with Adobe Rush (video guide) | Justin Hodgson (IUB) & Shauna Chung (CUNY City Tech)
- Visual Syllabus | Justin Hodgson's Graduate Course on Embodied Rhetorics
Professional Assets
- A Look Inside L204 | Miranda Rodak - Promotion Materials
- Incorporating Digital Literacy into "Intro to Fiction | Miranda Rodack - Promotion Materials
Assignments
Course assignments are opportunities for us to assess student learning and development with course content, practices, and approaches.
- This is the most common way faculty integrate digital literacy into work with students and typically starts by providing students a "digital option" in addition to the more traditional assignment.
This page has featured student work from many course assignments, but below are more student examples (working from simple to complex) across a range of modalities. Collectively they start to gesture toward what digital literacy, digital creativity, and digital learning can look like in the classroom.
Multimedia Essays
- Mental Health on College Campuses by Carolyn Ciolfi (IUB)
- The Crossroads of Indiana University by Ryan Canfield (IUB)
Journal/Magazine Articles: Research-based Writing
- A Hoosier's Home by Noah Benson (IUB)
- Names. Because One Just Isn't Enough by Caitlin Alexander (IUB)
Image Engagements: Infographics/Composites/Posters
- Fabulous Scroll | Chloe Lambert (IUB)
- Plastination: Unlock a World of Post-Mortem Possibility | Hannah Moreno (UT Austin)
Audio/Podcast Engagements
- Podcast on Collins LLC | Kaia Wells (IUB)
- Sweet Interruption | David Bistline (UT Austin)
Video Engagements
- Fear is Contagious, is AIDS? by Rachel Yokum (IUB) | JUMP+ Issue 10.1
- After the Glow: Radium Girls by Kasey Julian (Oakland University) | JUMP+ Issue 8.2
A Place to Start
Challenge Option 1 - The Makers Challenge
In 10 minutes, create an image or a scrolling webpage using Adobe Express.
- 1 minute: Go to express.adobe.com & login.
- 5 minutes: Create either an image or webpage - Play around with adding content: use multiple elements (images/text/etc.). Focus: offer a working definition of digital literacy.
- 5 minute: Publish & Share the work with the class/group (Share /publish as URL - send URL to hodgson@indiana.edu). Discussions should not only include key considerations, but reflections on the making of the creation.
- NOTE: You can work in pairs or groups of 3.
Challenge Option 2 - The Thinkers Challenge
In 10 minutes, complete the following Think-Pair-Share
- 1 minute: write down a series of ways you can see adding digital literacy elements to your course - think assets, activities, and assessments.
- 2 minute: Partner up with someone and share your ideas. Identify one practice, approach, move you feel would be a good place to start.
- 3 minute: Working together, identify the major elements/considerations of implementing this digital activity.
- 5 minute: Share with the class/group you idea, its implementations, and key considerations.
Credits:
Created with images by Tierney - "Social media theme with person using a laptop computer" • EFStock - "Young coworkers digital entrepreneurs working together during meal break. African and latin students using laptop for project" • Tierney - "University with man holding a tablet computer" • Tierney - "Future technology concept with person using a laptop computer" • mrmohock - "Businesswoman hand working digital marketing media in virtual screen with mobile phone and modern compute with VR icon diagram at office in morning light " • SVETLANA - "Minecraft cubes made of plastic. Two brown minecraft cubes with glowing Windows" • DC Studio - "African video editor working with footage and sound, editing new project cutting film montage sitting in modern agency office. Woman using computer processing movie in post production software" • pichetw - "business hand clicking transformation button on touch screen" • mantinov - "Black casual shoes standing at just start line" • MarutStudio - "Hand of a young woman showing global business internet connection application technology. and digital marketing Internet connection around the world. Business."