Pecha Kucha Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia 2015

Digitally literate graduates = success in life and work (#338)

Sabina Robertson 1 , Christine Oughtred 1
  1. Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia

Abstract Content (up to 300 words recommended)

 “We now live in a global, connected world with a digital economy influencing every aspect of our lives. Competition and accelerating expectations mean that students rightly expect a premium learning experience that will prepare them for life and careers in a rapidly changing world” Vice Chancellor, Professor Jane den Hollander, Deakin University

In 2012 the University launched LIVE the future: Agenda 2020 and the Library used this opportunity to play an active role in the development and delivery of significant collaborative projects which focused on developing a University-wide understanding of Digital Literacy and digital scholarship.

One of the collaborative projects, funded by The Australian Government’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program was to investigate the challenges students from low socioeconomic backgrounds face in making effective use of library services and resources.  

 The Research findings identified that improving awareness and use of scholarly resources can contribute to students' overall success and retention at university. 

This poster will illustrate how the Library has:

·         Partnered with the division of Equity and Diversity to develop a suite of animated videos that address the foundation level of the ‘Find’ element of the Digital Literacy framework.

·         Sought to equip students in transitional programs, first in family and students from low SES background with the skills to succeed in their university studies through improved search competence when accessing a sometimes overwhelming amount of resources.

·         Facilitated dissemination of information to all students on how best to exploit the rich collections in the library by developing a comprehensive and engaging suite of instructional videos which employ strong learning design principles and high quality animation.

·         Embedded the videos into online units across the university curricula, including Introduction to University Studies and an introductory online unit for all newly enrolled students, UniStart.

·         Enabled liaison librarians to develop more targeted discipline specific support for enhanced proficiency in digital literacy

Addressing the theme/s of the Conference (up to 200 words recommended)

    1. The poster is submitted for the subtheme: Exploiting emerging technologies to enable employability

 The poster:

·         Outlines the partnership of Deakin University Library with Division of Equity and Diversity in creating a suite of animated videos that address the foundation level of the ‘Find’ element of the University Library’s Digital Literacy framework. Students in transitional programs, first in family and students from low SES background are the target audience.  

·   Demonstrates that utilising technology to make the suite of videos accessible to students via CloudDeakin (Learning Management System) and links from University web pages, supports students’ learning at their point and time of need irrespective of time or place.

·         Demonstrates the benefits of exploiting emerging technologies that enable our graduates to have the competitive edge in a complex working world by equipping them with skills to succeed in their university studies through improved search competence and understanding how to navigate through overwhelming amount of resources.

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