Community College Students and digital literacy skills

I thought that some of you may be interested in a piece where a colleague and I describe community college students and the barriers they face  when it comes to acquiring digital skills. It is not a long piece, and I am wondering whether the piece resonates with your experiences with  your students:

https://theconversation.com/how-adult-learners-are-not-getting-21st-century-skills-63490

Daphne Greenberg

Georgia State University

Comments

Hi, Daphne -

Thank you for sharing this article with the LINCS Community.  I think it highlights many of the challenges faced by adult educators in preparing learners for the workplace and higher education.  I also appreciate the mandate to, "offer digital literacy courses as well as integrate technology into teaching and classroom or homework activities".  I wonder how many community colleges are teaching basic digital literacy as stand alone components to the general curriculum, and how many are actually integrating these digital skills into existing, content-related curriculum?  

I see contextualized instruction as the real measure of success for teaching digital literacy skills, but understand that before these digital skills can be applied in context, they must be taught as foundational skills.  This is much like teaching the alphabet before teaching reading comprehension.  Do you recommend any resources that faculty are using at Georgia State to help them to bridge these two ends of the digital literacy spectrum?   

Thanks again for sharing this piece with us!

Mike Cruse

Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your question, and sorry for my delay in responding. Georgia State doesn't teach community college level students, but I was waiting to get more clarification about a course that I know that freshmen can take on digital literacy. This class assumes that undergraduates come with a certain level of digital literacy skills, and therefore this class is taught online. It is assumed that the freshmen at Georgia State University have a lot of the skills that some of our ABE students do not have, and some community college students do not have, such as familiarity with technology, and some previous interactions with the Internet. So, I can't recommend any "resources that faculty are using at Georgia State to help ... to bridge these two ends of the digital literacy spectrum"  I wonder if there are others on this list who are used to teaching foundational digital skills before teaching digital skills in context who may be able to suggest resources.

Daphne   

Hi, Daphne -

Thanks for responding and sharing what your program looks like at Georgia State, and plans for the freshman digital literacy course.  It would be great to hear more about what it will cover, as you get more information.  I used to work as an online teaching assistant for the University of Maryland University College, which offers primarily online courses and degrees, and required new students, most of them adults, to take an digital literacy course as a foundational class.  A large focus of the class at that time - early 2000's - was on accessing the online library holdings, and using the web-based communication platform for submitting assignments, and responding to class discussions.  

A lot has changed in the world of online learning and digital literacy since then, and adult learners are dipping in and out of programs, while technology is constantly evolving and expanding.  That is why I especially appreciate the image of a "digital literacy spectrum", where we are working with learners at many different stages, with different goals for using technology and experiences using it, in both academic and career-focused learning environments. Learning more about resources for teaching digital skills - both basic and contextualized- is something I hope we can continue discussing as a community.  

Best,

Mike Cruse

Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com

Dear Daphne:

Thank you so much for the article and the additional links.  It certainly provides the information needed to make the case for helping adult learners develop their digital skills and access to computers, internet, software, etc.  But, a few questions for the group...

First, I want to put in a pitch for the Northstar Digital Literacy Project which can help teachers and students assess a number of digital skills.  Then, I'm wondering if some of our group members can give us a candid reflection:

  • What skills do students need to bring to college?
  • What supports might they find when they get there?
  • How might they locate those supports?
  • Are digital skills integrated into some college courses?  Which ones?

What do you think students need for successful entry in college?

Cynthia Zafft

Postsecondary Completion Moderator