This blog is part of a series on ‘New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies’ that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit.
This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as ‘participants’ to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project.
This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to critical digital literacy, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.
I don’t use things critically/strategically – I just adopt it.
Workshop participant
Challenges
There was a mix of responses in terms of participant confidence with using technology and critically accessing information online. Some participants acknowledged a sense of being uninformed when they access and collect information online. Participants feared that digital tools were already available that might make their life easier but that they haven’t yet found them or had the time to try them.
Others indicate an awareness that they tend to see information that ‘the internet chooses to show’ them so they try to vary their sources. Some felt more confident about their use of technological tools and shared an ‘obsessive’ tendency to read technology blogs and play with different software and tools.
Use of AI
People were particularly fearful of the ways in which academia was being automated, with the rise of software like ChatGPT and how AI produced content is received as ‘fact’ (Hasanein and Sobaih, 2023). Participants shared a need to try new things, as well as being critical and challenging sources that come from certain places.
They also discussed how students can be encouraged to question sources and build their own sense of digital literacy: Where did a source/data come from? Who wrote it? Is the author/source reliable? What have others said about the topic?
Proposals
Incorporating critical digital literacy was acknowledged as an important part of creating a broader introduction to life at university. Frequently considered difficult to pin down (Pangrazio et al., 2020), digital literacy is defined as ‘socially situated practices’ which are ‘supported by skills, strategies and stances that enable the representation and understanding of ideas using a range of modalities enabled by digital tools’ (O’Brien and Scharber, 2008: 67). An induction module, that students can receive credit for, was discussed, where students could engage in activities across year groups on how to navigate university, on topics like: developing their critical digital literacy; how to engage in university-style learning; how to conduct research; and how to write academically, in a project-based environment.
Questions and Resources
- How do you question the platforms you use and the sources you find?
- How could you try new things using online and digital tools?
- How can you promote critical digital literacy in students?
- How could you induct students into university structures and practices?
Read the full toolkit:
References
Hasanain, A. H. and Sobaih, A. E. E., (2023) ‘Drivers and Consequences of ChatGPT Use in Higher Education: Key Stakeholder Perspectives’ European Journal of Investigation of Health, Psychology and Education. Nov; 13(11): pp. 2599–2614.
O’Brien, D. and Scharber, C., (2008) ‘Digital Literacies Go to School: Potholes and Possibilities’. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52(1): pp. 66–68.Pangrazio, L., Godhe, A-L., Ledesma, A. G. L., (2020) ‘What is digital literacy? A comparative review of publications across three language contexts’ E-Learning and Digital Media, 17:6.
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