Month: September 2023

I've been thinking about what the arrival of Generative AI means for digital literacy. And I searched to find some older publications from the UK Jisc on Digital Literacies. Most have been archived but it is possible to access them on a single web page or to use the WayBack Machine to see the original publication format. One of the publications looked at was 'Digital Literacies: Provides ideas and resources to inspire the strategic development of digital literacies - those capabilities which support living, learning and working in a digital society.' It was originally published in 2014 and was written - if my memory serves me well, by Helen Beetham and Rhona Sharp (sadly Jisc don't give the authors). The section which most interested me was about change management. It is interesting to see the kind of issues at the fore in 2014 - for instance should universities be supporting students own machines including mobile phones. It seems that AI is posing much the same questions for change management in universities today: The change management detailed guide looks at culture and approaches to change in detail but here are some key messages from the existing digital literacy initiatives: The change management detailed guide looks at culture and approaches to change in detail but here are some key messages from the existing digital literacy initiatives:

• Invest in partnership approaches which engage staff, students and other stakeholders across the institution – students as change agents are particularly effective
• Create opportunities for conversation and development through workshops, events and other development opportunities
• Work digital literacies into other change agendas is more effective than pursuing a consensus through more isolated initiatives
• Understand what influences and motivates different groups ie forms of communication, reward and recognition etc
• Know your audience and always talk about digital literacy in context ie what it means to different subject disciplines, professional roles etc
• Enable communities of practice or peer networks to develop and encourage links across departments and roles while maintaining a strategic overview
• Provide seed funding for mini projects

I think this is a good list of key messages for AI for educational institutions and educational management.