22 April 2025 - Helping students onto (and beyond) the first rung of the digital skills ladder
In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, equipping students with essential digital skills is more critical than ever. In this review, we delve into some challenges and strategies associated with this task. For us, an obvious starting point is to recognise the big challenge for some students even starting on a journey of digital skills acquisition: in effect, getting onto the first rung of the digital skills ladder can be difficult and possibly more difficult than we give credit for. This metaphorical first step represents the foundational digital competencies that students need to access to succeed in their academic and professional lives, yet for certain students –in our experience, this first rung remains elusive. Using a range of examples from the University of Northampton, including JISC Insight data, the team share some of the challenges they have faced and offer suggestions as to how institutions could better support students in their digital skills journey.
Challenges and risks: stating the obvious?
We believe there are key areas that, as a sector, we do not acknowledge sufficiently in discussions around student digital success. These are obvious but are worth stating:
- Diversity in student need: There is a significant disparity in students' comfort levels with technology. Students come from diverse backgrounds with varying levels of digital proficiency and varying expectations on what university level study requires. For instance, international students and neurodiverse students may face unique challenges that require more tailored or more nuanced support. Understanding diversity of need when it comes to effective digital skills training is therefore crucial.
- Students’ basic awareness of digital tools: Many students feel overwhelmed by the constant influx of new technologies. They may express a need for comprehensive introductions to the digital tools they are expected to use as they may discover new resources only by chance, or not at all.
- Impact on Progression: Given the highly digital environment faced by students in HE (VLEs, online submissions etc), there is a concern that poor digital skills and confidences may well be contributing to students’ abilities to succeed through their degrees.
- Student Engagement: Efforts such as appointing student digital ambassadors and running open digital sessions have not yielded the desired engagement levels. Attendance at these sessions remains disappointingly low, indicating a need to focus on effective / different strategies to encourage participation.
- Students need digital competence and confidence when they leave their studies and gain employment.
Student Feedback
We have noted valuable feedback from our students, highlighting their experiences and needs:
- Self-Taught Skills: Many students rely on self-teaching and common sense to navigate digital tools. This approach, while commendable, underscores the need for more structured support when help is required.
- Need for Accessible Resources: Students call for better promotion of resources like the Jisc Discovery Tool and more accessible support materials. They express frustration at discovering useful resources only after significant time has passed.
Jumping onto the ladder
We propose several actions to help the jump to the first rung of the ladder:
- Improving advertising: Using physical noticeboards and fliers to disseminate information may seem like a digitally backward step, but more traditional approaches that provide information in more familiar formats may reduce anxiety and may encourage students to attend support sessions.
- Continuous Support: Ongoing support, including induction, skills, and refresher sessions are crucial to building students’ digital confidences. These sessions should be integrated into the curriculum and offered early in the student's university career to ensure awareness of the available resources from the outset.
Climbing the ladder
- Tailored Support for Diverse Needs: Recognising the diverse backgrounds and needs of students is crucial. Institutions should consider creating tailored digital skills programs that address the specific challenges faced by different student groups, such as international students and those with neurodiversity.
- Engagement Strategies: To improve student engagement, institutions could explore innovative strategies such as gamification, peer mentoring, and integrating digital skills training into the curriculum. Making digital skills training more interactive and relevant to students' academic and personal interests can increase participation.
- Promoting Awareness: Effective communication is key to ensuring students are aware of the available digital resources. Institutions should leverage multiple channels, including social media, email, and physical noticeboards, to promote digital skills training and resources.
- Continuous Improvement: Digital skills training should not be a one-time event but an ongoing process. Institutions should regularly assess the effectiveness of their digital skills programs and make necessary adjustments based on student feedback and changing technological trends.
- Leveraging Technology: Utilising existing technology, such as push notifications and QR codes, can help students access digital resources more easily. Institutions should also consider developing mobile-friendly platforms and apps to provide students with on-the-go access to digital skills training. This strategy aligns with the principle of keeping it sweet and simple (KISS).
- Creating a Supportive Environment: Reducing the anxiety associated with digital tools is essential. Institutions should create a supportive environment where students feel comfortable seeking help and exploring new technologies. This can be achieved through initiatives such as digital skills workshops, one-on-one support sessions, and peer-led training programs.
A call to action
Educational institutions need to acknowledge digital nervousness and illiteracy and continuously identify and address student needs. By promoting digital skills through various mediums, both physical and digital, institutions can better support students in their digital skills journey.
________________________________________
Contacts:
Rob Howe – Rob.Howe@northampton.ac.uk
Emma Heron – Emma.Heron@northampton.ac.uk
Muhammed Hafiz - Muhammed.Hafiz@northampton.ac.uk
