Leo casey learning competence and participation in the digital world final

Learning Competence and Participation in the Digital World

Leo [email protected]

National College of IrelandLearning Media & Technology Doctoral Conference

London Knowledge Lab, 4th of July 2011 1

Research Goals

• Investigate the adult learning journey toward basic digital literacy - an important, often misunderstood, adult learning task.

• How should we characterise such learning?

• What are the key influences on decisions to learn?

• What are the implications for pedagogic design?

Digital Literacy as a Basic Literacy

• Digital literacy, as exemplified by the everyday use of ICT, may be characterised as a ‘basic literacy’ in modern developed economies.

• The associated practices are powerful, unavoidable and often taken for granted.

Older & Low Skilled

• Digital literacy is specially challenging for older adults - their status as wise and experienced often undermined by a sense of inadequacy with ICT

• Many low-skilled workers, characterised by low levels of education and little participation in training, lack basic digital skills.

• Older +low-skilled !!• The decision to learn is a big step often characterised by

feelings of self-appraisal and anxiety. • For many it is their first engagement with formal education

since school.

Know IT• Know IT - a workplace learning intervention designed to

improve basic everyday computer skills in adults.• Offered free of charge and targeted at low skilled workers in

industry. • Used a flexible blended learning approach• Consisted of a self-instructional CD ROM, a learner’s journal

and optional attendance at tutorials for direct instruction. • Background data on the 1163 participants revealed they were

characterised by low skilled occupations, low levels of educational attainment and older members of the working population.

Why I took this approach

• Adult learning may be characterised by choice and volition and as such, learning decisions are an important site of investigation.

• The Know IT course provides an opportunity for adults to address their basic skills;

• adults who decide to participate in the course are a rich source of insight into the dynamic of learning decisions and consequent actions.

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Grounded Theory Practice

• Simultaneous involvement in data collection and analysis;• Constructing analytic codes and categories from data;• Using the constant comparative method;• Advancing theory development during data collection and

analysis;• Memo writing• Sampling aimed toward theory construction;• Literature review after developing an independent analysis.

(Charmaz, 2006 p 6)

7Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory. London: Sage Publications.

Interview Participants

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From the student’s perspective...

Three constructs:

The Digital World

Competence Desire

Learning Identity

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The Digital World

and at this moment in life everyone’s talking about e-mails, everyone’s talking about Internet and I was totally out of that, because I didn’t know how to use it properly

(Mary, the 53-year-old retail worker)

Just give me a shovel and I’ll dig a hole .… what do I need a computer for to dig a hole but now-a-day if you see people digging a hole they have to take measurements … it’s all back, all paperwork’s back into computers

(Ben, 48 year old dockland worker)

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The Digital World

• I am outside the Digital World

• The Digital World is to be respected even feared

(Mary) I just felt that I was left out of it

(Mary) I was too afraid because as you get older in life technology … you kind of fear it because you didn’t grow up with it, really … and I was a bit scared of it

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The Digital World

• I did not always have a need to be part of the Digital World but I do now

• The Digital World is up there.

(Marie) As I get older I think it’s something that I would use more and more

(Mary) I mean, I drive a car I passed my test I didn’t [ fail] … but for some reason, that … didn’t seem as big as actually … using a computer isn’t it funny! It was more manual, it was more hands on … where computers are kind of up there you know.

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Competence DesireGeneral Competence Desire

Specific Competence Desire

(Jen) I want to be computer literate I want to be able to sail through any computer thing that comes up and to do everything on the computer.

(Dot) My biggest joy is I love looking up all the old stars and hearing them singing and learning all about them and things that I didn’t know and I’m able to look up hotels but I can’t book a holiday yet.

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Proximate Sites of Engagement(Marie) Just to know that you can go in … to the web like if I want to order something. If I want to get something I’d say to Caroline [daughter] will you just go in and order that for me. So she’ll order … if I wanted something … she’ll do that.

(Tracy) …. also for holidays …. I go into my neighbour and she books everything for me you know flights apartments she does all that … my daughter said Mam I could do that but like I’d be afraid if it’s going on my credit card that she’d make any mistakes so it was just easier to go into Carol and let her do it

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Learning at Proximate Sites of Engagement

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Learning Identity

(Ben) So, I sort of, like years ago me da wouldn’t be able to use ... how to change a station on the TV and it was only a remote control .... trying to show him and he say’s no I can’t use it and I says look its simple and now you have kids telling me in a sense or people around me look it’s simple so I was just thinking from there jees I used say it to me auldfella there.

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Learning Identity

Experiences of school still loom large

Age and technology – older people are not expected to be good with technology

Risk of learning - the potential pitfalls are • shame • fear of failure • wasted effort • and an expectation of school-like situations.

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How should we characterise learning for basic digital literacy?

Pathways to Competence and Participation in the Digital World

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Disposition and Circumstances

What are the key influences on a person’s decision to learn basic digital skills?

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How should educators respond?

The Digital World – narrow the gapPedagogic strategies need to deal with the Digital World. Non-users should to be invited in; to explore in confidence and without risk.

Competence Desire – get specific Powerful pro-dispositionThrough specific tasks and outcomes, learners can avail of the immediate advantages of their actions Learning supported by a close connection between the usage and learning context

– simulated environments for task completion, – safe zones for exploration without risk – choice and agency

Learning Identity – reframeStrategies to help adult basic skills learners to reconstruct their Learning Identities will focus on:

• self-esteem • re-appraisal of school experiences • planning for learning • experience of learning

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Thank [email protected]

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