Recently, GROVO (a learning technology company) released a report on the digital skills gap in teachers and students in higher education. The report accurately points out 3 types of digital skills gaps that exist.
--> The first is a "generational gap" between college teachers and the students they teach.
--> The second is a "technological skills gap" in what college teachers know and what they should know.
--> The third is a "inequality gap" that describes the various levels of digital skills between students in college.
While the generational, technological and inequality gaps are presented differently in the GROVO report, I believe that they can be addressed by the way that we teach our students using technology. For instance, in my computer courses, the digital skills gap between different students is filled naturally by the content of the course. In all of my courses, I make a point to bridge the digital gaps between students AND between me and my students.
In requiring my students to use technology in my courses, I can continue to learn and update my own digital skills at the same time. In this article, I share 5 ways that I address the digital skills gaps in my classes:
1) Using cloud-based services. In the 21st century, students will need to be comfortable with the idea that their information will need to be stored and processed over the Internet instead of in their computer devices. One of the easiest ways to introduce students to cloud computing is to use popular services that run on the Internet. File sharing is by far the most common and useful way for students to enter the 21st century through your course. Google Docs, filesanywhere.com, dropbox.com are some of the popular names for sharing files and slide presentations with your students. Use Vimeo.com and YouTube.com for sharing video content with them.
2) Encourage multi-modal communications. Students studying and working in the 21st century must learn to communicate, receive information, give/receive feedback on assignments through multiple technologies. Similar to being multi-lingual, this generation of citizens must be "multi-technical", meaning that they must be comfortable using more than one technology to converse. I once had an online student comment that although my class was a very good one, she preferred to take notes from a teacher giving a lecture. Unfortunately, this scenario is becoming far more unusual as we move away from expensive classrooms with teachers as lecturers.
For the teacher, consider "multi-technical" as communicating the same message using multiple technologies. Enhancing your course with "multi-technical" communications is not as hard as it seems. Actually adding multiple technologies to your course activities is easy and can be accomplished in different ways.
* Give grades through email AND audio files
* Deliver lectures as downloads such as PowerPoint slideshows AND podcasts on YouTube
* Set up text-based chats AND hold video conferences for virtual office hours
* Ask students to turn in assignments by creating text-based AND visual tools such mindmaps
3) Use a cloud-based software. I can't remember the last time, I purchased a major software for my computer. These days, I use so many different software programs that it doesn't really pay to buy them anymore. In my classes, I impart to my students that knowing about multiple software applications is like knowing multiple ways of doing something. In the professional world, the fact is that workers who can use (or figure out how to use) multiple software to complete tasks are far more valuable than those who do not. Enter cloud-based software. With the de-emphasis on particular software brands, we look to the Cloud for the necessary tools to be productive. Either through software or technology apps, companies have created enough tools out there for completing just about any task. During the semester, my students use online text editors, online citation tools, online image editors, and online presentation creators. Here is a brief list of the ones I utilize with my students most often:
Online Text Editors
http://www.mytextarea.com/ (* type, save & share)
2) Encourage multi-modal communications. Students studying and working in the 21st century must learn to communicate, receive information, give/receive feedback on assignments through multiple technologies. Similar to being multi-lingual, this generation of citizens must be "multi-technical", meaning that they must be comfortable using more than one technology to converse. I once had an online student comment that although my class was a very good one, she preferred to take notes from a teacher giving a lecture. Unfortunately, this scenario is becoming far more unusual as we move away from expensive classrooms with teachers as lecturers.
For the teacher, consider "multi-technical" as communicating the same message using multiple technologies. Enhancing your course with "multi-technical" communications is not as hard as it seems. Actually adding multiple technologies to your course activities is easy and can be accomplished in different ways.
* Give grades through email AND audio files
* Deliver lectures as downloads such as PowerPoint slideshows AND podcasts on YouTube
* Set up text-based chats AND hold video conferences for virtual office hours
* Ask students to turn in assignments by creating text-based AND visual tools such mindmaps
3) Use a cloud-based software. I can't remember the last time, I purchased a major software for my computer. These days, I use so many different software programs that it doesn't really pay to buy them anymore. In my classes, I impart to my students that knowing about multiple software applications is like knowing multiple ways of doing something. In the professional world, the fact is that workers who can use (or figure out how to use) multiple software to complete tasks are far more valuable than those who do not. Enter cloud-based software. With the de-emphasis on particular software brands, we look to the Cloud for the necessary tools to be productive. Either through software or technology apps, companies have created enough tools out there for completing just about any task. During the semester, my students use online text editors, online citation tools, online image editors, and online presentation creators. Here is a brief list of the ones I utilize with my students most often:
Online Text Editors
http://www.mytextarea.com/ (* type, save & share)
http://www.writeurl.com/ (* collaborative, real-time, online word processor)
http://www.picmonkey.com/ (* online photo editing)
http://fotoflexer.com/ (* online image creation, photo editing)
Online Presentation Creators
www.knovio.com (* create and share presentation)
www.voicethread.com (* create presentation with narration)
4) Teach students online netiquette. While netiquette is often thought of as the "Emily Post" do's and don'ts of emailing, it can actually be expanded to online situations other than just emailing. In this context, netiquette can be re-defined as "the use of appropriate behaviors when interacting online." In your classes, you can impart a deeper sense of online netiquette to your students in a variety of ways by including these topics:
--> appropriate emailing behaviors - In the first week of class, give students a "netiquette" policy along with the syllabus that explains the appropriate use of discussion forums and emails in the class. The netiquette policy that I use for my class is adapted from Virginia Shea work on Internet netiquette HERE.
--> online plagiarism and how to avoid it - When explaining to students what you expect in assignments, you should cover what is considered online plagiarism. Give students concrete situations that they can relate to. Plagiarism.org's (the organization responsible for plagiarism checking software such as Turnitin and Writecheck) has produced a page entitled Plagiarism 101 which provides great information that can be given to your students.
--> protecting personal information online - There are certain pieces of information that students should not give out while online. These include social security numbers, addresses, phone numbers and even personal photos. When my students submit projects and assignments, I always mention in the instructions that they should refrain from including photos of their children, homes, or workplaces. I also encourage them not to share very personal information in the class discussion forums. I used to do "wellness appointments" using phone numbers but instead have switched to online IM chats or VoIP that allow for Internet-based phone calls.
--> social media uses - I do not use Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter in my classes. These services require students to register in order to interact. On the other hand, I do have assignments that ask students to curate educational materials at Pinterest.com which does not require registration. Pinterest is an excellent tool for collecting visual material on a subject. My students can visit Pinterest.com, type in a topic and collect "pins" (a picture with a website link) on the subject.
5) Teach students how to search for information online - In my class, I use a video series from GCFLearn.org to teach students how to search for information online. I also teach students the difference between a search engines such as Google.com; specialized search engines such as WebMD.com and meta search engines. Through discussions and assignments, students must use some criteria when evaluating information from the Internet. Some of the most common criteria are:
Authority - Who produces the page? Is the author of the page qualified to share the information?
Objectivity - Is the content biased or presented in a straightforward way with multiple perspective?
Accuracy - Is the content reliable and free of errors? Have the facts in the content been checked?
Currency - Is the content up-to-date? Is the content relevant to today's issues?
