How Open Education Can Support Digital Literacy

Last week I presented at the 2nd annual B.C. Digital Learning Strategy Forum in Vancouver on how open education can help develop digital literacy skills and competencies among educators and students.

The forum is put on by the B.C. Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills with support from my organization, BCcampus (and a huge kudos to all the BCcampus staff for their effort in organizing and programming the event). The purpose of the forum is to bring the system together and report back on progress on the recommendations and initiatives in the B.C. Digital Learning Strategy, which the Ministry, in collaboration with numerous people from the B.C. post-secondary system, released in 2022.

A key piece of the Digital Learning Strategy is the B.C. post-secondary Digital Literacy Framework. This framework aims to outline what digital literacy entails and emphasize the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for active participation in the digital world, particularly for those in post-secondary education. Last year, BCcampus released a Digital Literacy repository of open educational resources that can be used in 2 different ways within the system – by educators to embed digital literacy competencies in their courses, or by institutions to help further develop digital literacy skills and competencies among educators.

Something I have been wanting to do since the digital literacy framework was released was provide some examples on how open educational practices can support the development among instructors & students of the 8 digital literacy competencies in the framework, and this forum gave me the opportunity to talk about that.

I used 2 examples of open education practices and mapped the specific competencies in the framework to the competencies developed using these examples. One example was focused on students, the other on educators.

Example 1: Students adding or editing Wikipedia content

For students I used the example of creating or editing Wikipedia as pedagogical activity. While this is definitely not a new or particularly groundbreaking open pedagogy example, I do find that when speaking to people who are new to open education and open pedagogy it is a good example that helps people quickly understand the concept and principles of open pedagogy, made possible because Wikipedia content is openly licensed.

When we look at the digital literacy competencies and skills students develop when doing a Wikipedia project, we can see this activity develops multiple competencies in the framework including critical thinking, ethical editing, and content creation. It supports comprehensive skill-building in alignment with the framework’s focus on practical, ethical, and community-based digital scholarship.

Information Literacy

• Critical Thinking and Source Verification: Students verify sources, ensure neutrality, and evaluate credibility, aligning with the framework’s focus on identifying reliable information.
• Understanding Information Production and Bias: Discussions on Wikipedia’s neutrality policies help students reflect on how information is created, prioritized, and presented, fostering bias awareness.

Digital Scholarship

• Research, Analysis, and Application: Editing Wikipedia enhances research, synthesis, and ethical communication skills through practical assignments.
• Use of Digital Platforms for Academic Purposes: Students gain experiential learning by contributing to an open-access platform, supporting practical digital scholarship.

Communication and Collaboration

• Collaborative Editing and Feedback: Weekly peer reviews and reflections develop collaboration and constructive communication skills, with group discussions reinforcing feedback practices.
• Positive Digital Contributions: Students learn to create responsible, audience-focused digital content, aligning with the framework’s emphasis on effective communication.

Ethical and Legal Considerations

• Respect for Intellectual Property: Wikipedia’s neutrality and copyright guidelines teach students ethical content engagement.
• Privacy and Security Awareness: Reflecting on public contributions highlights digital identity and privacy considerations, promoting ethical online behavior.

Creation and Curation

• Accessible Content Creation: Editing Wikipedia helps students create clear, purposeful content for diverse audiences.
• Audience-Centered Contributions: Students improve Wikipedia’s reliability by tailoring content to general readers, promoting accessibility.

Technology Supports

• Troubleshooting and Tools: Using Wikipedia’s sandbox and editing tools fosters adaptability and problem-solving skills.
• Learning New Tools: Hands-on experience builds confidence and curiosity in digital tool exploration.

Example 2: Using GenAI to adapt open textbook content

The second example I used focused on educators, and I picked a more contemporary example of using an open textbook with Generative AI to develop ancillary support materials using the open textbook as the reference material. When I was at the Open Education conference in Providence a few weeks ago, there were a few presentations about how educators are using GenAI with openly licensed materials to modify, adapt, or create ancillary resources. A particularly powerful example of this is instructors uploading a chapter of an openly licensed textbook to a GenAI tool, then asking the tool to rewrite the chapter to adjust the reading level.

Specifically, when an instructor engages with GenAI and OER’s to modify the content, or use GenAI to create study guides for students based on the OER they are able to develop the following framework competencies.

1. Creation, Curation, and Information Literacy

The instructor critically evaluates an open textbook for readability, ensuring it meets the target audience’s needs. By using generative AI to simplify content, they engage thoughtfully with material, preserving its integrity. Simplifying technical language, developing glossaries and self-assessment tools demonstrates a focus on designing materials aligned with students’ comprehension levels, enhancing scaffolded learning and accessibility.

2. Technology Supports

Exploring generative AI tools like ChatGPT for modifying text, creating glossaries, and designing self-assessment questions showcases their ability to harness AI in education. This involves understanding AI’s limitations and crafting effective prompts to ensure relevance and accuracy.

3. Communications

GenAI represents a massive shift in technology, and the instructors willingness to engage with it in a new and pedagogically focused way shows they are flexible to adapt to changes.

4. Ethical and Legal Awareness

Respecting the textbook’s Creative Commons license highlights their understanding of OER and copyright compliance. Ensuring AI-generated materials are accurate and pedagogically sound shows ethical commitment.

5. Community Based Learning

Recognizing learners may be at different levels and come from different perspectives, the instructor recognizes that the textbook may not represent different contexts and worldviews and is using GenAI to help modify the content to better reflect their own learning community.

Conclusion

These are just a few ways I think that using Open Educational Practices, including working with OER’s, can help both students and instructors develop key competencies in the B.C. post-secondary digital literacy framework. I am sure you can probably add many more to this list, based on other OEP examples.

Here is the full CC-BY licensed slide deck.

If you review the slides, you’ll see the last 2 contain a reference to ChatGPT and how I used it to put this presentation together. I’ll write more about that in my next post.