Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

In introductory or ice-breaker activities, there are four types of posts that are made by students/participants on discussion boards or community blogs. These four types I have drawn up after looking at a selection of ‘Welcome Sites’ for new students. These Welcome Sites are used for new students to make contact with each other and the Department before they arrive at University. In these sites there is a blog in which students are instructed to make a ‘hello’ post which will be replied to by second year student facilitators or staff. The Blog tool is best suited for Blackboard, but in Moodle you would use a Forum discussion board.

Continuing my look at some of the learning and teaching themes posed over a decade ago in ‘Inspiring Students: Case Studies in Motivating the Learner’, in this post I pick one aspect of a case study presented by John R Savery (1999). My overall point is that educators must be sensitive to the range of digital skills, even now, and their impact on student engagement and learning online.