Meeting Students Where They Are: Just in Time Embedded Delivery of Information and Digital Literacy Skills

Abstract

At the University of Wollongong (UOW) Library we have been exploring ways to deliver information and digital literacy resources at point of need for students. Aligned with the University's strategic direction, the Future Ready Library Strategy points to a digital first mindset and its application to services and resources offered to the UOW community. Combined with the need to embrace the real life challenges faced by higher education students in Australia today, this has led us to develop a suite of digital learning objects in collaboration with teaching academics that can be delivered at scale, enabling a sustainable way to target student needs. In this article, we discuss the drivers that have brought UOW Library to this point and outline the model for learning and teaching support for our academic community into the future.

Student perceptions of reading digital texts for university study

“…Even before the pandemic, it was clear that an increasing amount of students' reading was done digitally. It is not uncommon for libraries to have 'digital first' policies and purchase only the e-book format of new texts, and many libraries no longer stock print editions of some journals (Hardy and McKenzie, 2020;Baxter et al, 2021). In addition, the proliferation of online sources has had an impact on the number and variety of sources that students can cite in their academic writing, making it increasingly less feasible for students to consult only print texts in their studies.…”

Key factors in digital literacy in learning and education: a systematic literature review using text mining

“…Numerous digital learning initiatives have been carried out at the higher education level (e.g. Blayone et al, 2018;Hardy & McKenzie, 2020;Spante et al, 2018;Tejedor et al, 2020). Despite such enthusiasm, Liesa-Orús reveal that university professors may also benefit from training in the acquisition of digital skills (Liesa-Orús et al, 2020).…”