Towards digital citizenship: A digital literacy curriculum to support teachers in the classroom (Advert Reference: RDF18/CIS/PICKARD)

The aim of this project is to develop and pilot a practical digital literacy curriculum to empower teachers to support young learners in the digital landscape. The research will take place in the UK and Nigeria to explore the needs of both practicing and trainee teachers. Many practicing teachers grew up and were educated in environments without access to digital resources and were not exposed to formal strategies for supporting digital learning in the classroom. Indeed, this remains true today as teacher education has yet to adopt a curriculum that supports effective use of digital resources in the classroom. This ‘gap’ in training has led to teachers feeling uncertain when it comes to developing strategies to support digital literacy in the classroom. Teachers’ self-efficacy is further undermined by the discursive construction of children and young people as ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001, 2008), ‘bathed in bits’ (Tapscott and Williams, 2008) and ‘Born digital’ (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008) which has become pervasive in educational literature, the popular press and political rhetoric despite the lack of empirical evidence to support such a construct. The emblematic role of children and young people as discursive sites for adults to conceptualize societal change is a very common phenomenon in Western society (Selwyn, 2009). The real cause for concern here is not with the emblematic role in itself but rather with the impact this particular conception of that role can have on educational developments. The emergence and proliferation of the ‘digital native’ myth has taken a profound hold on the public consciousness and continues to resonate in educational rhetoric. This construction results in the blurring of boundaries between the use of technology and the cognitive and metacognitive ability to make sense of the digital landscape being presented by the technology (Pickard, Walton, Hepwoth and Dodds, in publication). The reality of interacting in a digital landscape is complex, uncertain and much more demanding than previous landscapes which traditionally consisted of mediated learning resources (Connaway et.al., 2013). The future for these children and young people ‘will be characterised by an increasingly complex and constantly evolving information landscape’ (Coombs, 2013) which requires a level of cognitive interaction that goes beyond the use of digital tools and becomes a metacognitive activity of self-regulation (Walton and Hepworth, 2011).

Despite the increasingly popular use of the term ‘digital literacy’, there has been confusion and notable debate surrounding the term and how it fits with ‘computer literacy’, ‘ICT literacy’, ‘e-literacy’, ‘media literacy’, etc. Within the context of this study the definition used is that provided by SCONUL (2011) in the adaptation of their original 7 pillars model to a ‘digital literacy lens’ and the media and information literacy curriculum developed by UNESCO (2011). Using these as a baseline, the purpose of the studentship is to explore the current needs of teachers and to design and develop a curriculum that can be introduced into teacher education as well as being made available to practicing teachers.

Eligibility and How to Apply:
Please note eligibility requirement:
• Academic excellence of the proposed student i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities [preference for 1st class honours]); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
• Applicants cannot apply for this funding if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.

For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, see:
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/

Please note: Applications that do not include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words (not a copy of the advert), or that do not include the advert reference (e.g. RDF18/…) will not be considered.

Deadline for applications: 28 January 2018

Start Date: 1 October 2018

Northumbria University takes pride in, and values, the quality and diversity of our staff. We welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award in recognition of our commitment to improving employment practices for the advancement of gender equality and is a member of the Euraxess network, which delivers information and support to professional researchers.