Digital Literacy and Academic Staff in an English Medium Instruction University: A Case Study

Introduction

There is an increasing expectation for university students and staff to have adequate levels of competency in the use of digital tools as contemporary higher education continues to draw ever more heavily on digital technologies and associated information and communication technology (ICT) skills.¹ Students are required to employ a range of academic digital literacy skills to succeed in their studies, such as searching for information online (Bennett, 2014). Developing these skills can improve students’ learning outcomes (Roche, 2017). Poor digital literacy abilities increasingly hinder students from reaching their full potential as learners and subsequently as empowered employees and engaged citizens (Meyers, Erickson, & Small, 2013). While most higher education institutions acknowledge the importance of digital literacy and have adopted, at a minimum, the language of digital literacy in the descriptions of their teaching and learning approaches, in practice there is a wide range of approaches toward digital literacy across universities (Walton, 2016) based on varying definitions in the literature (Feerrar, 2019; Spante, Hashemi, Lundin, & Algers, 2018). A key to achieving high-quality digital literacy provision at an institutional level is for stakeholders to reach a consensus on the definition of the term itself so that they are able to implement policies that lead to a consistent manner of instruction (Sicilia et al., 2018). Every individual involved in the process must share an understanding of the concepts, objectives, and desired outcomes of digital literacy instruction for it to be effective; this will also help identify and resolve gaps in understanding and lead to successful curriculum interventions and the establishment of an inclusive framework.

All literacies are founded on traditional literacy skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening (Meyers et al, 2013). The concept of digital literacy, as used in this paper, extends Lea’s (2004) academic literacies approach and incorporates the definition of digital literacy by Beetham and Sharpe (2011) that focuses on students’ abilities to access, assess, and disseminate information in digital texts. This conceptualization of digital literacy moves beyond using technology to find information and evaluate digital texts for credibility, reliability, and authority (Beetham & Sharpe, 2011) to include developing “those skills and practices that lead to the creation of digital texts” (Roche, 2017, p. 3). The present study uses this conceptualization of digital literacy in combination with data obtained from interviews with staff members as well as administration and management staff at a university. There is to date no study which does this focusing on universities delivering English-medium instruction (EMI) programs. The study fills a gap in the literature by providing an in-depth understanding of the issues surrounding digital literacy provision from the perspective of university staff, including their understanding of what digital literacy is, and their views of students’ and their own digital literacy capabilities. It is also the first study of its kind in a Gulf state EMI University. The study places both of the aforementioned aspects in the context of the institutional setting in terms of policy and provision and considers how implementing a “framework” across the university might enhance digital literacy development for all stakeholders.