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A blended approach in framing digital literacies: The role of digital learning advising in an ODeL context

Presenter

Avron Beaumont is a Digital Learning Advisor at the University of South Africa. His areas of specialty include developing and mediating e-materials focused on classroom instruction and e-learning courses. His areas of responsibility include analysing and applying trends and best practices in learning technologies and instructional design.

Sivuyile Deyi is a Digital Learning Advisor responsible for digital and academic literacies design. A co-researcher in educational technologies research, his responsibilities include the development of a shared understanding of educational and technology-related issues affecting higher education teaching and learning in academic literacies disciplines.

Richard Wright, an alumnus from Cape Peninsula University of Technology, is currently an instructional systems designer and Digital Learning Advisor at the University of South Africa. With nearly a decade worth of experience in the ambit of teaching and learning, his focus areas include designing academic development courses and instructional materials. In addition, he also provides expert consultative support, advice and guidance to professional staff on the appropriate use of technologies to enhance and transform the learning and teaching experience of open distance learning students.

Abstract

In South Africa, higher education policies (and especially those relating to distance education) have opened up access and an array of structured learning opportunities to learners from diverse backgrounds. 

At the University of South Africa, the leader in open and distance- learning (ODeL) in South Africa, academic digital support has become a crucial component to complement blended learning and teaching at regional centres of tuition support. Since 2014, digital support has become an intentional and collaborative process in equipping both undergraduate and postgraduate learners with digital literacy skills suited to their level of study. In 2018, a student digital syllabus was developed to give structured and concentrated support on areas which can assist students with the necessary skills, values and attitudes to navigate online platforms and portals. 

The central objective of this presentation is to explore and understand in what way digital support can be advantageous to the teaching and learning endeavors of first years, enrolled for online modules at a regional campus of the University of South Africa. The focus will be on aligning context, pedagogy and e-resources in a workshop, and to evaluate learning activities whilst suggesting recommendations for improvement to its digital teaching syllabus.    

Presentation & Resources