STLHE 2016 SAPES

As universities increase their online course offerings, and professors employ the use of more and more technology within their lesson plans, an issue has slowly been brewing surrounding student digital literacy. That is, whereas professors are advancing in their use of technology to a point where students are expected to be capable of reflection and critical analysis in the digital world, many students are still struggling with the basics of digital literacy. Specifically, students demonstrate difficulty with technological literacy (Hague and Payton, 2010), which is “the ability to use, manage, assess, and understand technology” (ITEA, 2007, p.252). Consequently, the technological literacy issue emerging in the education sphere, is likely in part due to the erroneous assumption that 21st learners are “digital natives”, who are therefore expected to automatically understand how to competently employ the use of all varieties of technology. This faulty supposition appears to have resulted in the inadequate provision of technology training and support for both students and instructors; leaving professors rather unprepared and uncertain of their role when it comes to teaching and using technology (Crowley, 2014). Accordingly, in this short presentation we will discover how we have arrived at our present predicament, as well as explore how we can move forward and conquer the digital demon we currently face. At the end of this session, participants should be able to identify strategies that can help more effectively prepare instructors to teach and students to learn with technology (Bates, & Sangra, 2011; Buttriss, n.d.; Crowley; Dobbins, 2005; Jenkins, Purushotma, Weigel, Clinton, & Robison, 2009; Shopova, 2014).