Student ICT literacy lies at the heart of the ICT-rich learning environment. The learning environment increasingly offers the student a set of ICT tools and access to large amounts of digitally stored information, at institutional, national and global level. For the student, the abilities not only to confidently use these tools, but to critically evaluate the most effective use to which they can be put, are crucial, and will impact upon the effectiveness of study. Additionally, such generic skills are preparatory both in the lifelong learning context, and in the transition to employment. The strategic address to student ICT literacy is thus an important element of policy-making in higher education institutions. In discussing the response which institutions are making, we will draw upon two sources of evidence, the CITSCAPES Project, which carried out in 2001 a survey of current provision for student ICT literacy throughout the UK, complementing this with a series of case studies illustrating the variety of practice in this area. And second, we will reflect upon developments at the Universities of Glasgow and Gloucestershire, which are very different types of institution, but have both placed strategic priority upon student ICT literacy. Each has approached the delivery and assurance of student ICT literacy in a different manner: Glasgow has over the past seven years developed a compulsory ICT literacy programme for all students, whilst Gloucestershire have developed a set of modules which integrate ICT literacy into the curriculum.

hdl.handle.net/1765/1255
The New Educational Benefits of ICT in Higher Education
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Martin, A., & Oates, L. (2004). Underpinning the Learning Environment: Strategic Decisions for ICT Literacy in Higher Education. In The New Educational Benefits of ICT in Higher Education. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/1255