Digital Skills

Important at university:  you will need digital skills to be able to make full use of the digital tools and apps available to you to improve and enhance your learning.  You will need to develop your skills to communicate, collaborate and participate in online environments. Digital skills will also help improve your productivity and develop creativity that helps you think, communicate, design and engage in the world around you.

Important in the workplace: a government report (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 2019) digital skills are required in in at least 82% of advertised jobs. Digital skills are vital for the modern workplace where employers seek graduates that can utilise digital tools effectively to innovate, communicate and collaborate globally.  

Important for life: we live in a digital world where so many transactions and interactions involve digital apps and tools: online shopping, buying gig tickets, checking train times, talking to friends and family online, video editing for social media, searching the internet, the list goes on.  You are using your digital skills without even thinking about it.

At the heart of digital skills is IT proficiency: being able to use IT to carry out tasks effectively and efficiently. But to be digitally capable you also need to be able to:

• Communicate, collaborate and participate in online spaces appropriately and respectfully.  
• Use online platforms and resources and make use of apps to get organised.  
• Critically evaluate information .
• Consider your digital identity and wellbeing so that you stay safe online and project a positive identity within your social media channels.

Jisc has broken down digital capabilities into 6 key strands.  This framework can help you understand what capabilities are needed and what it means to be digitally capable in those areas.  

Jisc has produced a guide, aimed at university students which describes and explains the 6 digital capabilities from the framework.  Use this guide to help you understand what skills you have and what skills you need to work on.

It's important to understand what digital skills you are already confident and competent in, and what skills you need to develop.  You can use the Jisc document above to help you identify these. You can also use self-assessment tools, such as the one below.