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Digital Impact Leaders

Digital Impact Leaders were originally introduced during the pandemic to be a role for students who would be working in partnership with academic staff and students to support the development of digital literacies skills. Although the students working with me have a generic role, their contributions are unique, and as such, they have the opportunity to gain recognition for this via an award in the form of an  Open Badge.  These are online interactive certificates which have been designed to be of value to students so they can share their new found insights and skills to a wider audience than they would usually. This provides a useful way for students to not only reflect on their opportunity but also to be able to articulate what they have been working on, enhancing their digital literacies skills in an authentic way.

The original model was that students working in partnership were paired with academic staff who identified a need to introduce or use online tools and/or methods to enhance the student experience.  Students then would work alongside staff to encourage students and support staff, guided by the Faculty Learning Technology Lead.  In order to recognise the contribution of our student partners, we are using an open badge, which allows the student to provide evidence of their activities and also guides what they will be working on.

The Digital Impact Leaders are based on this model, which I originally developed at the University of Southampton and has been featured widely across higher education sector.

There are currently three projects—two happening and one proposed for which this model is being applied, but in slightly different contexts.

The Digital Access and Participation Projects are all framed around students as partners and will provide an opportunity for the students involved to earn the Digital Impact Leader badge. These are adapted to the needs of the projects and will suit the roles. They will all include digital literacies skills in their foundation.