A Third Model for Digital Literacy Skills: Digital Navigator-led Learning Circles
An emerging model that is a combination of digital navigation services and learning circles may be ideally suited for agencies, organizations and institutions that might be supported by states through Digital Equity Act funding or directly by federal DEA Competitive grants.
This digital navigator-led learning circle model could be one of a menu of learning options of a digital navigation services program. In addition to working one-on-one with community member clients or adult foundational education students (e.g. basic literacy, basic skills, high school equivalency preparation, English language services for immigrants or refugees,) digital navigators could also facilitate digital literacy skills learning circles for those who are at roughly the same level of technology, literacy and/or English language skills.
Features of this model include:
After the learning circle model has been explained to potential participants and a convenient day and time for a regular, often weekly, in-person meeting has been chosen, an initial assessment of what skills the learning circle members want and say they need is useful both to participants and to the learning circle facilitator. The assessment might be from notes a facilitator has taken during participants’ discussion before or at the first learning circle meeting. It might be followed up, where appropriate, with a formal assessment, for example using Northstar Digital Literacy Assessments (free to individuals.) Northstar assessments offer a reasonably priced subscription for programs to digitally track learner progress, proctor assessments, award certificates, and to access an assessment-aligned asynchronous or synchronous digital literacy skills curriculum. An initial and/or ongoing assessment might instead be a part of a digital literacy skills instruction app or online curriculum.
A participant and the learning circle facilitator need a shared understanding of the learner’s digital literacy goals. For example, participants may have specific needs they want to address such as how to: get a free email address; create a resume or apply for a job online; use a personal videoconferencing app to stay in contact with friends, relatives or co-workers; get and use a GPS for driving, walking, cycling, or public transportation; download and use a ridesharing app; sign up and use tele-health; or other goals or objectives. The facilitator can then create or select a personalized online curriculum for each learner as well as choose a curriculum for the learning circle group.
There are many possibilities for an online instruction component of this digital literacy model. It should include lessons or other learning resources to be used by participants during and between real-time learning circle meetings. Among the options are XPRIZE award-winning finalist adult literacy apps such as Learning Upgrade, Cell-Ed or other apps designed to help English language learners and other adult foundational skills learners and that have technology skills curricula. Learning Upgrade, for example, is also aligned with the Northstar digital literacy standards. Other possibilities include some of the free GCFGlobal technology topics such as Email, Computer, Internet, Office 2016, Online Safety, Windows, or MacOS; Digitallearn.org that has similar topics and also includes lessons on Using Google Maps, Searching Videos on YouTube, Getting started with Telehealth, and Basics of Videoconferencing, among other tech topics. CrowdED Learning’s SkillBlox, an initiative of World Education, offers a way for organizations to easily build their own digital literacy curricula, to enable them to “find, organize, adapt, and share quality content with learners” and “Build Customized, Skill-based Playlists in Minutes” and it offers a large collection of free, digital literacy resources.
Monitoring learning progress is easy with apps and curricula such as Northstar Digital Literacy, Learning Upgrade and other digital skills online products that have built-in learning assessments, and learning progress reporting features. It is more difficult and time-consuming to develop your own progress monitoring and reporting system, but it is possible, for example using a spreadsheet. Especially for DEA Capacity and Competitive grants, a data management system that enables easy state and federal reporting for NTIA digital literacy goals and objectives, and state goals and objectives will be essential.
Training for new digital navigators is essential, and ongoing training and professional development for all digital navigators is worthwhile. Training for how to support peer-to-peer learning is important for learning circle facilitators, who often are volunteers, or who may be experts in helping people acquire digital literacy skills but not in facilitating a learning circle and supporting peer-to-peer learning. If the goal of providing community members with digital literacy skills is to help participants build digital resilience, their ability to bring confidence and comfort as well competence to solving new digital challenges, to build their own peer-to-peer technology support system, is especially useful. P2PU trains facilitators on how to build in peer-to-peer learning to learning circles. Northstar, NDIA, the World Education Ed Tech Center, and perhaps some state adult foundational education agencies offer digital navigator training, and may be able to train local level trainers or digital navigators on how to use a digital navigator-led learning circle model. Professional development provider partnerships to train digital navigators to facilitate peer-to-peer digital literacy learning circles might be possible.
An evaluation design built on program goals from the outset of a digital literacy skills program will enable formative (progress) data to support program improvement. Of course, evaluation is also important when reporting to funders and the community.
