This is the second of two posts about work done at City, University of London with the JISC Digital Experience Insights Survey and their Student Digital Community. This post is by Student Digital Assistant, Sumayyah Islam.
As a Student Digital Assistant for City, University of London, my role has been to help students navigate the university’s digital resources such as EdTech guides and provide students with digital support as needed, being a student myself I understood the needs of other students which gave me a unique perspective on how to best support them. Over the course of a year, I had the opportunity to work on various projects that helped me develop new skills whilst being able to make a positive impact in helping students become more confident with their digital skills required for learning.
Signposting Students to Guides
One of the key aspects of my role as a Student Digital Assistant was to signpost students to guides that could help them better understand the university’s digital resources. This involved posting on the Student Digital Community to engage with students. In addition, I was able to participate in discussing the communication plan for these posts. The plan was tailored to specific themes, which enabled relevant reminders and guidance to be posted according to the academic season.
JISC Survey and Data Analysis
During my time as a Student Digital Assistant, I had the opportunity to work on the JISC Digital Experience Insight survey, which aimed to gather feedback from students on their digital skills and preferences. I was involved in analysing the data from the survey and based on my analysis, it was clear that students wanted more self-assessment tools for their digital skills.
Digital Skills Self-Assessment Tool
In response to the feedback from the Jisc survey, it was decided to create a Student Digital Skills Self-assessment tool. The tool allows students to assess their digital skills and identify areas in which they need to improve. With the help of this tool, students are able to signpost themselves to various LinkedIn learning courses or EdTech guides when the tool recognises areas that require some digital support. Furthermore, the tool signposts students to more advanced LinkedIn self-assessments when it picks up areas in which a student is more advanced. Overall, the tool was well-received by students and has had a good number of respondents, especially during welcome week. Creating the tool has helped me advance my skills in Qualtrics.
LinkedIn Learning and Moodle Sessions
In addition to creating the Student Digital Skills Self-assessment tool, I also had the opportunity to help deliver LinkedIn Learning sessions and Learning with Moodle workshops. These sessions were designed to help new students get started on the platforms and develop the skills they needed to succeed in their academic and professional careers. I found presenting to be an enjoyable aspect, it was rewarding to be able to share my knowledge on university platforms and receive positive feedback for the sessions.
RISES Associate Fellowship
Recently I have been given the opportunity to earn an Associate fellowship by participating in the RISES program at City, which will enable me to gain recognition for my work in teaching, learning and education at City. So far, the course has helped me with creating an efficient portfolio in teaching through the workshops provided and great resources available on the Moodle module. Overall, I have found this to be a great opportunity especially for when I consider going into teaching, as the RISES program provides a CPD route.
Conclusion
Overall, my experience as a Student Digital Assistant has definitely been one I’ve enjoyed and learned a lot from, I’ve been able to gain valuable experience which will serve well in my future career. Working alongside the Learning Enhancement and Development department at City has also been a rewarding experience as I’ve had the chance to get a first hand look at how professionals find many ways to help students achieve their goals.