Transformation Through Collaboration was a project funded by Ireland’s National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.
A collaboration led by UCC with Waterford IT, IT Carlow, IT Tralee and Cork IT, the project ran from December 2015 to the end of June 2016. This project has continued the work begun under Phase 1 of the National Forum Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund as well as bringing together expertise attained in Southern Cluster of Higher Education Institutes in building digital literacy capacity among staff and developing more effective engagement with students through online tools.
Awareness of the importance of digital literacy among staff was critical to the success of the project. At the core of the project, was the recruitment of staff as Digital Champions in each of the partner institutes. These staff have become champions for the improvement of digital literacy skills within their academic discipline, their department and ultimately across the Southern Cluster. The project documents the journey these champions took and provides a map for others who wish to follow in their footsteps.
The project was conducted through seven overlapping but discrete phases:
| Phase | Objective | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Agree common tool for assessment of digital literacy among staff. | November/December 2015 |
| Phase 2 | Identify academic staff to be developed as champions. | December 2015 – January 2016 |
| Phase 3 | Identify strengths and gaps of staff around digital literacy and design individual training plans. | January/February 2016 |
| Phase 4 | Provide training locally and in collaboration with other institutes. | February 2016 – June 2016 |
| Phase 5 | Champions present at Digital Week. | February 22 – February 26 2016 |
| Phase 6 | Champions put learning into practice with final summary at Digital Champions Day in June, to be recorded and documented as the final evaluation. | January 2016 – June 2016 |
| Phase 7 | Document learning journeys and disseminate. | December 2015 – June 2016 |
A final Digital Champions Day was held on the 7th June at UCC. For more information about Digital Champions Day visit our events page.
