One of the 2024 themes for EPALE is Upskilling and Reskilling for the Digital Transition.

Digital transition, digital transformation – we are often seeing terms like this bandied about on social and other media.  In this article I look at what this might mean, how there are different levels of digital transition, and especially how this affects adult learners such as those in and affected by EPALE. 

Most of my professional life is based around use of computer-based & online tools, and so computers and  internet access are simply essential for this.  I deliver online training, consultancy, support and teaching.  I produce a weekly LinkedIn newsletter on the uses of AI in education (sign up for this at Subscribe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7056913608030482432 ). Accessing academic and business related materials is all done online, as is the use of the many AI tools that are now part of my daily workflows.  And almost all of this is done from my home. I get withdrawal symptoms if I don’t check my email several times an hour.

And for the past 10 days my service provider has had a major internet outage affecting me (and 7000 other households in my area).  Apart from some patchy 3G email, I’ve had no internet on my laptop or tablet, and no way to even hotspot from my phone to work online on these devices.

I’ve been FAR less productive than I should have – it’s really affected me.  I’ve wandered around the house aimlessly, not even able to settle down in front of Word to perhaps write an offline article – in fact this one is my first attempt at this in a week.

Fortunately this has been a quiet week in terms of online delivery of teaching and training.  My Monday night University class – normally taught from home – I handled by staying late at college and teaching from my office there.  A couple of camera club talks had to be postponed but otherwise I’ve not been too badly affected.  Next week is a whole different ballgame, and my new internet service (yes, I switched providers!) isn’t due to be installed until Wednesday – that’ll be 15 days of no service. Good news – service has been restored, so I’m completing writing this with my internet back on 😊.

Now this has been a first world problem for me, I realise, and I’m lucky that I live in an area well served by at least 3 major internet providers, and also that I can afford to switch.  So I’m very aware that in the overall scheme of things, life for the past 10 days was not really a train-wreck, it just felt that way as my frustration rose – often!

But this has brought top of mind the challenges that so many face in the digital/computer space.  I have all the nice tech – Mac computers, iPads and smartphone – many don’t. Fast internet (normally) – again – this is not by any means a given for many people, even in Ireland where I’m based. A friend of mine lives half an hour outside Dublin and he can’t even get cable to the house, only slow Wi-Fi-based Internet service.

We all tend to live in the bubble of what’s normal for us, and my bubble of high-tech gadgets and always-on connection has been burst this past week, leaving me very aware of those that don’t have all this. So what levels of digital transition are there?

Level 1 – Paper to computer

For some, digital transition means the first level of this continuum – moving from analogue – paper-based living into the computer space.  Mary - a great friend of mine, died just before Christmas aged 99, and didn’t own any form of computing device or even a mobile phone.  How she navigated all the services that seem to be demanding we interact online I never found out, but she was fiercely independent and managed her life as an independent person right up to her last days. 

How do children from disadvantaged homes where computers can’t be afforded manage in our education system?  Most schools now assume internet access – sending the never-ending notifications of events, trips and homework via apps like Aladdin and WhatsApp.  This creates difficulties and clear have/have-not divides for those without or with only limited access.

Level 2 – Basic computer usage

ECDL is the European Computer Driving Licence – been around for many years as a training in basic computer literacy.  How to use Word, Excel and Powerpoint, and navigate Windows.  It's an excellent way into computer usage for those who have no idea. In Ireland Vodafone and charity AWARE have an initiative training older people on mobile phone digital use (see https://n.vodafone.ie/aboutus/press/vodafone-ireland-announces-programme-of-initiatives-to-support-m.html ), and there are many other programmes across the EU doing similar things.

As someone well versed in using computers – I was a programmer back in an earlier career so I’ve been a nerd since I first encountered a keyboard with my Sinclair ZX81 back in my teens – even empathising with those who find computers challenging is difficult.  And yet, as an educator, I must put myself into my learner’s situation, and design learning journeys cognisant of the wide differences in ability and levels of fear. So often, especially in formal adult education such as the postgraduate University environment I do some teaching it, we assume so much knowledge and ability. And as I tell my students, ASSUME makes and ASS of U and ME.

As a proponent of UDL (Universal Design for Learning) I’m very aware that building accessibility into my materials is far better that offering accommodations afterwards. Creating learning environments that support every learner, no matter their differences, is a key aspect of modern pedagogical design, but this is also often built on incorrect assumptions of access, knowledge and confidence in information technology.

Level 3 – Advanced technology use

I gave a class of mainly mid-20’s, postgraduate students at one of the top business schools in the world, a 3-hour introduction to using Artificial Intelligence a couple of weeks ago. I assumed that they would all “know about” ChatGPT and be conversant with prompting and getting the most from these AI tools. But in a poll to the class asking “Do you use AI?” at the start, less than a quarter admitted to regular use of any AI tools, and more than half said they had not explored them. And this after I’d made it clear that this was a safe space to discuss and explore this topic with no fear of any censure.

So I spent the session showing them a few of the main chatbot tools, simple ways to interact with them and get useful responses, and then showed a few other tools for creating presentations and doing academic literature searches. Very low-level stuff, barely scratching the surface of what’s out there today and available to everyone.

And the class was blown away. I was besieged for an hour after class with a long line of students wanting to follow up with more questions, and to tell me how eye-opening and mind-blowing the session had been for them.  I’m seeing similar reactions when I do sessions for teachers, University staff and businesses (if you would like me to run one for you, get in touch!). The level of knowledge and use of computers and tools is very often just what people need to “get by”, to do the job as they’ve always done it, rather than leveraging the power of the powerful programmes and apps we all have general access to. 

How many people make use of more than 10% of Word’s capabilities for instance – when I do writing courses and show the use of Styles, automatic generation of Tables of Contents, Indexes, cross-referencing – these still quite basic functions are new to so many.

Digital transitions are a part of everyone’s learning journey, and it’s a set of transitions that for most people never ends, as there’s always more to learn about the capabilities of our technology. And those goalposts are constantly shifting – just an hour ago I read about the latest release of Claude AI to version 3 – another leap forward in capabilities – more for me to learn and hopefully leverage in my work and teaching.  Good luck on your digital transitions, wherever you are on your own learning journey.

Joe Houghton

Dublin, Ireland

Email : joe.houghton@gmail.com 

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/joehoughton/