Beyond small ecological acts: How can digital practices activate second order learning


 Contemporary childhood exists in a rapidly changing literacy context in the digital age, where digital devices and technology are progressively used at home (OECD 2019). In the global context, digital technology is greatly emerging in children’s lives, including the way of their play, learning, communicating and entertainment (Marsh et al. 2016). In this paper presentation, the author who is a researcher in the intersection of digital literacy and children’s literature, engages in autobiographical narrative inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly 2000), where she tells and retells her stories of reading contemporary fiction picture books, focusing on digital practices in both written text and illustrations. Such experiences are reflected and compared to her experiences of reading contemporary academic articles and reports on digital literacy studies in early childhood education. She noticed that there is a significant missing of digital lives and practices in contemporary fiction picture books, which contrasts with the prevalence of children’s digital usage in the contemporary post-typographic era.
 
 
 As children’s fiction is infused with ideology, the text instills values and beliefs in young readers, which, further, will shape children’s sociocultural development (Stephens 1992). For this reason, it is critical for future research to examine the ideological message and cultural discourse in relation to digital literacy practices in children’s fiction work. Because the gaps and differences between the ideologies of digital usage in children’s literature and children’s digital literacy practices reality could cause confusion to our young readers.
 
 This article highlights the silence of digital lives and practices in today’s fiction picture books and this research urges writers, illustrators, educators, and parents to pay attention to the gaps between digital practices in today’s children’s real lives and the contemporary fiction picture books.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The use of digital practices and approaches can potentially increase the quality and efficiency of all phases of the traditional clinical translational research (CTR) process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe key stakeholders’ perspectives on the need to: (A) formalize training in digital practices and approaches among CTR trainees; and (B) develop an aligned educational framework that defines core competencies, educational methods, and evaluation metrics. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Participants (n=66) were recruited via email from June to November 2017 using purposive and snowball sampling methods across 4 groups: (1) English speaking national and international experts from academic and private sector institutions with working experience in using digital practices and approaches in research (n=36), (2) CTR educators (n=8), (3) CTR trainees (n=13), and (4) Members of the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Southern California (n=9). Online focus groups were conducted using a semi-structured, open-ended interview guide through Google Hangouts and a conference call interface. Sessions were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and 2 research team members performed independent content analyses to identify before and emergent themes using an inductive analytic approach. Kappa was calculated for inter-rater agreement and repeated until agreement was at least 0.70. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Participants’ average age (41.2 yrs, SD 9.26), gender (59% females), non-Hispanic (97%), race (72% White), and doctoral degree (67%). In total, 85% reported experience in teaching digital practices and approaches in research, although 70% were currently not teaching in this field. Participants reported that complementary teaching in digital practices and approaches across the 15 Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) CTR competency areas was relevant, especially in literature review, research implementation, statistical approaches, biomedical informatics, regulatory support, responsible conduct of research, scientific communication, translational teamwork, cross-disciplinary training, leadership, and community engagement; and less so in literature critique, study design, sources of error, and cultural diversity. Additional competencies were identified, for example, online study recruitment, crowdfunding, team and project management, scholarly impact metrics (Altmetrics), ethical and regulatory guidance for conducting research using digital approaches. Five main educational practices were identified including online training sessions, flexible on-demand modules, in-person consultations and training, and project-oriented hands-on workshops. Among the identified challenges were the need for clear metrics in order to evaluate such a training program. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: There was consistent support for a structured program to help CTR trainees to develop competency in digital research practices and approaches. Our results indicate that an education program focused on digital practices and approaches should include a step-wise approach to meet different research and training goals, allowing attendees to increase their awareness and specialized hands-on practical experience.

How do national regulatory agencies (NRAs) use digital practices to empower consumers for e-participation in regulatory processes? To address this question, we designed a novel framework to comprehensively capture digital practices adopted by NRAs across the key regulatory procedures, including consumer information provision, communication, education, and rule-making, which we conceptualise as two-way relational mechanisms. To measure the scope of digital regulatory practices, we derived composite digital scores for 236 NRAs across 42 EU and OECD countries, based on coding the regulators’ websites and social media accounts. We also developed a new multidimensional construct of organisational capacity to explain the variation in the adoption of digital regulatory practices among NRAs with sole – and multi-sectoral competencies in five economic markets, ranging from utilities to financial services. Our findings show significant regional divergence in the adoption of digital regulatory practices by NRAs from the old and new EU member states, as well as the significant effect of NRA’s reform experience, resources allocations, sectoral competencies, and in-house capabilities on their digital scores. This study offers implications for both improving the effectiveness of regulatory procedures through consumer-oriented digital transformation, as well as government initiatives for enhancing digital trust and e-participation in economic regulation among consumers.

Digital social work practice has ushered in a new era of social work practice in Zimbabwe. It has significantly improved the country’s level of accountability and access to services. This chapter examines the successes, challenges and opportunities for digital practice by the social welfare workforce in Zimbabwe. The Social Development Officers and civil society organisation (CSO) partners have, with support from the voluntary Community Childcare Workers (CCWs), changed the terrain of social work practice by introducing digital devices into their practice. Zimbabwe has put in place the legal and policy framework governing information communication technology (ICT), and this is creating an enabling environment for digital social work practice in Zimbabwe. Innovations in mobile money transfer have revolutionised financial inclusion while reducing the risks and costs associated with delivering cash to service users. The CCWs, who are present in almost every ward, have brought digital social work practice to some of the remotest and hard-to-reach areas in Zimbabwe. In this regard, digital systems have promoted inclusivity and accountability, as they make it possible to trace cases in the referral pathway using digital footprints. There are, however, standards of practice that govern what data should be collected and how it should be shared and used by the social welfare workforce. The absence of clarity on an information-sharing policy and protocol has also increased the cost of building a consensus around data management. Nevertheless, the digitalisation of social work practice in Zimbabwe was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated digital practice as the most practical way to reach some remote areas.

This paper explores the mapping from specific digitalization practices to specific resilient performance against a great shock. Based on an adapted structure–conduct–performance framework, this paper hypothesizes by theoretically analyzing how the pre-shock establishment of digital retailing practices could trigger physical retailers’ bounce-back and bounce-forward performance against the COVID-19 crisis. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, the hypotheses are examined with a sample including 549 observations of 50 Chinese listed retailers from the first quarter of 2018 to the third quarter of 2020. The empirical results mainly indicate the following binary findings. First, regardless of the differences in triggering bounce-back performance, different digital retailing practices are found to be effective in triggering physical retailers’ bounce-forward performance against the COVID-19 crisis. This somewhat addresses the concern about the temporality of digitalization-enabled resilience by revealing the generality across digital retailing practices in the sense of triggering resilient performance. Second, it is shown that physical retailers’ bounce-back performance at a specific stage of the COVID-19 crisis could only be triggered by digital retailing practices that coincidentally apply to the shock-induced market structure changes at the stage. The results emphasize each digitalization practice’s individuality in triggering resilient performance. This justifies the non-negligibility of the direct mapping from specific digitalization practices to specific resilient performance in digitalization-enabled resilience evaluation.

With the continued growth of digital tools and practices, the manner in which instruction is planned and delivered within a middle-level classroom will need to evolve. Science educators have often been in the forefront of technology inclusion. With the current expectations of three-dimensional learning promoted within the Next Generation Science Standards, teachers have additional opportunities for students to utilize digital tools and practices during their instructional process. Through the utilization of carefully selected digital tools and practices, science teachers can engage learners and better assist them in constructing meaning through three-dimensional learning. The authors focus on the intersection of three areas: how middle school students make sense of content and develop understanding, the utilization of strategies for designing and creating a middle school classroom around digital practices, and the challenges and opportunities that this instructional shift encounters.

BackgroundDigital technology is an increasing feature of social care practice, and its use has accelerated greatly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess social care practitioners’ experiences of delivering digital interventions to vulnerable children and families during the pandemic.MethodsA mixed methods study combining survey and qualitative research was conducted. In total, 102 social care practitioners working in the Republic of Ireland who delivered a range of digital social care support took part in a web-based survey. This survey captured practitioners’ engagement and experiences of delivering digital social care interventions to children and families as well as training and capacity building needs. Subsequently, 19 focus groups with 106 social care practitioners working with children and families were also conducted. These focus groups were directed by a topic guide and explored in more depth practitioners’ perceptions of digital social care practice, the perceived impact of digital technology on their work with children and families, and the future application of digital social care interventions.ResultsThe survey findings revealed that 52.9% (54/102) and 45.1% (46/102) of practitioners, respectively, felt “confident” and “comfortable” engaging in digital service delivery. The vast majority of practitioners (93/102, 91.2%) identified maintaining connection during the pandemic as a benefit of digital social care practice; approximately three-quarters of practitioners (74/102, 72.5%) felt that digital social care practice offered service users “increased access and flexibility”; however, a similar proportion of practitioners (70/102, 68.6%) identified inadequate home environments (eg, lack of privacy) during service provision as a barrier to digital social care practice. More than half of the practitioners (54/102, 52.9%) identified poor Wi-Fi or device access as a challenge to child and family engagement with digital social care. In total, 68.6% (70/102) of practitioners felt that they needed further training on the use of digital platforms for service delivery. Thematic analysis of qualitative (focus group) data revealed 3 overarching themes: perceived advantages and disadvantages for service users, practitioners’ challenges in working with children and families through digital technologies, and practitioners’ personal challenges and training needs.ConclusionsThese findings shed light on practitioners’ experiences of delivering digital child and family social care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both benefits and challenges within the delivery of digital social care support as well as conflicting findings across the experiences of practitioners were identified. The implications of these findings for the development of therapeutic practitioner–service user relationships through digital practice as well as confidentiality and safeguarding are discussed. Training and support needs for the future implementation of digital social care interventions are also outlined.

Knowledge regarding digital practices in the field of systemic therapy is poor. A few surveys have been conducted in non‐European countries investigating the provision of digitally based therapy, counselling, training, and supervision by systemic family and couple therapists (SCFTs). Thus, a survey aiming to investigate the use of information and communication technology (ICT) among European SCFTs was launched in 2017. A sample of 220 SCFTs was included in the survey. The majority were residents in Greece, France and Italy. Descriptive analysis compared SCFTs’ digital practices and concerns from the above three countries with those from the rest of Europe. Results showed that 81.4 per cent of European SCFTs used ICT for clinical purposes and 47.7 per cent in training and supervision. Main concerns among European SCFTs related to the quality of therapeutic relationship, ethical and legal issues, and a lack of national and transnational regulation.Practitioner points ICT use and e‐therapy increase access to mental health services and maintain therapeutic contact Systemic individual therapy, supervision and training are workable online settings Legislation regulating ICT use in therapy, supervision and training (e.g. General Data Protection Regulation) has to be respected Training and continuous education in online practices enhance therapists’ and clients’ options, and ensure digital safeness and effective treatment

Due to the paucity of research that focuses on the digital and STEAM literacy practices of Black students and youth and their families in home and community spaces, this article acts as a call for awareness to understand the already‐existing digital practices that acknowledges and honors their racial, cultural, and social lives. Lewis Ellison addresses four primary questions that K‐12 teachers must be aware of concerning Black parents, students and youth in digital and STEM spaces: Why are Black Students’/ Youth and Families’ Digital Literacy Practices important? What can we learn from Black Parents’ Narratives about their Children's Digital and STEAM Literacies? What do Black Students/Youth Wish their Teachers Knew about Them? What Should Digital and STEM Literacy Practices Look Like for Black Students/Youth? These questions are important when thinking about Black students’ and youth's digital literacy learning and proficiencies because as the education and political world keeps changing, they need digital literacy skills for every area of their lives. Once we understand the roles we play in centering their lives and practices, then we can advance teacher education, and then we can begin a discussion to normalize Black students and their families’ digital and STEAM literacies and practices.

Digital practices are pervasive in the everyday lives of young people. However, to be emerged in digital networked practices does not inherently provide competences to critically examine media and online content. Formal learning could profit from young people's interests and enthusiasm in informal learning contexts, bridging the gap between formal learning and everyday digital practices. The school has an urgent and decisive role to promote digital literacies and to prepare young people to adapt to a changing world. This paper presents results from the project Net Children Go Mobile in Portugal to analyze the gap between digital practices and school. The digital gap between the culture of the school and the culture of children's lives outside school is not just about having more access to technology or more ICT training, it is essentially about having the competence of using critical thinking and a diverse set of skills in digital practices.

This study assesses the use of various technologies, from institutional virtual learning environments to Web 2.0 tools, amongst learners studying at six general Further Education colleges in the UK. The study surveyed 218 students from a range of disciplines and qualifications. Cluster analysis revealed distinct patterns of engagement with technologies in both personal/social and educational contexts. Some support was found for a connection between personal/social and academic uses of technology. In contrast to the dominant narrative of learners as digitally fluent technology users, the analysis showed the majority of learners were using educational technologies in fairly simplistic ways that satisfy the demands of their course. Significant relationships were found between digital practices in college and subject studied and gender. The discussion draws on the literature of digital literacy practices in order to interpret the findings and inform the planning and development of learning technologies.

The role of digital social practices and technologies in the Swiss energy transition towards net-zero carbon dioxide emissions in 2050

Disasters batter places, heritage and sense of place. The application of 3D technologies in rebuilding these elements offers a promising means to support affected communities by strengthening their resilience through a focus on intangible heritage. The paper explores how a human-centred, values-led design approach can guide the ethical development of 3D technological interventions, ensuring respect for the voices of affected communities and leading to more responsible digital heritage practices. The study presents the analysis of the REPLACE (Rebuilding a Sense of Place) project, a research programme aimed at advancing the transformative deployment of 3D technologies in rebuilding heritage and sense of place after disasters, focusing on areas in Italy affected by recurrent earthquakes. This paper illustrates how a values-led design framework was applied to a technological ethnography methodology to create an ethical foundation for the project’s digital practices. The discussion addresses the complexities, benefits, and limitations of this framework in navigating ethical tensions, facilitating knowledge exchange, and fostering critical reflections on digital heritage practices in support of places and communities in crisis. By focusing on intangible heritage and post-disaster contexts, this paper offers new insights into ethical practices in the heritage field.

Digital practices in later life are not yet well understood. Therefore, this paper discusses the framework for a research design project that aims at tracing differences and similarities in how older adults use their smartphones in circumstances in and outside their homes in Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada. The research questions of this international research project focus on the extent to which digital mobile practices relate to perceived social connectedness among older adults aged 55–79 years old. While studies have shown that the subjective experience of ‘being connected’ supports continued wellbeing in later life, there remains an insufficient understanding of the processes through which digital mediated social interaction is effective for social connectedness. The analytical framework of the project prioritizes the co-constituency of (digital) technology and ageing, and takes digital practices in everyday life as its entry point. The main data collection tool will be the tracking of smartphone activity of 600 older adults (150 per country) during four weeks. An online survey and qualitative interviews will gather data about the meanings of the quantified digital practices, and how they shape (if they do) the participants’ connection to the world. This approach will allow us not only to get insight into what older adults say how they used their smartphone but also to gain insight into their real-life daily use. The assessment of the challenges, strengths, and weaknesses of the methods contributes towards an accurate and appropriate interpretation of empirical results and their implications.

This paper contributes to the conceptualisation of digital literacy as a social practice. While previous studies have focused on student digital skills and digital practices in well-resourced environments, there is a research gap concerning digital literacy as a social practice in resource constrained environments, such as South African universities. A qualitative approach is used to explore the acquisition of discipline-specific digital literacy practices by a purposive sample of three first-year students from two extended degree programme courses. The findings reveal that the discipline-specific learning and assessment activities instantiated students' digital literacy practices in the technical, cognitive, and social-emotional dimensions. Furthermore, the participants acquired digital literacies in the technical and cognitive dimension. The research findings provide insight to how other higher education educators in developing contexts could integrate digital literacies into course curricula as a means of building students' capacity on discipline-specific digital literacies.