Defining and improving higher education administrators' digital technology literacy

Abstract

The purpose of this action research study was to identify needs and improve higher education administrators' digital technology knowledge and skills. Participants and data collected in Cycle 1 consisted of structured interviews and observations of subjects who, through academic credentialing or career attainment, were considered experts in the use of technology and have familiarity with the higher education environment. Action step activities included defining digital technology literacy curricular content and delivering a series of workshops. These were designed, implemented, and evaluated in Cycle 2 to improve participants' foundational digital technology literacy to support their engagement with digital technology throughout their careers. Findings included successful outcomes from the workshop participants in ability and interest in engaging in digital technology literacy practices in their work; room for improvement in defining foundational knowledge and skills learning for leveraging technology among liberal arts students and graduates; and the ability of workshop participants to move from relying primarily on direct personal experience to generating innovative and new ideas when considering how technology might aid them with their work. Implications for the organization included identifying a greater need to engage more higher education administrative staff with digital technology literacy skills in the face of substantial digital transformation of the higher education field. Additionally, higher education leadership needed to resolve the competing viewpoints for either a humanities rich liberal arts environment absent of technology education or a dominant focus on technology-specific training for job skills in the current context. There exist foundational knowledge and skills that can achieve both and be taught within a liberal arts context that prepares students, workers, and citizens for a digital future. Keywords: digital technology literacy, higher education administrators, liberal arts education, digital transformation --Author's abstract