All good things must come to an end

Posted on December 16, 2024 by digitaldexterity

After 4 years of blogging, 82 blog posts (including this one), countless writers and contributors, an ever-changing, fun, and knowledgeable blog editorial group, aka the Blog Bunch / Blog Group, we have come to the end of the road. This will be our final blog post, and we have invited current and past blog group members to share their highlights from the blog.

In addition to the group members who have contributed their highlights below, the current blog group would like to thank the following: Ana Shah Hosseani, Christopher Hart, Emily Pyers, Emma Chapman, Emma Nelms, Jasmine Castellano, Lyn Torres, Miranda Francis, and Sarah McQuillen (Photo by opera infinita on Unsplash).

To our valued readers, we have enjoyed and appreciated your support from the very beginning. Thanks for reading and enjoy this last post 🙂

A road of pebbles leading into a sea or lake at sunset

Danielle Degiorgio, Digital & Information Literacy Adviser, Edith Cowan University (previous blog group member):

Working with the Digital Dexterity blog editorial team, or, as we liked to call ourselves, the ‘Blog Bunch’, was an awesome experience, full of laughter and unforgettable moments. Our Teams’ chat was constantly filled with random GIFs that often wouldn’t load and multiple mentions of ‘scosk’ which took on a life of its own with Ruth even writing a mock post about it that I wish we published.

Thanks to the support and knowledge-sharing of this amazing, talented group of librarians – Simone, Kristy, Emma, Sarah, Marianne, Krista, to name a few – I not only improved my editorial skills but also discovered new ways of thinking about digital learning and engagement. It was truly fun to be a part of such an incredible team, and I’ll always be grateful for the friendships I’ve made within the Digital Dexterity community of practice. A special shout-out to Sara, who was the heart of the ‘Blog Bunch’ and the CoP. Sara, your hard work and organisation kept us all on track and without you we’d have been too distracted to get anything done! Thank you all.

Emeka Anele, Learning Designer, Deakin University:

As I look back to the beginning of my time with the DigiDex Group, I am overwhelmed by the incredible experiences and growth I’ve witnessed. I was invited by a colleague to attend a meeting, and I just never left. Joining the DigiDex blog group felt like rolling down a hill of digital literacy, only to be warmly welcomed at the bottom. This group picked me up and made me feel part of something special.

One of the greatest highlights of my time with the DigiDex blog group has been the chance to collaborate with passionate colleagues from different libraries. Everyone approaches the work with such enthusiasm and optimism. This has been an asset to the editorial group as we enter a catch-up with no idea about the next blog post and leave with ten new ideas.

I’ll always be immensely grateful for the guidance and support I received from other members of the editorial group. The joy and optimism I experienced has left a lasting impact on me. Though this is the end of the blog, the future looks bright. I am confident that our paths will cross again soon, to continue shining a light on digital literacy work in libraries.

Kasthuri Anandasivam, Digital Curriculum Librarian, University of South Australia:

In my short time as a member of the CAUL DigiDex blog group, I have been amazed by how much I have learned and the inspiring people I have met from the different institutions. The group has been a safe, supportive space where I can ask questions—no matter how basic and know I will not be judged. I have gained insights into many new tools used by different institutions in higher education. Contributing to a post on an emerging and timely topic was incredibly rewarding. I have also been able to share what I have learned with my colleagues, sparking new ideas and conversations within my own institution. It has been a privilege to be part of such a creative, generous, and forward-thinking community.

Kristy Newton, Digital Literacies Coordinator, University of Wollongong (previous blog group member):

I was lucky enough to be a member of the CAUL Digital Dexterity blog team for a number of years and really enjoyed my time as a member. The team is an amazing, hard working group of folks with a genuine passion for digital dexterity. During the tumultuous times of 2020-2022 opportunities for in person collaborations were very limited but the virtual nature of the team made it possible to continue working together and producing a blog we were really proud of. The team kept an actively running chat in the background of our MS Teams site that covered everything from blog tasks and questions about meetings or post details to personal insights, advice, laughs, GIF preferences, and extremes in weather in our respective locations. As the pandemic eased, the blog continued and so did the group chat.

We witnessed the rise and rise of generative AI and its impact on higher education and libraries and tried our best to cover it in blog form. We dipped our toes into SEO optimisation and the intricacies of the Edublogs platform that hosted the blog. We made lots of great connections with blog post authors and evolved our collaborative approaches as the blog group membership shifted over time. It’s been a fantastic project to be part of and I think everyone involved should be very proud of the contributions we have made to the discourse around digital dexterity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Krista Yuen, Teaching and Learning Librarian, University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato:

I joined the DigiDex blog group around the beginning of what we could probably call the GenAI and ChatGPT trend, and it was an exciting time to be involved in a blog that explored and discussed ideas around digital literacy. We had some very enthusiastic Zoom meetings, which I always left feeling very inspired and full of new ideas to explore. This group, from the get-go, has been very warm and welcoming and our meetings have often been a highlight of my month.

It has been great meeting and working with lots of dedicated librarians from across the Tasman, while also facilitating discussions, sharing ideas, and learning from each other about everything digital dexterity, especially in the world of tertiary libraries. It’s been a wild ride, and I am looking forward to our paths crossing again.

Marianne Sato, Digital Learning Specialist, University of Queensland (previous blog group member):

I really enjoyed my time working with the Digital Dexterity Blog Group. Getting to know the other blog group members was a highlight for me, and hearing about all the interesting work they were doing at their own institutions.

I continued to enjoy reading the blog and learning new things that I could apply to my work even after I was no longer a member of the group.

Ruth Cameron, Open Education and Digital Learning Advisor, University of Newcastle (previous blog group member):

Being part of the DigiDex blog group has been one of my life’s highlights! The group has been so creative, generous, and innovative. We learned how to use Edublogs, schedule posts, analyse usage statistics, and other fun things like complying with all the different permissions for reposting. We learned how to write engaging blog posts that could educate readers about different digital dexterities. And we did all this in addition to our ‘normal’ work as librarians. It was a real wrench when I had to leave the group, and I’m grateful for the chance to have been part of such a wonderful project.

Sara Davidsson, Member Services & Governance Lead, CAVAL:

Starting a blog from scratch with colleagues from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic was…extremely rewarding and fun! We started in association with our Championing the Digital Dexterity Framework Virtual Festival and have since covered topics such as: advocating for OERs, digital identity, and copyright. Virtual collaboration, building connections, and fostering flexibility have all been integral parts of keeping the blog running and the content fresh.

In addition to the cross-Tasman Sea collaboration, the connection we made with Mish Boutet (Digital Literacy Librarian at the University of Ottawa in Canada) was a blog highlight for me. Mish joined the Digital Dexterity Champions as a guest and introduced us to Ateliers sur demande | Instant Workshops through both his blog post and presentations. The opportunity to learn from others through the blog in this way has been inspiring!

Simone Tyrell, Learning Designer, Deakin University (previous blog group member):

When we first started the Digital Dexterity Blog, I think it’s fair to say not only did we not know each other but for most of us we’d never run a blog or been a part of a blog editorial team before. We came together as a group of librarians, passionate about digital literacy and lifelong learning. We had a clean slate to start the blog as we wished, we had lots of ideas and between us a variety of skills and knowledge. Whilst running the blog was a learning curve, choosing the platform, scheduling posts, learning about subscriptions, editing posts, and more, what I remember most from my time with the group is the editorial team itself (aka the blog group).

From the beginning of the blog, the blog group proved to be a safe and welcoming space, a group of people whose skills complemented each other, who collaborated seamlessly to get things done, and, most importantly, who supported each other. I always looked forward to our meetings, we always got work done but we also took the time to breathe and take some space. The blog group is what I missed the most when I changed roles and had to hand the baton over (don’t worry I kept reading the blog).

So, to my fellow blog groupers, as a former group member and reader, thank you for all your hard work and collegiality. To all our contributing authors and of course our readers, we couldn’t have done it without you, thank you.

Thanks for having me and bye just for now!

Two pairs of feet in shoes are visible on a footpath where it says Passion led us here — Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

How we used digital dexterity to write a book chapter on digital dexterity: a meta journey!

Posted on November 25, 2024 by digitaldexterity

by Ruth Cameron, University of Newcastle Library

The first steps

In February 2022 a CAUL Digital Dexterity Champion was idly reading an IFLA newsletter email when the following article struck a spark: Call for Chapters – Book on Digital Literacy. This sounded relevant and challenging so she posted a message in the Digital Dexterity Champions General Teams channel:

“Hi Digital Dexterity Champions, have you seen this? https://www.ifla.org/news/call-for-chapters-book-on-digital-literacy/ Deadline for proposals is unfortunately 31 March, so we would have to move quickly …”

Six Champions (all from separate institutions across Australia and New Zealand) chimed in that they were interested and we identified the theme to be addressed – Collaborative projects or programs on the diffusion, implementation and creation of materials and tools relevant to digital literacy. A draft abstract, written by one Champion, was posted into Microsoft Teams and the budding chapter authors added comments and suggestions over the next two weeks. Digital collaboration allowed us to pull the final version together in time for submission on 31 March 2022.

We had an immediate reply from one of the book’s editors: Many thanks for your very interesting submission – I will send to the other editors and get back to you.

Over the next few weeks we had a chance to sit back and wonder what we had done …

On the escalator!

On 29 April 2022 we got the amazing news that our abstract had been accepted, and we started to realise just what we were in for:

“Many thanks for your proposal for a book chapter titled “Supporting Digital Dexterity in academic library communities across Australia and New Zealand” in the upcoming IFLA Book Libraries Empowering Society through Digital Literacy. All the Book Editors reviewed your submission and were in agreement that it should be included in the book….” (Followed by a list of milestone dates and accompanied by two documents to assist with our writing).
Heather Todd, email message to author, 29 April 2022

Really getting started

At that stage we decided to move our conversations out of the General Teams channel into a dedicated Teams Chat, nicknamed Chapter superheroes to keep our spirits up. The first message in this chat might give you an idea of our feelings:

“Hello co-authors! I’d like to get started on our chapter but am feeling quite daunted about what our first steps are. What’s the best way for us to proceed, do you think?”

Luckily, our author group included many diverse strengths which were demonstrated over the writing period. We had an organiser, a drafter, a ‘pull everything together’-er, experienced writers and presenters, and subject matter experts (all of us had at least one strength, some of us had more). We used our Chat to share reference papers, suggest planning, and keep the author group up to date (we may also have suggested various coping strategies to each other).

Digital communication and collaboration

We all participated in the writing and editing processes. Draft documents were added to the Teams Chat so that we could all edit and contribute. We set up virtual meetings so that we could come together for sanity checks and mutual encouragement. When some of us couldn’t attend the meetings, the rest of us either rescheduled or got together at the original time and made sure we kept the others up to date.

Two meetings were designated as ‘Shut up and write’ sessions and it was surprising how helpful it was to have people in the same virtual space, concentrating on the same work. We could see each other’s contributions to the shared document in real time. This was digital collaboration and cooperation at its very best.

Results!

We submitted our draft chapter on the due date (1 August 2022). There was a lot of discussion in the Chat a few days beforehand about how to ‘tighten up’ some paragraphs, fixing grammatical issues, nominating a group member as the ‘final sweeper’ to make sure it read smoothly and made sense, and cheerleading each other so that we could submit on time. Once it was submitted we all celebrated with emojis, gifs, and congratulatory messages.

On 23 October 2022 we received an updated timeline from the editor. We settled in for more waiting … was our writing up to standard? Had we addressed the theme adequately? Was it all a horrible mistake?

Imagine our feelings at the opening words of the first peer reviewer when we received the reviewed document on 15 January 2023:

“This is an interesting and well-written chapter and makes a worthwhile contribution to the book. My comments below arise from questions I had as a reader, and also suggestions for clarification or improvement. I leave it to the authors’ discretion as to which and how many they wish to implement.”

On the home stretch?

We used Teams Chat again to discuss the review and make the required changes, and re-submitted by the due date. Our documents were organised into folders for ease of retrieval. Remember too that we were doing this while still working full-time in our library roles!

On 14 March 2023, we received the chapter with the final reviewer comments. They required tiny tweaks, such as putting capital letters in, deciding whether we wanted to include something in the references, and adding a separate image file. All of the superheroes jumped in to make the changes in the Teams document and we submitted our final, final, final draft on 23 March 2023. We received an encouraging email back from our reviewers and we are now waiting for the book to be published.

Our journey

From an impulsive “that looks like something we could write about”, this journey developed into a truly “meta experience” as we used our digital communication, collaboration, creation and innovation skills to solve problems, synthesise ideas and create new knowledge around digital literacies/dexterity. Our digital collaboration reinforced the trust that we had started to build as members of the Digital Dexterity Champions group. While not yet completely fearless, we are all confident that we could tackle a project like this again, especially if we have a supportive virtual group to contribute different strengths to the process.

We hope that you can take heart and learnings from our experience to try something like this in your future. Be curious, be collaborative, and you might surprise yourselves.

The IFLA chapter superheroes (Emma Chapman, Kat Cain, Kristy Newton, Ruth Cameron , Sara Davidsson, Simone Tyrell and Wendy Ratcliffe)

A fail-safe ‘recipe’ to assess the digital literacy levels of your patrons

Posted on October 28, 2024 by digitaldexterity

By Hannah Armitage, Discovery UX Specialist, The University of Melbourne (Hannah.armitage@unimelb.edu.au)

A hot topic of concern around the library sector in recent times is the realisation that people who are generally considered to be ‘digital natives’ are struggling to navigate digital and information landscapes and are, for all intents and purposes, digitally illiterate.

As it stands, this is a complex and multidimensional problem that requires an equally multidimensional solution. However, we can’t start to identify possible solutions until we endeavour to understand who our patrons are, their motivations and frustrations, what they do and why they do it. In short, some user research is required.

Here, I have provided a framework of user profiles that you can use as a template to do your own research into your patron’s digital literacy levels. Just follow the ‘recipe’ I have provided, and it will be as simple as baking a cake.

Ingredients

As for any recipe, you will need to gather all the elements that are essential for this project.

Participants

You will need to recruit 5 to 10 participants from each of the following groups:

Coursework students; under graduates to postgraduates
Early researchers; Master and PhD candidates to postdocs
Researchers; Research Fellows to Professors.

Interview questions

For the user interviews, create a set of questions for each of the user groups.

To get you started, I’ve listed a set of themes to form your questions around.

Who are the users in this group? List questions that extract the nuances of the users within each group.

How does the library feature in their workflow? Find out what their journey looks like and how the library ecosystem fits within their journey. What need does a library resource fill, what task is it helping them to complete?

What resources are they accessing and why? Find out what type of resources they prefer to use and why they prioritise them.

How do they discover and access library resources? Identify the pathways and processes they use to search for and access resources. At what point do they struggle?

Observation prompts

You will be conducting an observation task, so you will need a task prompt to give your participants. The task must ask the participant to show their workflow when searching for and accessing library resources.

Framework profile template

Lastly, you will need the Digital Literacy Assessment framework as a template for your user profiles.

Who: The type of users included in the group and their individualities.
Motivations: Reasons, needs and incentives behind what they’re doing.
Frustrations: Frustrations and any pain points or roadblocks in their process.
Goals: End goals or aims. 
Info literacy skills: Levels of – knowledge of systems; discovery skills; resource access; ability to assess the quality of resources.
Characteristics: Levels of – technical skills; motivation; priority of convenience or quality of resources.
Preferred systems: Which systems and platforms they prefer to use.
Preferred format: Which resource format they prefer to use.

Directions:

Step 1 – Data collection

Time to make the batter. Using the ingredients above, conduct your interviews and include the observation task at the end after you’ve asked all your questions.

Step 2 – Sort participants into groups

Put your batter (user data) into four separate cake tins (groups). To do this, review each participant’s data depending on how well they’re able to navigate, find, and access library resources. Next, sort them into either novice, intermediate, advanced, or master users.

Step 3 – Sort data from each group into the template

Put your cakes in the oven. Using the template provided, sort the data from each group into the headings in the template. Once your data is sorted under each heading, summarise each category into one or two sentences or visualise it on a scale or graph.

This will leave you with four separate profiles, each representing a separate stage on your users’ digital literacy journey.

It should look something like this:

Serving suggestions:

The main purpose of this ‘recipe’ is to create a foundation of user insights that initiate further, more targeted projects.

Potential projects include:

Creating a framework to tailor digital literacy learning materials and teaching plans.
Identifying and removing barriers to streamline user workflows by making system and service improvements.
Using quantitative user metrics to measure the impact of strategic initiatives.

These are just some examples of how this user data can be used to improve the digital literacy skills of your patrons. However, the potential is endless and will be defined by the individual needs of your patrons.

Happy baking!

Navigating digital burnout and your right to disconnect

Posted on September 30, 2024 by digitaldexterity

Emeka Anele (Library Learning Designer) and Kat Cain (Library Partner for NIKERI & Divisions) – Deakin University

Prompt: Close up hands using navigation on mobile smartphone in decaying background. Viewing location map in a network via smartphone during road trip. Vector look.

Our professional landscapes significantly altered at the end of August 2024. Did you notice? Following international movements, the Australian government introduced laws focused on work-life balance and to address digital burnout. Digital burnout is a concern we all share, as boundaries between work and personal life are increasingly blurred. Add to this, deeply immersive technology that uses sophisticated algorithms and user-centric design to hook our attention all the time. Well, it’s a wonder we ever disconnect.

So, as Australia’s workplaces recognise the “right to disconnect” we must reflect on what this means for our work practices as information professionals. Previously, we highlighted “Digital wellbeing and striking a balance” as a complex need in our work worlds. What does properly disconnecting from work even mean for us? And what changes to work habits could impact our wellbeing for the better?

Understanding digital burnout

Digital burnout is when constant connectivity to digital devices leads to mental and physical exhaustion. Workplaces often require employees to juggle multiple digital platforms and communication channels. Recognising symptoms of digital burnout early is crucial.

Illustration grouping the symptoms of digital burnout under mental and physical. Mental symptoms include diminished interested in a job and feelings of exhaustion, anxiety or depression. Physical symptoms include chest pains, decreased energy and sleep disorders.

Creating a culture of digital wellbeing

Australia’s workplace policy shift highlights the importance of separating work from personal time. The right to disconnect allows employees to step away from work-related communications outside of their designated hours, fostering a healthier work-life balance.

Encouraging a culture of respect for this right within libraries can lead to improved mental wellbeing, reduced stress, and a more sustainable work environment. This involves not only adhering to the right to disconnect but also promoting it within the workplace. By supporting employees to recognise the signs of digital burnout workplaces can foster a supportive culture. A culture that protects employees mental health, thus lead to balanced and sustainable work practices.

Recommendations that help with digital disconnect

With so much advice out there, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. To make it easier, we’ve gathered some straightforward digital disconnect tips and resources:

Kat’s personal favourite: minimise meetings in the lunch period. And ditch the lunch and learn model!
Emeka’s personal favourite: turning off notifications for work related apps.
Use guides like how to do a digital detox, which assess your current digital habits and practical tips to reduce screen time.
Embrace digital wellbeing practices that align with the right to disconnect.
Choose a digital detox app that helps manage and reduce screen time.
Try a digital detox tool to remove digital distractions.
Attend workshops on managing digital workloads.
Set realistic expectations for response times. Perhaps you don’t need to respond to a message you receive at 4pm?

The time to disconnect is right now!

We now have a unique opportunity to prioritise our digital wellbeing in the workplace. For organisations and individuals to foster open communication about digital burnout.

Once your workday is over, seriously consider if it’s necessary to respond to work-related messages. It’s more important to take that time as an opportunity to unwind from work.

Your Role in Digital Inclusion: Personal Reflections

Posted on August 26, 2024 by digitaldexterity

By Ramona Naicker – Scholarly Services Librarian, Deakin University

Image generated in DALL-E using the prompt: A split in the earth as a visual representation of the digital divide.

Digital literacy is more important than ever in today’s world, serving as a key to education, employment, and civic engagement. With the constant evolution of technology, mastering digital environments is vital for success. Yet not everyone has the same access to digital skills and technology. This post encourages you to think about the disparities in digital literacy and consider how you can contribute to a more inclusive digital future for everyone.

Understanding the digital divide

Research consistently shows disparities in digital literacy for underserved communities. For example, those from low-income households, culturally and linguistically diverse populations, and those living in rural and regional communities in Australia all face unique challenges related to digital access. This digital divide mirrors broader socio-economic and cultural disparities, reinforcing existing inequities.

Take time to reflect: Are you aware of how disparities in digital literacy impact your community? Digital inclusion is not just a matter of access but also of opportunity, affecting education, employment prospects, and the ability to participate fully in society.

Privilege and digital literacy

Digital literacy often signifies privilege. Those with access to the latest technology and educational resources have a better chance of thriving in our digital world. People who can afford these technologies, attend well-resourced schools, or live in areas with strong digital infrastructure are undeniably at an advantage. Possessing digital literacy skills boosts success in the modern economy, perpetuating a cycle where privilege leads to more privilege. Additionally, the assumption that young people are naturally adept with technology because they are “digital natives” overlooks the substantial disparities in access to technology and digital education. This misconception fosters the false belief that digital literacy is evenly spread among the younger generation, ignoring the systemic barriers many face.

Take time to reflect: How has your access to technology and education shaped your opportunities? Reflect on the advantages you’ve enjoyed and compare them to the experiences of those less privileged. By recognising the disparities, we can better understand the role of technology in creating opportunities and the need for a more equitable digital landscape.

The role of educators and programs

Educators and digital literacy programs play a pivotal role in either perpetuating or alleviating these inequities. Historically in western countries, education and literacy initiatives were designed by and for upper middle-class white males, inherently benefiting this group the most. Consequently, factors such as language, cultural relevance, accessibility for disabilities, economic disparities, educational background, and geographical barriers were often overlooked. This historical bias and lack of cultural responsiveness, has had long-lasting effects on educational outcomes and opportunities for other groups, and today’s digital literacy instruction may still be designed with an assumed baseline of knowledge, access, or understanding, which can exclude those who do not fit these assumptions.

Take time to reflect: Are the programs you support truly inclusive? Do they account for the diverse needs of all participants in your learning community? Ensuring inclusivity means recognising, reflecting on and addressing these varied needs to create opportunities for everyone, regardless of their starting point.

Challenging instructor biases

Instructors’ biases can contribute to digital inequality – our assumptions can inadvertently lead to the exclusion of underserved communities. For instance, an instructor might assume that all learners have consistent access to high-speed internet and personal devices, or presume a certain level of pre-existing knowledge, or even hold deficit-oriented beliefs about disadvantaged learners. Teacher education programs may also lack sufficient focus on preparing teachers to work effectively with disadvantaged students.

Take time to reflect: How can you become more aware of your own biases and ensure you provide equitable digital literacy support to all? Are you actively seeking training and engaging with the diverse experiences of your learners? Instructors can learn to identify and mitigate their biases, creating a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for everyone.

Call to Action

Reflect on your role in promoting digital literacy. While systemic changes are necessary for long-term equity, we can start with our personal actions today:

Consider your own biases: Take time to identify and acknowledge any biases you may have regarding digital literacy and underserved communities. Understand how these biases might affect your actions and work towards addressing them to promote a more inclusive environment.

Understand community needs: Take the time to learn about and explore the specific digital literacy needs of underserved groups in your community.

Enhance accessibility and inclusivity: Ensure that the digital literacy initiatives you are involved in are accessible to everyone, considering the diverse needs of all participants.

Promote cultural relevance: Include and encourage the use of culturally relevant materials in digital literacy curricula to make learning more meaningful for diverse groups.

Commit to continuous learning: Regularly update your knowledge and skills in digital literacy to stay informed about new tools and best practices that can benefit underserved communities.

By making these personal commitments, we can contribute to systemic changes and work towards a more equitable digital future for all.

World Emoji Day: 🌍 😃 📅

Posted on July 29, 2024 by digitaldexterity

By Emeka Anele (Library Learning Designer) and Kat Cain (Library Partner for NIKERI & Divisions) – Deakin University

Photo by pinwhalestock on Pixabay

Did you know that July 17th is World Emoji Day? 😱 Can you believe that emojis first appeared in our digital lives in 1999! This first set consisted of 176 symbols that were used in early chatrooms, with the basic symbols designed to convey weather, time, tech and traffic.

Emojis have added fun, unexpected depth, and non-verbal cues to our online communication.

Research tells us that the inclusion of an emoji can help people make sense of the overall tone of a message. Sometimes removing ambiguity. Think about how you use 🤪 to flag the comical tone of your text. Or the ☕ when you are leaving a digital work chat for a quick break.

Emojis also help us respond more promptly. We can give a 👍 faster than we can type a response to a request in a post or chat stream. Or we can respond with ❤️ to an idea or potential project proposed by someone, sharing in seconds how good we think that idea is.

Emojis can also help us to respond to communication more promptly. We can give a thumbs up to text communication on Microsoft Teams that we understand a task that has been given to us faster than typing a message. We can also respond to communication with a love heart on Teams to show that we think an idea or potential project raised by someone is really good.

Emoji evolution 🧬

Photo by Eugene Zhyvchik on Unsplash

The different types of emojis that we use in our day to day lives are only growing. Check out this just-posted list of new 2023-2024 emojis. How do new emojis get created I hear you ask? Did you know that there’s actually an official body that approves which new emojis are created!

You can also hear different stories about people around the world trying to get their new emoji created in a 2020 “The Emoji Story” documentary. Check out the trailer (2:02) below for the documentary.

Emoji tips ✅, resources 📚 and news 📰

Below are some emoji tips, resources and news for you:

Zoom chat tips – Next time you are on Zoom, have a look at the variety of emojis you can use.
Emoji encylopedia – Have a look at all the current emojis with copy paste code function.
Emojicode – An open-source programming language consisting of emojis.
Emoji as a universal language – Article outlining history of emojis and asks is it a language?
Emoji activism? – A New Yorker article all about the radical emoji-activist movement.

Wearable devices can now harvest our brain data. Australia needs urgent privacy reforms

Posted on June 24, 2024 by digitaldexterity

The blog group loved this article from The Conversation, originally published on 10 May 2024. We hope you do too!

Man sleeping on bed with smart sleep headband. — Girts Ragelis/Shutterstock

Edward Musole, University of New England

Recent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with or without the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

There’s also a newer product category that engages directly with the brain. It’s part of what UNESCO broadly defines as the emerging industry of “neurotechnology”:

devices and procedures that seek to access, assess, emulate and act on neural systems.

Much of neurotechnology is either still in development stage, or confined to research and medical settings. But consumers can already purchase several headsets that use electroencephalography (EEG).

Often marketed as meditation headbands, these devices provide real-time data on a person’s brain activity and feed it into an app.

Such headsets can be useful for people wanting to meditate, monitor their sleep and improve wellness. However, they also raise privacy concerns – a person’s brain activity is intrinsically personal data. This is particularly concerning when it comes to EEG headsets and wearables designed for children.

The subtle creep in neural and cognitive data wearables are capable of collecting is resulting in a data “gold rush”, with companies mining even our brains so they can develop and improve their products.

A serious privacy concern

In a background paper published earlier this year, the Australian Human Rights Commission identified several risks to human rights that neurotechnology may pose, including rights to privacy and non-discrimination. Legal scholars, policymakers, lawmakers and the public need to pay serious attention to the issue.

The extent to which tech companies can harvest cognitive and neural data is particularly concerning when that data comes from children. This is because children fall outside of the protection provided by Australia’s privacy legislation, as it doesn’t specify an age when a person can make their own privacy decisions.

The government and relevant industry associations should conduct a candid inquiry to investigate the extent to which neurotechnology companies collect and retain this data from children in Australia.

The private data collected through such devices is also increasingly fed into AI algorithms, raising additional concerns. These algorithms rely on machine learning, which can manipulate datasets in ways unlikely to align with any consent given by a user.

What does the privacy law say?

Users should have complete transparency over what data their wearables collect, and how it is being used.

Currently, the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in Australia.

Right now, Australians don’t have any legal protections from privacy infringement on their brain and cognitive data. Technology companies can mine the neural data of Australians – including children – and store this information outside Australia.

We urgently need to update the laws to provide more robust privacy protections for when neurotechnology comes into play. This would proactively protect the privacy of Australians of all ages at all times.

A child's hand in closeup tapping on a smartwatch screen. — With children having access to wearable devices, data privacy concerns intensify. StoryTime Studio/Shutterstock

How should we change the laws?

One potential solution would be to update our privacy legislation to work in conjunction with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which regulates the supply of medical devices in Australia.

This would ensure wearables compatible with mobile apps and software that currently circumvent the TGA would fall within their stringent oversight. Such devices include fitness trackers and smartwatches, but also EEG headbands.

Doing this would mean these privacy-invasive technologies have to align with the TGA’s regulations, protecting the cognitive and neural data of Australians.

We could also establish additional data collection oversights to monitor neural data collection by companies within and outside Australia. This way, we could ensure compliance with privacy regulations and put into place measures that prevent unauthorised data collection or surveillance through wearables.

Such changes should also provide users with the right to access their neural and cognitive data. For example, users should always have the option to have their data permanently erased. Doing this would ensure that Australians’ data is treated in a transparent, ethical and legally sound manner.

Australia is at a pivotal crossroads. We need to address the risks associated with data harvesting through neurotechnology. The industry of devices that can access our neural and cognitive data is only going to expand.

If we make these reforms now, Australia could become a global leader in privacy protection. And we could all enjoy the benefits of wearable tech while knowing our privacy rights are stringently protected.

Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Digital wellbeing and striking a balance

Posted on May 27, 2024 by digitaldexterity

By Emeka Anele & Kat Cain, Deakin University Library

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the balancing act of work and wellness? You’re not alone.

You might be getting email prompts from your workplace about wellbeing, that you’re promptly ignoring. Or perhaps you’re outsourcing your digital wellbeing, by following certain accounts on social media?

What does digital wellbeing even mean?

In today’s VUCA work world, ensuring your wellbeing while still excelling at your job can seem like an uphill battle. If your work is largely in the digital ecosystem, striking a balance for wellbeing can be particularly tricky.

Digital wellbeing is all about finding a healthy balance between using technology and your overall health. Engaging with technologies in your day-to-day life in ways that are helpful rather than harmful to your mental and physical health.

Basically, it’s about knowing when to step away from your work computer, when to stop doom scrolling on your phone, or when to turn off Netflix and go to bed before the message “Are you still watching?” appears on your screen.

*Image generated using Adobe Express using the prompt: a computer workstation in the foreground in a jungle with the silhouette of a person meditating on a rock towards a setting sun in the background.*

Recommendations for Cultivating Digital Wellbeing Habits

There’s a mountain of wellbeing advice available online. It can really feel like being hit with an information avalanche before you’ve even figured out where to begin. To help you cut through the noise, we’ve rounded up some solid, reliable recommendations to get you started on your path to better digital wellbeing.

Whether working from home or on-site, there are useful wellbeing practices you can put into practice. Check out our suggestions below:

Remember you are a physical not digital being (for now 😉)

Eat well, sleep well and exercise well. These are three cornerstones of good health. Coffee is not a meal, try having actual food for lunch. Remember, the video you’re watching can be paused, so don’t compromise on sleep. Keep up physical activities, maybe take your phone on a walk. For more info read this HAYS blog.

Find spaces that promote separation from work and regularly use them! These spaces have been shown to support mental and physical replenishment. Take a break on your couch or find a sunny spot to work in. Check out more suggestions in this Conversation article.

Take breaks. It is important to take breaks to let your brain and body relax. Short breaks give you the ability to refocus on your work tasks. Read more in this short Student Space piece.

You need time away from the digital

Technology keeps us connected 24/7, which makes it difficult for the brain to switch off. Try no technology in the evening, like spending quality time with family and friends. Get outside. Go for a walk, tend to your garden, or read a book in the fresh air and sunshine. This Black Dog Institute article has more suggestions and a downloadable tips sheet.

Step away from the light! The blue light that is. Electronic devices with screens and energy-efficient lighting increase your exposure to blue wavelengths, which can impact on your health, such as disrupting your sleep. Devices typically have a filter, such as “Night Mode”, that can be applied to reduce exposure to blue light. Find out more about blue light impacts from Harvard Health Publishing.

Put mindfulness into your daily practice

The same Conversation article also highlights the importance of establishing end-of-day rituals. It can be hard to switch off your brain around work. Try meditation, journaling, listening to music, starting a hobby, or exercise.

Practice mindfulness techniques to help reduce stress levels and improve focus. Do a deep breathing routine to help you focus before working through one task at a time. Check out this Medium piece for more mindfulness techniques.

Play time! Wordle, newspaper quizzes, sudoku, etc. Playing games can support your wellbeing by bringing some light relief and enjoyment to stressful times. The University of Exeter have curated a collection of digital games for users to explore that support wellbeing.

Take the First Step to Digital Wellbeing Mastery

These picks are designed to guide you towards more productive habits and healthier routines. However, taking on these recommendations all at once would just be overwhelming.

Our challenge to you is to choose one, just one, and put it into practice today! Leave a reply below to tell us what your choice was. Or if you want to challenge us in return, give us a recommendation on what else you would like the DixiDex Blog to explore in the digital wellbeing area.

Assessment in the Era of the Potential 5th Industrial Revolution: Generative AI’s Transformative Impact on Higher Education

Posted on April 30, 2024 by digitaldexterity

Reid Honan, University of South Australia

Figure 1: Image generated using DALL.E 2 using prompts: Artificial Intelligence + assessments in higher education: A person and robot looking at a computer — *Image generated using DALL.E 2 using prompts: Artificial Intelligence + assessments in higher education: A person and robot looking at a computer*

In the world of higher education, the first thing every student asks about is the assessment for the course. Often, learning the actual content of the course comes a distant second as a growing number of students seek to merely pass instead of fully utilising this opportunity (that they are paying for) to dig in and learn. I know of students who calculated the exact percentage they were currently sitting on so that they could disengage from the course halfway through because they had effectively passed. In this Academic world well-designed assessment is a necessity as it directly impacts the amount of the learning consumed by these students.

For a long time, the Higher Education sector has utilised a handful of core assessment components including presentations, essays, practical demonstrations and examinations. As class sizes continue to grow and economic pressures to keep costs low continue, a delicate balance is struck between assessing properly and assessing quickly. Most of the current assessment techniques are focused on students generating an artefac (e.g., report, block of code) and the teaching team assessing that artefact with the overall idea that the student would not have been able to generate the artefact without understanding the course concepts. This approach is not a perfect substitute measure of learning. However, it has grown to be the default substitute because until now the only other means of generating the artefact was to get other people to do it for you.

Not since the printing press made written work more easily available has there been such a fundamental shift in the education sector, even the introduction of the computer and internet merely shifted the words from paper to the screen. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has completely flipped the world of education upside down. The ability to have the artefact generated for you without involving other people is revolutionary and has severe implications for future assessment.

What are the Generative AI tools floating around?

There are an ever-increasing number of Generative AI tools in use, but a summary can be found in the below image:

Figure 2: Generative AI Visualization: a dashboard related to generative AI technologies. It includes various text-to-technology categories such as Text-to-Image, Text-to-Video, Text-to-Audio, Text-to-Code, Text-to-NFT, Audio-to-Text, and more.(Link for additional context provided in Alt-Text content.) — Source: Generative AI Visualization: https://aaronsiim-generative-ai-dashboard-main-yo7u13.streamlit.app/

For this article we will be focusing on text-to-text and text-to-code tools as these are the most relevant to the author.

How can AI be used to help Students?

Students are reportedly using the tools for the following reasons:

To summarise content
To search for answers to questions
To rewrite already written work
To expand on dot points
To complete assessments that the student deems not worthy of their time
To write emails to academics

The problem is that students are often not reviewing the work or double checking the facts and sources leading to the spread of misinformation. This means that students are not engaging with the learning and are therefore not receiving the intended benefits.

How can AI be used to help Staff?

Generative AI was not only built to help students get out of doing work, but it also has a slew of legitimate use cases as well. Staff can use Generative AI tools to:

Develop case studies or scenarios for assignments
Generate feedback on students’ submissions
Craft explanations of complicated concepts for students
Write standard emails to students

In general, the staff use cases are based on reducing the amount of administrative work with the goal of giving staff more time with their students. The content generated still needs to be reviewed by the staff member however this is commonly done by default because staff tend to have a better understanding of the technologies place in society.

Have we been here before?

Doomsayers have always spoken out about any change or new technology including computers, calculators, grammar/spellcheckers and even programs like Word or IDE’s (Integrated Development Environment). The arguments are along the lines of ‘technology removes the need for people to know anything, all they need to do is push some buttons’. This overlooks the need for the user to understand how to use the technology, what prompts us and what the output means. All the technology listed above has become commonplace and is used in industry, schools and nobody blinks an eye. Unfortunately, these incremental shifts have required small changes but nothing like the scope and scale of Generative AI.

Generative AI has the potential to seemingly automate the entire problem and can allow people to produce content with absolutely no thought. Already people are treating these Generative AI tools as assistants and blindly trusting the output without doing the necessary legwork to confirm their accuracy. E.g.: Fig 2. Spelling error. This generated content is seeping onto the internet, which could cause problems in the future if that text is reused in future AI experiments.

Figure 3: Image generated using DALL.E 2 using prompts: Artificial Intelligence + assessments in higher education: A robot pointing at a computer screen — Image generated using DALL.E 2 using prompts: Artificial Intelligence + assessments in higher education: A robot pointing at a computer screen

What does this mean for the future?

Universities (and schools) need to actively address the problem of Generative AI and the terrifying answer is that assessments need to change. One of the main scare tactics is asking students to generate a solution and compare it to their own work. Tasks like this are meant to scare students and show them that the tools are inherently unreliable and should therefore be avoided. While a necessary lesson that these tools do have issues, the outcome is flawed as students are often less scared and more intrigued because they now have a direct example of how much AI can do.

Other academics are attempting to fight the oncoming wave by sourcing niche topics that AI struggles with. These tasks then form the core of their assessment. This strategy initially sounds logical, however with the overwhelming number of AI tools, there is no guarantee what tools students will use and the tasks that AI struggles with are constantly shifting.

Students need to understand what these tools can and cannot do but they also need to know how to use them. Students need exposure to these tools so that they understand the dangers, and this cannot come from the scare tactic assessments described above. To properly address this, assessments need to change to allow students to use these tools while still checking students’ knowledge and understanding. Schools already do this with email, and they are already pivoting to address this problem.

Personally, I am changing my assessment from simply producing the computer code to solve the problem to producing the code (AI tools allowed) and presenting/explaining the solution. Using this approach allows students to experiment with these tools and find their weak points while also necessitating the skills of reviewing and explaining their work. Arthur C. Clarke is quoted as saying “Any teacher who can be replaced by a machine should be” and I would extend that to say, “Any assessment that can be completed by a machine should be”.

Conclusion

Generative AI is already changing the world and has the potential to launch us into a fifth Industrial Revolution, as a number of jobs are now within the realm of automation. Universities need to stop trying to fight or avoid Generative AI and start integrating it into their courses. This is not an easy task and there is no standard approach yet, so each academic has a long trek ahead of them.

Choice overload: Finding the right tool for the job (conference)

Posted on March 25, 2024 by digitaldexterity

By Sae Ra Germaine, Deputy CEO and Manager, Member & Academic Services, CAVAL (saera.germaine@caval.edu.au)

As a self-confessed conference organising addict I’ve seen my fair share of conference platforms. Before COVID there was a smattering of virtual conference platforms available and to be honest they were all terrible. There just wasn’t the need to develop something that was user-friendly and created an event “experience” that we all grew to love in the “meatspace”.

Since then… well, COVID happened. It saw this accelerated need to bring the conference space into the virtual space and the rapid growth in many cases didn’t do us many favours. We now have an over-abundance of event management platforms and I for one suffered from a severe case of choice overload.

A bit of background about me, I’m currently the Co-Chair of VALA2024 Conference, founder of the Everything Open Conference, and a “Ghost of Conferences Past” for Linux Australia. In total, for the various organisations I am linked to, I have helped in some sort of form, run 13 conferences. 4 of those were in a virtual environment with no face-to-face attendance, while 2 of those were in a hybrid form. The concept of a “Ghost of Conferences Past” is a group of those who have organised a conference prior to the current conference organising team. This group passes on knowledge, wisdom, and war stories to the current team, so they learn from victories and mistakes of conferences past.

A picture of a dark stairwell with an illuminated 3 hanging light to indicate the 3rd floor — Photo by Alison Pang on Unsplash

One of the greatest words of wisdom that was ever dealt out was: “You only need to deliver 3 things for a successful conference: speakers, delegates, and venue”. The venue could be the crappiest venue available, but the important piece was that people were there to learn from each other and that’s all that matters. Some of the best conferences I attended were held at a school camp venue, with post-it notes on a wall for a schedule, terrible Subway for lunch, and a whole bunch of new people to meet.

Most conferences I have run have been 100% volunteer effort. Most core teams had about 6-10 people and then about 30 volunteers on the ground during the conference. Many of these volunteers had many hats ranging from Rego Desk-ers to speaker wranglers, AV recorders, MCs, code of conduct teams, and volunteer well-being checkers. A personal plea… please don’t forget volunteer well-being checkers. This is so important! Volunteers need to be looked after too!

A screenshot of the vFAIRS platform. The screenshot depicts a large virtual hall with an Information desk, vending machines, plants, advertising on the walls, and virtual people standing around in groups. — Screenshot from vFAIRS

As I mentioned, COVID caused many platforms to pop-up and I’m not sure why this is but, so many platforms insisted on re-creating the “meatspace” conference experience in a virtual environment. You know what? It does not work! It creates a confusing space for people, and it makes it difficult to manage by your team.

A fancy virtual world creating experiences are very IT resource intensive. Remember, given Australia’s terrible internet situation you want to deliver a conference to reach the regions that will experience your conference with a horrible internet connection. The true benefit to running an online conference is to maximise your reach, don’t exclude those you are trying to reach by choosing a platform that a bad internet connection will struggle to deliver.

I’m not going to list and do comparisons on lots of platforms as we all will make decisions on the platform we use based on needs at the time and what would provide the best experience possible. But, what I will do is talk about 3 specific setups that I’ve found to work very well for the events that I’ve helped run. The key with all 3 is the usability of the interface – in a virtual world, the venue does matter! The first 2 setups will require a separate mechanism for managing sponsorships, vendors, and schedules/website, etc.

Zoom:

Love it or hate it, Zoom is one of the most common tools used across sectors. It can be downloaded or used directly within a browser. Zoom has also added an “Events” platform to help manage ticket sales and while it’s not perfect, it will get there eventually. One of the best conferences I attended was multiple zooms that I could duck in and out of and the schedule was in a simple Google doc spreadsheet. But the one thing that was missing was the serendipitous chatting that happens between/during/after talks.

Other versions of this were using an open-source tool called Jitsi. While this works great, it just doesn’t scale well beyond about 30 people.

Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash

Twitch.tv: or even YouTube:

Twitch is a gaming platform where you can watch many streamers play games. But between Twitch and YouTube they have more recently moved to hosting conferences and it has worked quite well. It has chat functions and is very light in using computer resources. But again, it’s missing those serendipitous chats!

Last but not least:

Sae Ra’s choice! https://venueless.org/en/

It would be remiss if I didn’t bring up an open-source friendly alternative 😊. Venueless is part of a 3-part software package. Venueless is primarily text based however it has 4 key pieces. Sponsor exhibitor spaces, text-based chat rooms, streaming spaces, and video/audio conferencing. What makes this unique is that it’s completely stripped back and a low resource intensive solution. There are no bells and whistles, it’s essentially text-based chat rooms with some video capabilities.

Screenshot of linux.conf.au Online 2022 conference opening address. The screenshot includes the linux.conf.au 2022 logos, a picture of the speaker, and a picture of “The pets of LCA” with pictures of cats and dogs that joined during the conference. — Screenshot of linux.conf.au online 2022 conference opening address

At Linux Australia we used the video/audio conferencing for side birds-of-a-feather sessions, product demonstrations, user group meetings, and we even had our conference dinner in there! One of our speakers wrote their perspective on the event. Running that specific conference gave me all the joy that I would have got in bringing something to people face to face.

One thing to note, is that audio quality is a must. If you are watching a video stream all day, you can forgive video quality because you can look away, but audio quality we aren’t so forgiving about. For some handy tips please go and see this document that we created for linux.conf.au 2021.

After all of this I think it will just go back to the basics: Speakers, Delegates, and Venue. You don’t need the bells and whistles to run a successful conference. Keeping it simple will make your life easier and will make the delegates feel more included.