The UMW Strategic Plan 2020 boldly advances a vision for the University of Mary Washington to be a leader in the Digital Liberal Arts, in no small part by incorporating advanced digital fluency into the curriculum (Goal 1.2.1). Over the 2016-2017 academic year, an ad-hoc group of faculty and staff defined advanced digital fluency as “the ability to consume and produce digital knowledge critically, ethically, and responsibly, as well as to creatively adapt to emerging technology.” The ad-hoc group also recommended taking a fully integrative approach to incorporating it into the curriculum; beyond simply an add-on, digital fluency must be incorporated into the student’s overall educational experience at UMW. This approach would place UMW in a unique and forward-thinking position, as most efforts thus far on campuses to incorporate digital fluency have been either as add-ons (institutes, centers, small pilot initiatives) or localized in specific programs and departments.
Digital Fluency is now one of a measure being reported to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) by UMW, the only school in the state to identify and select this particular learning outcome. We at DTLT have formed an Advisory Group for Digital Fluency to help consult on these issues, as well as other conversations around implementation and assessment moving forward.
