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The Open University

Digital skills: succeeding in a digital world

The Open University via OpenLearn

Overview

This free course, Digital skills: succeeding in a digital world, will develop your confidence and skills for life online, whether study, work or everyday life. It explores a range of digital skills and practices, including digital identity, digital well-being, staying safe and legal, finding and using information and online tools, and dealing with information overload. The importance of developing a critical approach to life online is emphasised throughout, whether consuming or creating information. You'll be encouraged to reflect on your own situation and to apply what you learn to real-life scenarios, using a digital skills plan to keep a record of progress.In this video, the course is introduced by Open University Chancellor and digital literacy champion Martha Lane Fox. Martha discusses the importance of digital skills in all areas of life and how this course will give you a unique opportunity to improve your digital literacy in an ever-changing world.TranscriptDigital skills: succeeding in a digital world is a free course which lasts about 8 weeks, with approximately 3 hours' study time each week. You can work through the course at your own pace, so if you have more time one week there is no problem with pushing on to complete another week's study. You can also take as long as you want to complete it.Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development. Once you're signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition you can download and print your OpenLearn Statement of Participation - which also displays your Open University badge.This courseis accredited by the CPDStandards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuingprofessional development and on successful completion of the course youwill be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement isprovided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Please tell us moreabout your Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and personal skilldevelopment! We would reallyappreciate a few minutes of your time to complete this survey and tell us about yourself and your experiences of CPD and lifelonglearning. The Open University isworking in collaboration with the CPD Standards Office in a national study tounderstand more about individual professionals' experiences, perceptions andpractice for adult skill development.  Find out more here www. cpdstandards.com/research. By participating inthis high profile research, you will be contributing to scientificknowledge about adult skill development and how we can develop successfulfuture careers. Participation isconfidential, voluntary and we will not pass on your details to others. 

Syllabus

  • Introduction and guidance
  • Introduction and guidance
  • What is a badged course?
  • How to get a badge
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week1Week 1: Your digital life
  • Introduction
  • 1 The importance of being digital
  • 2 How digital are you?
  • 3 Digital skills for everyday life
  • 3.1 Everyday transactions
  • 3.2 Using social media
  • 3.3 Problem-solving
  • 4 Reflection
  • 5 This week’s quiz
  • 6 Summary
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week2Week 2: Getting up and running
  • Introduction
  • 1 Information in a digital age
  • 2 Digital skills and digital literacy
  • 3 A framework for digital skills
  • 3.1 Understand and engage
  • 3.2 Find
  • 3.3 Evaluate
  • 3.4 Manage and communicate
  • 3.5 Collaborate and share
  • 4 Digital skills and university study
  • 5 Reflection
  • 6 This week’s quiz
  • 7 Summary
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week3Week 3: Making your mark online
  • Introduction
  • 1 Digital me: starting your digital journey
  • 1.1 Checking out your digital footprint
  • 1.2 First steps to a good digital footprint
  • 2 Openness versus privacy
  • 2.1 On the road
  • 3 Digital citizens
  • 4 Reflection
  • 5 This week’s quiz
  • 6 Summary
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week4Week 4: Staying safe and legal
  • Introduction
  • 1 E-safety
  • 1.1 Passwords
  • 2 How to protect yourself
  • 2.1 Protecting yourself from viruses and malware
  • 2.2 Avoiding online scams and hoaxes
  • 2.3 Protecting personal data
  • 2.4 Agreeing to terms and conditions
  • 3 Digital well-being
  • 3.1 Connecting and communicating safely
  • 4 Keeping it legal
  • 4.1 What is copyright law?
  • 4.2 Copyright responsibilities
  • 4.3 Creative Commons (CC) licences
  • 4.4 How do Creative Commons (CC) licences work?
  • 5 Reflection
  • 6 This week’s quiz
  • 7 Summary
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week5Week 5: Critical consumption
  • Introduction
  • 1 Your information landscape
  • 1.1 Exploring your information landscape
  • 2 Searching
  • 2.1 Refining your search
  • 2.2 Dealing with information overload
  • 3 Asking the right questions
  • 3.1 Useful starting points
  • 3.2 Developing your ‘trustometer’
  • 4 Reflection
  • 5 This week’s quiz
  • 6 Summary
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week6Week 6: The right tool for the job
  • Introduction
  • 1 Everyday life; everyday tasks
  • 1.1 ‘There’s an app for that’
  • 1.2 What can apps and tools do for you?
  • 1.3 What are apps doing with your personal data?
  • 2 Which apps might be for me?
  • 2.1 Finding apps
  • 2.2 Communicating, creating, collaborating, managing
  • 3 Reflection
  • 4 This week’s quiz
  • 5 Summary
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week7Week 7: Being digital: making it work for you
  • Introduction
  • 1 Manuela's progression through the course
  • 1.1 Finding the right information
  • 2 John’s progression through the course
  • 2.1 Using social media
  • 3 Michael’s progression through the course
  • 3.1 Investigating study
  • 4 Reflection
  • 5 This week's quiz
  • 6 Summary
  • Glossary
  • Acknowledgements
  • Week8Week 8: Continuing your digital journey
  • Introduction
  • 1 Taking stock
  • 2 Skills development
  • 3 Making your mark online
  • 4 Copyright and Creative Commons (CC)
  • 5 Staying safe online
  • 6 Critical consumption
  • 7 The right tool for you
  • 8 Reflection
  • 9 This week’s quiz
  • 10 Summary
  • Tell us what you think
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

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