UNB Faculty of Education and FITness/IC3
February 2006
During the Winter 2005 term, two groups of BEd students at the University of New Brunswick took part in a project involving digital literacy training and certification testing. For the training, the students used UNB=s WebCT-based Fluency in Information Technology program (FITness), and for certification they achieved Certiport’s Internet and Computer Core Certification (IC3).
One group of students was enrolled in a technology in education course while the other group was enrolled in a visual art education course. The students gave ongoing evaluations of FITness, the IC3 Practice Tests, and the IC3 certification tests.
These students, along with others not involved in the digital literacy training and certification, were surveyed by researchers from UNB=s Faculty of Education. The survey asked about the students= perceptions of digital literacy and digital literacy certification in pre-service teacher education. Points drawn out from the surveys include:
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Students are willing to pay extra to take digital literacy certification.
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All agree that computer knowledge will prepare them better for employment.
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Most agree that the university needs to improve or implement a testing process to ensure that students graduate digitally literate.
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Most students believe that IC3’s international recognition is/would be of benefit to them
In November 2005, UNB Faculty members involved in the digital literacy project and research presented their work in a open session to other Education Faculty members and students. One goal of that session was to lay the groundwork to aid the Faculty in making decisions regarding digital literacy offerings and requirements in its programs. In December, that conversation was also introduced during UNB=s Faculty of Education retreat.
Also in the Winter of 2005, a UNB Faculty of Education graduate student conducted a needs assessment to evaluate the technological proficiency of teachers who have recently completed the Bachelor of Education program at UNB and are currently working as beginning teachers in the province of New Brunswick. This study=s aim was to assess whether there exists a discrepancy between the level of technological proficiency held by new teachers and the level of technological proficiency they are required to have in order to effectively merge technology with pedagogy. The Executive Summary of this needs assessment reported the following:
This study has concluded that there exists a performance discrepancy in the technological proficiency of new teachers and that this discrepancy is related to educational background. This study recommends that better communication be established between the N.B. Department of Education and the Faculty of Education at UNB; that the Faculty of Education make modifications to its Bachelor of Education program to include more educational technology content into its existing courses; that the Faculty of Education at UNB encourage its students to seek out educational technology learning opportunities offered by other faculties and departments, as well as external courses and certifications such as those offered by Certiport and other technology training providers; and that a formal study be launched into the topic of educational technology to confirm the findings outlined in this report.
In the current academic term, a team of UNB Education faculty members and graduate and undergraduate students are looking at digital literacy requirements in other BEd programs in Canada, along with what the current literature has to say about such requirements. The team is also analyzing FITness and designing improvements to it. Their first task in that regard is to look at it from a student point of view, asking how FITness, used along with Certiport’s IC3 bench marking tool, might best answer these three questions:
1. What, exactly, do I need to know to attain IC3?
2. What do I already know that is required for IC3?
3. How do I easily find the answers to what I do not know for IC3?
Following this, the team intends to look at FITness/IC3 from an instructor’s point of view, with a goal of making appropriate design recommendations.
The Faculty of Education is also undergoing a re-design of its BEd program, and Faculty members involved with the FITness/IC3 project also are facilitating the discussion about how digital literacy would fit within this new program.
