Enhancing digital literacy for students in the context of digital transformation in higher education
Hoai Linh
GDVN- Workshop “Digital literacy for students in the context of digital transformation in higher education” contributed to changing the perception of lecturers and students in the digital environment.
On November 10, 2022, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Viet Nam National University, Hanoi), the Association of Universities and Colleges of Viet Nam and Meta Group cooperated to organize the seminar “Digital literacy for students in the context of digital transformation in higher education”.
On the side of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Viet Nam, there were the attendance of Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi – Standing Vice President of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Viet Nam, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training;
The seminar was attended by Dr. Nguyen Son Hai – Director of Information Technology Department (Ministry of Education and Training); Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Minh Tuan – Director of the Department of Digital Economy and Digital Society – Ministry of Information and Communications; Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Bao Son – Vice President of Vietnam National University, Ha Noi; Professor, Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan – President of University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Ha Noi);
Representing Meta Group were Mr. Ruici Tio – Policy Program Manager, Asia – Pacific Region and Ms. Thao Griffiths – Director of Public Policy for Viet Nam market and representatives of research institutes and universities, academies, colleges, scientists and a large number of students.
The workshop was organized to provide information on the context of digital transformation and the needs of digital human resources; pointing out concepts and the importance of digital literacy for citizens of the 21st century; sharing information about digital literacy frameworks in the world today; propose a digital literacy framework for Vietnamese students; launched the “Digital Literacy Development Handbook” and the “Digital Literacy” monograph for students.
This is also an opportunity for experts to discuss and clarify the advantages and disadvantages that higher education institutions are facing, and point out potential strategies to promote digital literacy for students.
Dr. Nguyen Son Hai, Director of the Information Technology Department (Ministry of Education and Training) assessed: “Education and training is one of the eight priority tasks in the national digital transformation program. The Ministry of Education and Training has advised the Prime Minister to approve Project 131 to strengthen information technology and digital transformation in education and training by 2025, with orientation to 2030 with two main goals: to strongly innovate methods of educational organization and innovation, educational administration based on data and digital technology. The ministry has also coordinated with universities to pilot a project on a digital higher education model, applying make full use of information technology.
Digital transformation will create many opportunities for learners in accessing education and training. But to successfully implement digital transformation, the human factor is the decisive factor. It is extremely important to change the perception of the teaching staff and the adaptability of learners in the digital environment.”
The Director of the Information Technology Department also highly appreciated the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for actively researching and applying the digital literacy framework for students as well as pioneering in digital transformation.
Speaking at the seminar, Associate Professor Tran Xuan Nhi – Standing Vice President of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Viet Nam commented: “Nowadays, not only digital transformation but also open science and educational resources are needed. Open education has become a trend of many countries, but these things are still very new to Viet Nam. Equipping digital literacies must go hand in hand with equipping open science literacies and open educational resources. The education needs to overcome many challenges to catch up and integrate with world’ trends.
Training digital human resources to become digital citizens, digital entrepreneurs, digital businesses, digital administrators and managers in the future is an extremely important responsibility of the education industry.
Since 2020, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Vietnam has organized many conferences and seminars on digital transformation. There have been many opinions and contributions applied in the implementation of the task of transforming the activities of the education from traditional training to a digital environment.
The seminar “Digital literacy for students in the context of digital transformation in higher education ” is a forum to share information, policies and practical experiences in equipping students with digital literacies. Through discussions and group meetings of experts, they will point out new directions to improve students’ digital literacies, thereby helping educational administrators and policy makers to have appropriate solutions to develop digital literacy for Vietnamese students specifically.
Some pictures from the conference:
Hoài Linh
