Research, development and innovation

In the age of digital multimedia, it becomes easier to access information in a range of media. In the same way, with digital tools and techniques, new possibilities emerge for the production, transformation, diffusion and re-diffusion of data and information.

In this area, digital literacy means knowing the tools and techniques that help produce and transform digital artefacts with attention to quality (content in various media, instructions to machines in the form of algorithms, scripts or programs, etc.).

It also means a capacity to use technology creatively to support new forms of research and innovation. In particular, digitalization makes collaboration over long distances easier, which results in new opportunities for collective approaches to research and problem solving (e. g. open science, citizen science, open innovation).

Concretely, literacy in digital research and problem-solving means the capacity to:

• use digital evidence to solve problems and answer questions;
• collect and collate new evidence;
• evaluate the quality and value of evidence, and to share evidence and findings using digital methods;
• understand digital research methods;
• understand different data analysis tools and techniques.

Literacy in the area of development and digital creation means the capacity to:

• design, create and/or transform new digital artefacts and materials such as digital writing, digital imaging, digital audio and video, digital code, apps and interfaces, or web pages.
• understand, critically evaluate, and use AI-based generative tools for content creation (text, code, image, audio, video, animation);
• understand the digital production process and the basics of editing and coding;

Literacy in digital innovation means the capacity to:

• adopt and develop new practices with digital technology in different settings (personal and organisational, social and work-based);
• use digital technologies in developing new ideas, projects and opportunities;
• understand and practice innovation, enterprise and project management in digital settings.

The above description is adapted from the «Digital Capabilities Framework» of the British organisation JISC. The adaptation has been realized by the Educational Technologies of the University of Basel within the context of the project Digital Literacies.

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