The ideal of the C21st graduate, while it does not depend on digital capabilities alone, does assume that the context in which graduates will be living and working will be significantly different from a decade ago, and that the ubiquity of digital information and communication will help to define that difference. Projects funded under the JISC Transforming Curriculum Delivery programme have been at the forefront of redefining the capabilities that will fit graduates for working in this context.

For example:

Both Atelier-D and Information Spaces for Creative Conversations developed online spaces to support students' creative development and collaboration skills

SpringboardTV enhanced students' business awareness and media literacy through the experience of broadcasting their own work via an internet TV channel

The ESCAPE project developed a range of model assessment activities to support C21st attributes such as researching and presenting findings in an online environment

Students were helped to make the best of field trips and lab work - still essential elements of the learning experience in many subjects - through virtual enhancements that focused on developing relevant skills.

Students at Lewisham College used personal and social technologies to plan their learning, produce online CVs and gained skills in business technologies such as videoconferencing.

The COWL project developed an online writing laboratory to provide on-demand support for academic writing skills

Medical students were able to practice professional skills using a sophisticated virtual patient system with authentic case studies

The design studio pages on digital literacies and on employability summarise two agendas around which graduate capabilities and attributes are being redefined.

Several projects have worked on mapping competences to support lifelong learning, for example allowing students to gain qualifications across a number of different institutions, to accredit informal and work-based learning, to transfer credit, to plan future learning, and to showcase their capabilities. Others have worked with e-portfolio systems to help students record, reflect on and showcase their competences across different contexts.

Case studies

Enhancing student skills/capabilities (non-subject-specific)

• ESCAPE case study - Developing academic writing, critical analysis and research skills within an authentic advertising case study
• ESCAPE case study - Enhancing employability through CV preparation, interview role play and reflection
• ESCAPE case study - Developing research skills through group poster presentations
• ESCAPE case study - Developing academic writing; sharing standards
• CASCADE Case Study - Enabling staff to easily use a VLE to support course delivery 
• CASCADE Case Study - Maximising effective use of technology in new programmes

Enhancing learner support 

• CASCADE Case Study - Using technology to support prospective students
• Lewisham Assignments in Moodle case study
• Lewisham Planning for Success case study  
• Lewisham eME Champions case study 

Design studio assets relating to competences

Design studio assets relating to student skills

Quotes

students were... exposed to current technologies used in industry in realistic field-based problem environments (MoRSE)

The reflective writing part helped me understand my progress throughout the year and highlighted areas in which I did well and areas which needed attention. I gained lots of key skills but I didn't realise this until I had written the reflective diary (MoRSE student)

Perhaps most importantly for learning outcomes were the repeated and unprompted statements by students that the inclusion of decisions in the Virtual Patient (environment) required them to think more actively, promoted clinical reasoning, and developed better understanding (Generation 4)