Digital Navigators in Nontraditional Learning Environments

• In Event: Understanding the Digital Skills of Adults and How to Improve Them

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
An estimated 32 million adults in the US, many of whom earn less than $30,000/year, lack skills or comfort using computers and are in need of workforce development services (Mamedova et al., 2018; Anderson, 2019). Because online technologies are commonly employed in receipt of such services adults might reveal their limited access and digital skills as they receive support. A Digital Navigator (DN) program located in settings where services are provided is one strategy for mitigating access and digital literacy needs.
DNs provide support virtually or at locations accessible to learners (e.g., community centers or job sites). Coaches guide learners through activities focused on: 1) accessing the internet and/or devices and/or 2) strengthening digital skills through the use of technologies to accomplish a real-life task. This study elucidates the characteristics that participants identify as important for persistence in digital skills learning and how these characteristics vary across sites.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Given the situated nature of the learning, sociocultural theory, specifically Activity Theory, informs the work (Engeström 1987, 1999, 2001). Activity Theory views learning as an activity in a given context and shaped by a range of factors: tools and signs, rules, community, mediating artifacts, and division of labor (Engeström, 1999). Because the participants receiving coaching are engaged in self-directed learning, heutagogy, which holds that learners drive decisions about what is to be learned and how, is also relevant (Hase & Kenyon, 2000, 2007).

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
This qualitative study explores the work of DNs at pilot sites in order to elucidate implementation models. This descriptive research strives to illustrate models that align with the key components of an activity system model (Engestrom,1987) (see figure 1).

The study employs the qualitative analysis methods of phased qualitative coding as defined by Saldaña (2012).

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
Data sources include transcripts from interviews with DNs and learners and resources employed in delivery services. Also analyzed are records of participant engagement with learning resources and other program services received, triangulated against outcomes like participation in other support or learning services, internet adoption decisions, and employment or wage gains.

Results
This study builds on findings from prior research showing efficacy of several strategic, namely, technology lending initiatives (Belzer et al. 2020), integration of digital literacy guidance into provision of service delivery (Sharma et al., 2019), and use of volunteers to extend opportunities for learning and access (Harris et al., 2018). Scenarios described are organized according to the characteristics of an activity system (Engestrom, 1999).

Scientific or scholarly significance
Adults with digital skills gaps often have limited access to technology at home, which complicates pursuing employment and learning goals (Vogels et al., 2020). This study contributes possible solutions to mitigate this problem, described through theoretical frames and an empirical qualitative process. The implications of such work is the expansion of educational programming for low-income, often minority, adults.

Author

• Jenifer Vanek, Ed Tech Center at World Education