At RMIT, we want to support students to develop their digital capabilities so when they graduate they are confident to create and utilise a blend of digital and human skills, tools and emerging technologies to learn, solve problems, innovate, communicate and collaborate.
This resource is designed to support you to explore how that might manifest within your discipline. Reach out if you need any help!
In this document
- RMIT Capabilities
- Digitally Adept
- Digital Literacies made explicit
- How to use these in your context
- Technical Literacy starting considerations
- Information Literacy starting considerations
- Critical Literacy starting considerations
- Resources
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What are the RMIT Capabilities?
RMIT selected the term capabilities rather than skills to emphasise that learning to thrive in the 21st Century is as much about developing habits of mind or dispositions and attributes as skills or competencies (Barnett, 2004; Hager & Holland, 2007). Unsurprisingly, in recent times the development of habits of mind or ways of ‘thinking, acting and being in the world’ has become a critical influence in the design of curriculum and pedagogies (Barnett, 2004; Hora, 2016).
RMIT Capabilities: Digitally Adept
At RMIT, we want to support students to develop their digital fluency so when they graduate they are confident to create and utilise a blend of digital and human skills, tools and emerging technologies to learn, solve problems, innovate, communicate and collaborate
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DIGITAL FLUENCY
The six RMIT capabilities explicitally call out the skills and knowledge needed to address the changing nature of work, social, political and global engagement.
Digitally adept (fluent) students are confident to create and utilise a blend of digital and human skills, tools and emerging technologies to learn, solve problems, innovate, communicate and collaborate.
This involves:
- Technical literacy – selecting, creating or blending digital tools, emerging technologies and human skills that enable the specific task, discipline and industry
- Information literacy - employing intellectual independence and judgement to seek out (research) and then utilise the digital skills to engage critically with information, make sound evidence-based decisions and informed outcomes
- Critical literacy - (in a digital context) the ability to understand power structures, digital ownership and distribution models, ethical implications around access, copyright and IP; Actively challenging assumptions and ensuring solutions to difficult or complex issues are informed by a problem-solving methodology.
Let's get started
To make it simpler, we've broken down our suggestions into teaching, practising and assessing. Small steps are a great way to introduce the conceptual frameworks that underpin digital fluency. We have assessment examples and curricula that you can adapt for your context.
- Teaching might include new teaching approaches, modelling how to create industry artefacts in the classroom or using new technologies/modalities to deliver content
- Practising might include students presenting small un-marked drafts in class, feedback from peers, industry or user testing
- Assessing might include changing assessment items to a new modality or giving students options to submit a traditional assessment on a different platform
Some starting considerations for Technical Literacy
- What digital devices, communication tools or programs are appropriate for the task at hand?
- Can you evaluate and use digital functions proficiently across devices, applications and networks?
- Can you analyse and integrate current technologies, foresee impacts and ideate opportunities?
Scaffolding Technical literacy
INTRODUCING
- Ability to understand what current digital tools are relevant to industry and community
- Ability to understand the emerging possibilities of the digital world
REINFORCING
- Ability to understand the connection between digital possibilities and real-world use for innovation
- Ability to identify digital technologies appropriately, effectively, and efficiently to communicate
MASTERING
- Confidence and ability to learn, select and use appropriate technological and digital tools, to achieve desired outcomes relevant to discipline.
- Utilise digital tools to create innovation in discipline
- Ability to use digital tools to communicate in a variety of audiences and within different cultural contexts
Some starting considerations for Information Literacy
- What research, data and analysis is appropriate for which end users, including industry?
- Are you able to verify your data/information?
- Do you have permission to use this data/information?
Scaffolding Information Literacy
INTRODUCING
- Ability to seek out and verify information
- Ability to collate, manage and use digital data
REINFORCING
- Ability to critically analyse, evaluate and organise information for use by others
- Ability to interpret, visualise and find patterns in data
MASTERING
- Skilful use of high-quality, credible, relevant digital sources to draw insights through analysis and construct findings and outcomes
- Ethically mine and link data from a variety of sources
- Critically assess and adapt digital communication strategies to effectively share information across platforms
- Apply critical analysis of technology to lead innovative projects solving real-world problems
Some considerations for Critical Literacy
- How might data sets, algorithms or audio/videos create impact?
- Who controls the distribution of digital artefacts and what power structures need to be identified in a learning and teaching context?
- Can everyone have access?
- Are there any ethical considerations specific to your discipline?
Scaffolding Critical Literacies
INTRODUCING
- Ability to critique digital sources, distribution platforms and access to digital resources
REINFORCING
- Consider implications of the use digital practices, technology and data in the subject or professional field (such as legal, ethical, security, environmental or sustainability)
MASTERING
- Reflectively question the context in which digital artefacts are made and used: who makes them, who controls them and who consumes them? Where are they controlled and what are the ethics we need to consider for future use?
- Ability to adapt human skills, integrate them with digital skills and influence for a positive outcome
Resources
- More detail on RMIT Capabilities
- More detail on RMIT Sub-Capabilities
- More detail on Scholarly Practice Guidance for teachers
Adobe Creative Campus
- Teaching & Learning resources utilising Adobe tools
- RMIT-specific sharable curriculum supporting digital capability-building
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Credits:
RMIT Adobe Creative Campus resource 2025