The University of Exeter’s Digital Skills Initiative Pilot Begins

One aim of our 2030 digital strategy is that “we will find ways for people to develop digital skills quickly and apply them to real working situations”.

We know that in order to deliver our vision of becoming ‘the most accessible and connected university destination for any user’, we must ensure we have the capabilities in place to do so. Katie Steen and Dave Weller are our Digital Skills Leads in the Digital team at the University of Exeter, focusing on finding these ways for our University community to develop their skills through our Digital Skills Initiative (DSI).

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be piloting the DSI with selected colleagues in November 2024!  

The Digital Skills Initiative self-assessment quiz and digital skills library are nearing full functionality, marking a major milestone.  

We’ll be undergoing functional testing over the next two weeks, before we move into a pilot phase with selected departments in November. 

The pilot will allow us to fine-tune the app based on real-world feedback, leading to a full launch on 19 March 2025 (which happily is UNESCO’s International Day of Digital Learning!).  

What’s in it for University colleagues? 

Once the DSI is live in March, it will offer our University colleagues a host of benefits: 

• Personalised learning – the self-assessment quiz will assess your current digital skills and create your own learner dashboard, with your results and learning resources suggested just for you (and it’s your choice whether to share this or keep it completely private).  

• Increased productivity and job satisfaction – by improving digital competencies, you’ll find new ways to streamline daily tasks so you can focus on the important stuff. 

• Career growth – it will highlight skill gaps and recommend training that aligns with your career goals, helping you advance professionally. 

• Well-being – mastering digital tools reduces frustration and workload stress, enhancing your overall well-being at work.  

Looking ahead

In January 2025, we’ll also begin work on the student version of the app, with a targeted launch in September 2025. This version will be an extracurricular resource to help students build the digital skills they need for both their studies and future careers. It’s not credit-bearing or integrated into the curriculum – but will be there to support students asynchronously whenever they need help. 

Get involved with the Digital Skills Initiative

We have limited capacity for piloting, but if you’d like your department to take part and aren’t already speaking with us, please reach out to us at d.weller@exeter.ac.uk or k.steen@exeter.ac.uk as soon as possible. 

Take a look at our previous blog posts to understand more about the need to improve your digital skills.

– Written by Katie Steen and Dave Weller, Digital Skills Leads

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