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Discover your Digital Skills at BCU and beyond

Library News Last updated 16 September 2021

Margaret Street Library small

To be digitally literate is hugely important in the modern world. BCU encourages all students to continually improve their Digital Literacy. In order to help each individual assess and improve their skills we have joined with JISC to provide the JISC Discovery Tool.

Screenshot of four main tabs on JISC Discovery Tool Homepage. tab 1:explore your digital capabilities, tab 2: what are digital capabilities tab 3: Accessibility and Inclusion tab 4: Give Feedback

Employers are increasingly interested in what digital capabilities applicants and employees have. The ability to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, communicate via email and social media are areas which are important to most organisations.

If you can use these technologies to be creative, innovative, solve problems, communicate, participate and learn and support others in digital spaces, you will enhance your employability and help you become better prepared for an increasingly digital world.

How do I access the Discovery Tool?

  • Once you access the site, click on Login.

  • You will first need to find Birmingham City University from the list of institutions.

  • Next, select your role in the University and then fill in your details.

  • You will have now created your account, and the tool should open for you.

How do I use the discovery tool?

  • There are several options for you to choose from. Descriptions are available as to what each section does.

  • Once you start an assessment, you can save and exit at any point, meaning you can return to complete it later.

  • The questions ask you to select from a range of statements (choose all that apply) 

    or ask you to grade your own confidence using a slider. The process will usually take around 15 minutes to complete.

  • Once you have completed the questions, you will be given a Digital Capability Report.

Your digital capability report

  • This can only be seen by you and will rate your capabilities, give you advice and guidance on how you can improve your skills.

  • If you leave the tool, and want to view your report again at a later stage they are stored in the Reports section of the site.

  • You can take the self-assessment as many times as you like.

What should I do once I have completed my session?

  • You should click to log out, as the system doesn’t currently log users out automatically. This is important if you are using a shared machine to ensure your responses can’t be viewed by others. Further resources can be found on the Digital Literacy: Student Resources page.

Use the JISC Discovery Tool

You can access a full User Guide to the Discovery Tool here.

Download User Guide

Download User Guide - Text Only

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