In addition to consultations with more than 1,000 Carleton community members, the project team conducted a broad, comprehensive web search of publicly available documents related to digital strategy at post-secondary institutions in Canada and abroad, as well as in federal and provincial governments. The team also reviewed Carleton University's internal strategic documents, noted objectives, and action items that are of relevance for digital needs, processes, and aspirations. The purpose of this work was to learn what peer institutions and different levels of government were doing in relation to digital strategy implementations, to identify common overarching themes, and to identify successful digital strategy implementations. Below are summaries of, and links to, consulted documents.
(In alphabetical order)
Algonquin College: The Next-Gen College. Digital Strategy 2.0 (Link)
Based on the vision of accessible and high-quality applied education for their students, Digital Strategy 2.0 has three guiding principles: Personalized Experience, Learning Culture and Digital Preparedness, and Investment in Innovation. Some of the objectives include accessibility, adaptive learning, innovation, digital governance, making data-informed decisions.
Athabasca University: Rise - Digital Transformation. 5 Year IT Strategy (Link)
With a goal of providing full flexibility and access to their online students, the focus of the strategy is to “provide the highest quality Canadian digital learning experiences to learners of all ages, regardless of their location anywhere in the world.” The strategy proposes nine goals to be achieved in five years. Some of these goals include enabling innovation, collecting data on student experience and making data-informed decisions. The strategy also enables user-friendly reporting capabilities to ensure faculty and staff have access to “business intelligence required to support their objectives.” It also calls for the improved interoperability of systems, sustainability, security, and endorsing cloud-based infrastructure and tools.
Concordia University: Digital strategy environmental scan for the Concordia University Digital Strategy Committee. Prepared by Madsen, C. and Hurst, M. – Athenaeum21 (2018). (Link)
This document defines digital strategy as “a plan of action for the adoption of processes and practices to transform the organization and culture to effectively and competitively function in an increasingly digital world.” The authors discuss elements of a successful and unsuccessful digital strategy in terms of six interconnected themes: people, culture, leadership, organizational alignment, data, and technology. To be successful in digital transformations, “digitally mature organizations” need to invest in people and culture, focus on user experience, take risks (and learn from experience), engage in cross-institutional consultations, make data-informed decisions, pay attention to scaling and agility, create clear policies, and accept that digital transformation is a “very long journey.” Unsuccessful digital transformations, on the other hand, are characterized by lack of vision, neglect to recognize the importance of people and organizational culture, the imbalance between infrastructure and innovation, trying to achieve results fast, and “stalled decisions and momentum.” The authors provided several case studies, mostly from post-secondary institutions in Europe and the United States. They also provided an extensive bibliography.
Dalhousie University: Digital Strategy 2021-2026 (Link)
This is the first-ever Digital Strategy for the university. It is described as focusing on user experience and it has the goal of supporting “excellence in teaching, learning, research, the student experience, and administrative functions at Dal.” The five strategic pillars (teaching and learning, people-centric, research and innovation, community collaborations, digital foundations) share common themes and values, including:
McMaster University: IT Strategic Plan 2019-2021 (Link)
McMaster’s IT strategic plan is aspirational and formulated around three intertwined pillars:
Queen’s University: Themes Emerging from Environmental Scan of Digital Strategies in Higher Education (2018) (Link)
Queen’s University conducted an environmental scan of digital strategies in post-secondary education. This scan observed that “comprehensive” digital strategies, strategies that are “university-wide,” are still rare. The review also showed that digital strategies often fall into sub-categories that are either “audience-focused” or “function-focused.” Examples include “digital by default,” “administrative and operational function,” “digital marketing/brand,” “digital experience of students,” “data-focused strategy,” “strategy to help researchers,” etc. Still, it is evident that digital approaches are complex and “cross-cutting issues, even if an institutional strategy is focused just on one sphere (or function.)”
In addition, the review noted other themes, such as the importance of institutional leadership, digital governance, issues related to ethics, cybersecurity, privacy, training, and change management. It also observes “a disruptive role of digital in higher education” as digital technologies can reach “communities at home and abroad,” and “teaching and learning is no longer ‘local’ or restricted to the classroom or campus lab; it is now global.”
Examples of comprehensive digital strategies provided are from the University of Bergen (Norway), University of Leicester (U.K.), Oxford University (U.K.), the Association of Universities in the Netherlands, and Concordia University (Canada.)
University of Ottawa: Digital Transformation Plan 2020-2025 (Link)
The digital strategy plan is aligned with the University of Ottawa’s Strategic Plan Transformation 2030: Building the University of Tomorrow, and its goal is to “diversify the university’s technological landscape in order to be more agile, more connected, more impactful, and more sustainable.” The underlying principles for the Digital Transformation Plan are as follows: simple and reusable; agile and innovative; user experience design; managed data; secure and private by design; strategic partnerships; cloud as an enabler; evolutionary architecture, and sustainability.
University of Lancaster (U.K.): Digital Lancaster 2.0 (Link)
The University of Lancaster’s vision is to be “digitally innovative in support of the university’s vision of being a globally significant leader in higher education.” The university’s digital principles focus on enhancing user experiences across the variety of mobile and desktop platforms, accessibility, the agility of information technology solutions, and approaches that are designed with security in mind. The principle of openness aims to ensure that “university data are available in ways that encourage a culture of creativity and innovation.”
University of Leicester (U.K.): Discovery-Enabling Digital 2016-2020 (Link)
The University of Leicester's goal is to become a “discovery-led university” and “developing digital skills and capabilities” are the key elements necessary for achieving this goal. The university sees digital “at the core of how the university operates and the journey towards achieving its teaching, learning and research ambitions.” This comprehensive digital strategy recognizes the importance of digital in all aspects of the university (teaching and research, students and staff, academic and professional services) and it includes “interlinked strands that contribute to the overall implementation plan” such as developing the digital skills and capabilities of students and staff; establishing the appropriate governance structures; enhancing digital leadership skills; engaging in digital activities across disciplines; communicating to stakeholders the vision and progress towards digital fluency. The plan also focuses on the digital literacy framework “through which digital training and skills development across the university will be co-ordinated.”
Government of Canada. Digital Standards (Link)
In consultations with the public and various stakeholders, the Government of Canada created a set of “living” digital standards that guide all their processes. These standards are as follows:
Government of British Columbia Digital Government (Link)
The government of British Columbia built its digital strategy on the following 10 principles:
Government of Ontario (2021). Ontario’s Digital and Data Strategy (Link)
Ontario released its first-ever provincial Digital and Data Strategy in 2021. The government’s vision is that Ontario becomes “the world’s leading digital jurisdiction,” which includes “delivering more convenient, reliable and accessible government services while ensuring that online privacy and the protections that matter most to Ontarians are built-in.” The government’s digital strategy aims to ensure that all Ontarians have the tools and training they need to fully participate in the digital economy (including reliable and affordable internet access.) Other goals aim to ensure the privacy of personal data, while at the same time allowing access to data Ontarians need to make sound decisions, together with having reliable, accessible, and convenient government services.
2021 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report (Link)
Every year, the Horizon project selects a panel of international education experts and asks them to identify, discuss, and vote on the key trends, technologies, and practices they believe are going to affect post-secondary education. The project uses a modified Delphi methodology[1], a systematic and structured future-casting approach that seeks to “elevate the collective perspectives and knowledge of a diverse group of experts.”
In 2021, the panellists initially identified 141 technologies and practices they believed would have a significant impact on teaching and learning, and after several rounds of voting, the following six items rose to the top of a list:
Three of these top-six technologies (Learning Analytics, AI, and OER) had also been identified as top entries in the 2020 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report.
AI - The emerging literature predicts that AI use in post-secondary education will see a continuous increase, from chatbots to discussion platforms, matching roommates in student residences, personalizing student learning, helping with administrative and marking duties, and preventing academic dishonesty (Neelakantan, 2020[2]; Ullman, 2020[3].) For example, the University of British Columbia uses AI in its foreign languages program, where students can practice their oral skills with an avatar in a virtual environment. The use of AI on campuses is not without controversy. The most heated current debates focus on potential misuses of AI within proctoring in an online environment, and in collecting student biometric data to track their academic progress without their consent.
Multimodal teaching and learning (blended, hybrid, online) - The COVID-19 pandemic forced instructors to adapt to new pedagogical approaches, including “content delivery, engagement activities, and authentic application and assessment.” The post-pandemic future will require universities and colleges to decide whether “to retain these hybrid models, abandon them and return to traditional models, or inhabit some kind of middle ground.” It is also an opportunity for institutions “to find the right balance point to best serve their teaching and learning mission.”
Learning Analytics - Higher education institutions may use learning analytics in areas of academic advising and support to “better understand the needs and challenges of learner populations.” For example, learning analytics in a learning management system may provide just-in-time “early alert systems that can tell instructorsand advisors when students are not performing well on early assessments, not accessing thelearning management system on a regular basis, or having low engagement or performanceacross a set of courses in the same term.” When implementing learning analytics, post-secondary institutions must consider “a range of ethical issues […] including transparency, data ownership and control, validity and reliability of data.” Institutions also need to develop a set of policies and mechanisms that will ensure that interpretation of data is not misused, as Ekowo and Palmer (2016, p. 13)[4] warn: “predictive models can discriminate against historically underserved groups” and they can also “remove human judgment from the decision-making process.”
Micro-credentials - Mini qualifications that demonstrate skills and knowledge in a given subject area or capability can be stacked and “bundled in ways that create personalized learning structures” with “an infinite number of possibilities for professional development.” The growth of micro-credentials has caused post-secondary institutions to “rethink the relationships between their credit and noncredit programs, and the ways in which they are serving an increasingly diverse audience of learners.” In 2021, the Ontario government announced its plan to invest $59.5 million over the next three years to further establish micro-credentials as a key component of Ontario’s post-secondary sector[5].
OER -The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a need for OER to “move well beyond textbooks” and include openly accessible virtual labs and platforms that host them. In terms of textbooks, OER contributes to “increased societal equity for students” because many do not have sufficient financial resources. It is estimated that students spend “roughly $600 per year on textbooks.” Another advantage of OER is that it “keeps content current” as textbooks are hosted online and can be updated easily.
Gartner Inc. (2021). Mobilize faculty culture to accelerate learning technology transformation in higher education (Link)
Gartner Inc., a company that conducts IT research and provides consultancy, authored this article discussing the key role of faculty culture in the process of comprehensive and institution-wide digital transformation. The authors argue that digital transformation is not possible to sustain if faculty members are not fully engaged and that “a faculty culture of partnership, support for technology-based learning strategies and proactive technology exploration is critical to support change.” To “transition faculty members from passive endorsement to active technology partners” the authors propose a few strategies, as follows:
Gartner Inc. (2021). Top technology trends impacting higher education. (Link)
Gartner Inc. identified several trends they think will affect higher education globally. They grouped these trends under the following categories: Student Experience, Sustainability, Scaling the Changes, and New Normal.
Gartner Inc. argues that higher education needs to “balance maintaining key systems while enabling emerging and innovative technologies” and “develop a process and timeline for evaluating each technology and making a decision.”
Dr. Tracy Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication. Lauriault, T., Bloom, R., and Landry, J. N. (2018). Open Smart City Guide V 1.0 (Link)
Dr. Lauriault provided her expert insight on the Principle of Openness and the concept of an Open Smart City, which was “transformed into 24 education modules and several policies.” The principle of openness and Open Smart City represent a “participatory culture between government, civil society, the private sector, the media, and academia to sustainably, environmentally, safely, fairly, justly, and equally manage people and territory.” This involves “co-governance with shared rights and responsibility, shared data, information and knowledge, and technologies that are shareable, appropriate, agile, and open.” The goal is to “enable better decision-making and barrier-free data sharing among relevant stakeholders.” In this model, users can access data “seamlessly, despite the complexities of the underlying technologies.” At the same time, sensitive data are protected and secure. As Dr. Lauriault pointed out, the principle of openness in “mature digital organizations means that data, technology, and technical practices are intertwined and they are part of an operational environment that is dynamic, distributed, sustainable, and built on trust.” Dr. Lauriault noted that “governance in an open smart city is ethical, accountable, and transparent” and this applies to “the governance of social and technical platforms which include data, algorithms, skills, infrastructure, and knowledge.” An open smart city uses data and technologies that “adhere to open standards,” are interoperable, scalable, secure, sustainable, and are used “in such a way as to reduce harm and bias.”
Dr. Gerald Grant, Sprott School of Business. Grant, G. (2018-2021). Digital Service Architecture
Dr. Grant’s research work focuses on the importance of Digital Service Architecture, as well as the importance of understanding the end goal and the targeted audience/users. As he points out, often there is a lack of understanding that digital services are extraordinarily complex, with many “different issues, different layers, different outcomes, which all need to be addressed in their proper spaces.” That is why any digital strategy needs to “apply a layered architecture view” and “encapsulate issues while understanding their connections.” Dr. Grant’s model for the high-level architecture for IT services management is depicted in the image below and is of particular importance for the Technology Roadmap that accompanies Carleton University’s Digital Strategy.
Carleton University Strategic Integrated Plan (Link)
We will approach teaching and pedagogy with imagination and new expectations. We must continue to adopt new pedagogical philosophies and technologies. Experiential learning, high-impact practices, and a greater appreciation for the value of teaching will ensure we meet the expectations of diverse and changing student populations, create positive learning and career outcomes, and respond to societal needs.
Pathways:
Coordinated Accessibility Strategy (Link)
Department of Chemistry Strategic Plan (Link)
Our Present
Our Future
Strategic Actions
Energy Master Plan (Link)
Employability Framework: Developing Career Ready Students (Link)
Digital Literacy is one of the nine career readiness competences that characterizes Carleton’s graduates:
Recommendations
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan (Link)
Recommendations:
Faculty of Public Affairs. Raising Our Sights: Priorities and Directions for the Faculty of Public Affairs (Link)
Digital Technology as Tool and Topic - The opportunity is now to broaden this digital focus and integrate it across the faculty in all our programs and efforts. This involves increasing technical understandings and skills in using digital technology. But it also means increasing our thinking theoretically and holistically about digitization and public affairs in broad ways, including its potential for disruption and threats to security, privacy, and democracy.
Potential Faculty-Level Actions
Finance and Administration Strategy (Link)
Vision Statement: Working collaboratively, embracing new technologies and innovative ways of operating, we will provide best-in-class service to the Carleton Community.
Fostering Student Academic Success Report
Honouring Each Other: Building Consent Cultures on Campus, Together – Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Strategy (Link)
Tasks
International Strategic Plan (Link)
Objective: International mobility and experiential learning
Activities
Objective: International Research and Funding
Objective: International Students
Objective: International Teaching, Knowledge and Expertise
Objective: Stories showcasing our achievements (e.g., on our website, student publications, newsletters, etc.)
Kinàmàgawin (Learning Together) – Final Report of the Carleton University Strategic Indigenous Initiatives Committee (CUSIIC) (Link)
Call to Action #3
Call to Action #22
MacOdrum Library Strategic Plan (Link)
Pathways - Research
Pathways - Teaching and Learning
Pathways - Partnerships, Community
Pathways - Accessibility
Sprott School of Business: Vision 2025: Business for a Better World (Link)
Principle 1 - Goal 2: Develop unique curricula and integrated opportunities for experiential learning.
Actions
Principle 1 - Goal 3: Foster a supportive and collaborative learning environment.
Actions.
Principle 2 - Goal 1: Provide Opportunities for all Carleton students to engage in entrepreneurship.
Principle 2 - Goal 2: Integrate business and technological knowledge through new learning opportunities.
Principle 3 - Goal 1: Help to accelerate the regional ecosystem of world-class technology companies.
Strive for Sustainability (Link)
Student Mental Health Framework (Link)
Students and Enrolment Strategic Plan (Link)
Goal 1-2: Implement new software to manage exams and accommodations for students with disabilities.
Goal 2-3: Develop a sophisticated virtual tour to share with students to engage their interest in Carleton.
[1] Green, R. (2014). The Delphi technique in educational research.
[2] Neelakantan, S. (2020). Successful examples of AI in higher education
[3] Ullman, E. (2020). How Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used in higher education.
[4] Ekowo, M., and Palmer, I. (2016). The promise and peril of predictive analytics in higher education: A landscape analysis. New America: Education Policy.
[5] Ontario Government – Announcement re micro credentials