Embedding authentic, engaging, and practical digital literacy skills into phonetics learning through interactive tools, online assessments, and creative multimedia projects.
Our challenge
The world is becoming increasingly digital, with mobile devices now rivalling or surpassing traditional computers in capability. While today’s students are highly familiar with everyday technology use, this does not necessarily mean they have the full range of digital literacies needed for academic study and professional work.
To help our students thrive in an ever-changing digital world, I integrated a number of methods to develop their digital capabilities in phonetics teaching. These digital skills are mapped to the six interconnected areas of digital competence outlined in the Jisc Digital Capability Framework (https://digitalcapability.jisc.ac.uk/what-is-digital-capability/individual-digital-capabilities/).
The six areas Jisc identified are as follows:
The first area is ICT (Information and Communication Technology) proficiency, which means having the basic skills to use digital devices, software, and online services effectively. This includes things like navigating learning platforms and using specialist programs.
The second area is information, data and media literacy. This involves being able to find, evaluate, organise, and create different types of information and media. For example, students learn how to locate reliable research sources and manage data files, which are essential skills in academic study.
Next is digital communication, collaboration and participation. This covers how students use digital tools to communicate with others, work together on projects, and engage in online communities. Activities like working on shared documents or taking part in live polls during class help build these skills.
The fourth area is digital learning and development. This relates to using technology to support ongoing learning and professional growth. Students develop skills with software and tools that they can apply both in their studies and future careers.
Digital creation, problem solving and innovation is the fifth area. This focuses on using digital tools to create content and solve problems in creative and practical ways. Examples include making videos for presentations or adapting assessments to be more accessible using online platforms.
Finally, digital identity and wellbeing involves managing your online presence, protecting privacy, and maintaining a healthy relationship with digital technology. This means thinking about things like getting consent before sharing recordings and balancing screen time with wellbeing.
Our solution (approach)
I embedded digital literacy into the phonetics curriculum by designing activities, assessments, and engagement tools that explicitly align with the six Jisc capabilities.
Canvas and Praat
Canvas serves as the digital hub of the course, training students in ICT proficiency and digital learning and development. By regularly using the platform for course materials, assignments, and discussions, students gain confidence in navigating and managing a professional-grade learning management system. This is a transferrable skill that will benefit them throughout their academic and professional careers.
The use of Praat goes a step further, directly linking technical software skills with disciplinary expertise. The hands-on sessions are not just about learning a tool; they are about using that tool to engage with information, data, and media literacies. Students learn to systematically handle linguistic data, including but not limited to downloading, storing, annotating, modifying, analysing, and saving audio files. These skills directly enhances students’ ICT literacy and are critical for any career involving data management and interpretation. This deepens students’ understanding of how digital tools can be used for scientific inquiry and research.
Inspera
The in-person dictation exam was moved to the online platform Inspera to address the growing challenge of accommodating a rising number of students with Student Support Plans requiring varied exam access arrangements.
Using Inspera allows students to control the pace of the dictation playback, ensuring fairness by removing issues such as different distances from the demonstrator in an in-person setting. It also helps students develop competence in using secure, high-stakes assessment systems — a skill with relevance far beyond university, supporting lifelong learning and future professional requirements.
Having exams on Inspera is an example of problem solving in action: improving accessibility, maintaining academic integrity, and equipping students with transferable digital skills for education and life.
Vevox
Vevox is used in lectures for live polls, word clouds, and Q&A activities. This makes learning more interactive, giving students real-time feedback and encouraging participation from those who might be less confident speaking up. It also develops digital communication skills, preparing students to engage with collaborative technologies they are likely to encounter in professional and academic contexts.
By working with features such as live polling and audience interaction tools, students gain hands-on experience with digital methods for presenting information, collecting audience input, and facilitating discussions. These are valuable skills for professional settings such as client meetings, conference presentations, training sessions, and community engagement events, where clear, interactive communication is key.
Video creation
Videos are used in the Socio-Phonetics Oscar project, a formative group assessment where students create a seven-minute presentation on an English accent. The preferred output is a popular science style video, presenting well-researched concepts in an engaging and accessible way. Students who have limited access to video editing software or are unfamiliar with video production can choose to present using a traditional PowerPoint format instead, ensuring that no one is disadvantaged by their level of prior digital skills or available resources.
This assignment aims to integrate media literacy and creativity by building technical skills in video production, editing, and visual storytelling. It also strengthens collaboration skills as students work together on research, scripting, and design. Students are introduced to ethical considerations, including obtaining consent from interviewees and deciding whether to share their work on a dedicated social media account. These processes encourage reflection on digital identity and wellbeing.
The impact (results)
Bringing a range of digital tools into phonetics teaching has boosted both student engagement and digital literacy.
Students liked using Inspera because it let them play exam recordings at their own pace, giving everyone the same chance to work under fair and consistent conditions. Vevox in lectures helped more students get involved, especially those who were less confident speaking up in front of the class. When asked whether the quizzes were helpful or disruptive, most said they found them a good way to consolidate what they had learned rather than a distraction.
Some tools were trickier to pick up at first but paid off in the end. For example, Praat, the professional acoustic analysis program, felt like a steep climb at the start. By the end of term, though, students on our phonetics modules were much more confident with it and showed stronger digital literacy skills than many of their peers.
Together, these activities not only deepened students’ knowledge of phonetics but also built practical skills in digital communication, content creation, and problem solving – skills that will be useful in their future work as speech and language therapists and in many other careers.
Lessons learned
Clear communication and setting expectations upfront was one of the most important factors in making these digital tools work well. I shared the objectives for using each method, surveyed student preferences when possible, and made sure to tell them the format of these tasks as early as I could to give them plenty of notice. When students understood the skills they would gain and why these tools matter beyond the classroom, their motivation and engagement were noticeably higher.
Another key lesson was the value of giving students choices whenever possible. For example, in the Socio-Phonetics Oscar project, I let students decide whether to create a video or use a traditional PowerPoint presentation. This flexibility helped avoid disadvantaging anyone, especially those less familiar with video editing software.
Despite all the benefits of using digital methods, there are still challenges along the way. For instance, Inspera does not yet support the International Phonetic Alphabet very well, and I am still working with the Digital Exams team to find better solutions. Also, designing effective Vevox questions and choosing the best formats can be a time sink for lecturers.
Tips for colleagues
When adopting digital tools, it’s helpful to provide students with clear guidance and opportunities to practice early on, and to encourage peer support so they can learn from each other. Regularly gathering student feedback can help fine-tune activities to better meet their needs. It’s also important to connect the digital skills they’re building to real-world applications, boosting their motivation and understanding of relevance. Finally, being mindful of ensuring equitable access to technology is also very important.
Looking ahead, I plan to expand the use of digital tools by integrating more collaborative online platforms, which can further enhance engagement and life-long learning skills. I am also exploring ways to improve accessibility, such as better support for phonetic symbols in assessment software and providing more tailored tutorials for complex tools like Praat. In sharing these digital teaching practices, I hope to help build a wider culture of digital literacy, benefiting students across disciplines.
Skills and attributes
Students were able to develop the following attributes:
Education for Life Strategy
This case study reflects the following aims of the Education for Life strategy:
- Equity: To provide a core, universal offer for all students, including tailored provision where needed, to ensure equity of access, experience and in outcomes for all, regardless of background, identity, nationality, location or mode of study.
- Encounters with the Leading Edge: To put at the heart of our curriculum and learning experiences, encounters with our world leading research and the leading edge of industry and practice.
- Fit for the future: To ensure our students are fit for their future, our teaching is fit for the future of our offer, and our colleagues are fit for the future of HE
Further resources
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Authors
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Dr Cong Zhang Lecturer in Phonetics and Phonology School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences |