Equipping students and staff with digital skills for the future
Technological advancements are rapidly reshaping how we work, learn, connect and interpret the world around us. With the pace of change accelerating, employers increasingly require graduates with the knowledge and skills to take advantage of new digital tools. That’s where LSE’s Digital Skills Lab comes in. Since its founding in 2018, the Digital Skills Lab has aimed to help students become digitally confident social scientists and gain the tech skills needed to thrive in workplaces today, tomorrow and beyond.
“I think what we do is unique in the sector,” said Jeni Brown, Head of the Digital Skills Lab and Deputy Director of Student Learning and Personal Development. “We’re lucky that, as a social science university with a relatively small student body, we’re able to deliver tailored support services for our students that are designed to meet their specific needs.”
The Lab’s approach includes a series of hands-on, in-person experiential workshops which students can register for based on their interest in learning a particular tool or skill. These workshops focus on problem-based learning, inviting students to build knowledge and confidence by working individually and with classmates to explore real-world scenarios using digital tools.
We try to create a learning environment that allows students to spend more time on topics that feel more relevant to them or that they're struggling with, and to skip over things that they don't need to know or are already comfortable with. The most important skill we teach is how to learn about technology. We run classes focused on many different tools, but the more important aspect is teaching students how to search for information about technology, evaluate it and apply it to their context.
Undergraduate and master’s students make up the majority of those currently served by the Digital Skills Lab, but the Lab’s staff also offer services for PhD students with ambition to serve many more in the future. “As technology advances, more people will need to use digital tools for a variety of different kinds of work,” said Brown. “We believe we can help our researchers understand the range of tools available and how to use them efficiently.”
With the staff and resources at its disposal, the Digital Skills Lab is currently able to provide direct support to about 20 per cent of LSE students in a given year. However, the Lab hopes to grow to the point that it can help the entire LSE community develop its digital skillset and confidence. “Everyone's life is touched by technology in some way,” said Brown about the Lab’s desire to reach more LSE students and staff. “We all use tools to the extent that we are capable, but we could probably use them better. If everyone had access to the support they needed, to help them transition from digital literacy to digital fluency, it would make for better quality and more efficient work. It would make everyone's job easier and their output better.”
With a new School-wide focus on AI and other developing technologies, the entire LSE community is paying close attention to the role that digital tools can play in enhancing learning, powering new research and solving global challenges. As a result, the demand for digital skills among the School’s students and staff – and therefore the importance of the Digital Skills Lab in supporting the development of those skills – is likely to continue to rise in the near future.
One important aspect of this effort is the recognition that technology shouldn't just be left to computer scientists. Technology really needs to be available to, and used in a smart and effective way by, absolutely everyone. We need to ensure that social scientists in particular, who want to have a positive impact on the world and understand the causes of things, are equipped to use this technology to further their efforts. We need to empower all our staff and students to use these tools - it’s a key part of LSE’s mission.
