In 2019, Trinity College adopted a Digital Liberal Arts Framework (https://edtech.domains.trincoll.edu/digital-liberal-arts-framework/). This framework offers students opportunities to reflect on and develop digital skills in the following areas: information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation and making, safety, and problem solving. The goal of the DLAF is not simply to provide opportunities for students to become proficient in different technologies, but rather to create an environment in which exposure to digital scholarship, training, and tools can provide students with perspectives to enhance their overall liberal arts education.

Our framework draws on a model proposed by the European Union (https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/digcomp-21-digital-competence-framework-citizens-eight-proficiency-levels-and-examples-use) and builds on earlier adaptations proposed by other liberal arts colleges (such as Bryn Mawr’s: https://www.brynmawr.edu/digitalcompetencies). The DLAF deliberately defines the “Safety” area broadly to include intersections of technology with physical and mental health, covering topics from ergonomic device use to developing healthy emotional boundaries with social media.

To put into practice the theory behind the DLAF, we are building a digital platform on Domains for resources to help our students navigate their academic, social, and personal lives at Trinity, which we are calling the Digital Toolkit. Domains is the perfect platform for our toolkit because it is not software specific, but rather, offers a multitude of digital tools to think with as our students define their scholarly paths in the liberal arts. Using custom templates built in WordPress, we will create resource guides on topics previously covered in workshops on digital health and wellness, productivity, and digital safety and security. The flexibility of Domains allows us to incorporate virtually any digital format into our toolkit (we are exploring Scalar as a platform for future resources, as well, as piloted here: https://dsp.domains.trincoll.edu/fake-news/fake-news/index) and provides for a high level of collaboration.

We are piloting the toolkit by creating guides especially for first-year students. We have surveyed the faculty, first-year mentors, and other key stakeholders to identify topics on which first-year students would benefit from further support. Sample suggested topics include “how to write a professional email, how to approach office hours, how to start a research project, how to manage stress, etc.” We will then work with library staff, first-year program staff, and first-year faculty to collect a diverse range of resources to provide students on topics that often fall through the cracks of instructions offered at orientation, by an RA, or appearing on the syllabus. We are also building with co-creation in mind; we will create these guides with students, for students, and we will regularly revise them to reflect the changing needs of our population. This toolkit is intended to serve as an a la carte menu from which faculty and campus offices may select relevant topics to link to on Moodle, our learning management system.