Activating community-led digital skills

Sections of this guide

1. Community-building fundamentals: available now, provides core principles for community building that you can apply to your learning and development community
2. Frameworks for recognition and motivation: available now, shares key considerations for building a recognition programme alongside your community to support motivation for digital skills development, with examples from HE and FE
3. Impact of peer learning and support: coming in our next release, will share stories of impact and tips on how to gather impact data for your own community
4. Fostering an organisational culture for digital development: coming in our next release, will share ideas of how leaders can be involved with digital skills development, and the culture needed to support digital skills development at scale

Community-building fundamentals

Communities can provide a scalable and authentic way to develop skills and address common educational challenges.

An effective learning/development community facilitates an environment to:

• identify champions and encourage the sharing of skills
• help peers to problem-solve collaboratively
• operate as a forum for questions and knowledge exchange
• identify key areas where learning and development may be required, and be an engaged distribution channel for those opportunities

There are common approaches you can take to drive community success, a number of which we will share in this guide. However, it is important to remember that each community is unique, and as such, the needs and expectations of its members will vary.

A key part of developing a successful community is to identify its core purpose and clear objectives. This will depend on your organisational goals, skills profile, structure, and the target audience you are hoping to engage.

It is also important to recognise that the community’s needs and how you deliver on those needs will not remain static. As a lead or facilitator. you will need to review and adjust your objectives throughout the community’s life cycle.

We advocate an approach of starting small, gathering data, learning and iterating – aligned with the minimum viable community (MVC) approach outlined by Rosie Sherry.

“Maintaining a wide community can be difficult, so starting small and having specific areas of focus can help this to grow"

-Louise Woodhouse, head of digital education, Weston College.

Community building foundations e-learning module

To help you start your journey and refresh your approach, we have developed an e-learning module for community builders, with sections on:

• community strategy
• platform
• tactics and engagement
• roles and responsibilities
• community events
• community content

Frameworks for recognition and motivation

Recognition and motivation can be central to the success of sustainable digital skills development. Whilst access to tools and training can provide a useful foundation, these factors alone are often insufficient to maintaining longer-term engagement.

Colleagues are more likely to invest time, energy and creativity into developing their digital practice when their efforts are acknowledged, valued and meaningfully recognised, both by peers and by the institution.

Across the sector, digital skills development can often take place informally: through conversations with colleagues, experimentation, peer support and participation in communities of practice.

Much of this learning remains unseen and unrewarded, particularly where professional development models focus narrowly on attendance, completion or compliance. Findings from our annual digital experience insights highlight this as a persistent challenge across both higher and further education, with many staff reporting that recognition and reward for developing digital skills remain limited at best.

As expectations around digital practice continue to increase, this lack of visibility and encouragement can impact greatly on staff motivation and confidence.

“It’s important that the time invested by staff to develop their skills is fully acknowledged and supported by the institution. In an ever-shifting digital landscape, we should strive to nurture a culture of curiosity and continuous professional learning.”

-Chris Melia, collaborative and digital practice lead, University of Lancashire.

Adopting a ‘community‑led’ approach reframes recognition as developmental rather than transactional. Instead of positioning recognition solely as a ‘reward’ at the end of a process, it becomes part of the learning journey itself. Structured pathways, milestones and opportunities for reflection help colleagues to see progress over time, build confidence and sustain engagement. Crucially, these models recognise not only individual capability, but also the social dimensions of digital practice, such as collaboration, influence, mentoring and shared problem‑solving.

Embedding our sector developed digital capabilities framework within recognition pathways strengthens this approach. The framework provides a shared, sector‑recognised language for digital capability, encompassing not only technical skills but also communication, collaboration, digital wellbeing, creativity, data literacy and professional identity. When recognition pathways are aligned to the framework, they help colleagues understand what they are developing and why it matters, whilst avoiding overly narrow or tool‑driven interpretations of digital skills.

“Embedding the Jisc Digital Capabilities framework provides a clear and consistent structure for staff digital development. It enables personalised learning pathways, enhances organisational digital efficiency, and simplifies the process of monitoring and evaluating - ultimately celebrating digital progress across the institution.

-Patrick Turner, IT systems trainer, Leeds Trinity University.

There is no single model for designing recognition pathways, and institutions may adopt different approaches depending on their context, culture and strategic priorities.

One key decision is whether to define pathways as role specific (eg academic, professional services), or to be flexible across any/all role types in the institution. Some considerations for each of these are listed below:

Role‑specific pathways

• Use role‑relevant examples, tools and expectations
• Can feel more relevant and immediately applicable
• Risk of reinforcing silos if pathways are too narrowly defined

Non-role-specific pathways

• Designed to work across all role types – with shared language and capabilities
• Helps foster a sense of shared responsibility for digital capability
• May not feel as relatable – leading to lower staff engagement

Many institutions adopt hybrid approaches, combining a shared recognition structure with flexibility in how evidence is generated and presented. For example, some institutions will implement a shared set of digital capability badges or criteria, while allowing teams or departments to choose the types of activities, artefacts, or reflections that best demonstrate their practice. This gives staff a clear framework to follow but the autonomy to share their learning in ways that feel authentic and relevant to their role.

Examples of tiered development recognition frameworks

University of Lancashire: DigiLearn programme

A tiered model can work effectively across both role‑specific and non-role-specific approaches.

In 2018, the University of Lancashire established their non-role-specific ‘DigiLearn’ framework, consisting of three progressive levels of recognition – each with a corresponding descriptor, emphasising a transition from initial self-development (Practitioner), through to wider impact and influence (Advocate/Champion).

• Practitioner: focuses on developing confident, inclusive digital practice. Evidence may differ by role (eg teaching design, service processes, collaboration tools), but alignment to shared capability areas ensures consistency and clarity
• Advocate: recognises colleagues who support others through sharing practice and encouraging peer development. This level works particularly well across roles, as advocacy is often transferable across teams and disciplines
• Champion: acknowledges sustained impact and contribution to digital culture. A professional dialogue and portfolio‑based approach allows individuals to demonstrate evidence in ways that are meaningful within their context, while remaining aligned to the programme framework and values

Following their lead, other FE and HE institutions have developed frameworks which adopt a similar ‘tiered’ approach to DigiLearn. In each of these examples, the model has been adapted and re-contextualised to focus on local strategy and key priorities.

DN Colleges Group: DN digital skills programme

The DN Digital Skills Community was established to address the growing need for digital skills among staff. It began as a response to feedback from colleagues who wanted more peer support, practical resources, and recognition for their digital learning. The community was formed through initial workshops and discussions, leading to a structured approach with regular activities and a digital badge system.

Phil Whitehead, director - digital, academic and customer services, DN Colleges, shared three key things he’s learned from setting up the programme:

• Recognition matters: the digital badge scheme motivates participants by providing tangible recognition for learning and sharing
• Peer support is powerful: Engagement increases when staff see colleagues leading sessions and sharing real experiences
• Peer support is powerful: engagement increases when staff see colleagues leading sessions and sharing real experiences

Download the framework for how to gain badges in the DN Digital Skills programme.

Embedding your own framework

Using a common structure across levels helps colleagues understand progression, while flexible evidence models ensure recognition remains relevant and motivating.

Within a broader digital capability strategy, recognition acts as a catalyst. When aligned to shared frameworks, informed by sector insight and designed to support both individual and collective development, recognition signals that digital skills development is valued, supported and embedded within professional practice. This guide positions recognition and motivation as mutually reinforcing, helping institutions address recognised sector gaps and create cultures where digital capability is visible, celebrated and collectively owned.

Our project working group highlighted a strong emphasis on the role of digital badges and physical lanyards as powerful motivators within digital skills programmes.

Contributors explained that these visible markers of progress help colleagues understand the levels of development within a programme and provide a tangible sense of achievement. Staff respond well to recognition systems that make progress visible, whether through badges, awards or peer‑focused platforms such as colleague spotlights.

In this section of the guide is a short checklist of things that can help to make your recognition programme relevant and effective.

Checklist for recognition and motivation

• Use visible recognition tools: digital badges to represent levels of development and evidence achievement. Physical lanyards and pin badges to spark conversations, demonstrate programme participation, and introduce friendly competition between colleagues
• Highlight time‑saving benefits: demonstrate how digital skills can save time and streamline tasks. Acknowledge that time can also be a barrier and design support to fit around workload
• Recognise achievements publicly: use awards, spotlights, and shout‑outs to maintain momentum. Celebrate achievements at all levels to encourage ongoing participation.
• Make digital skills meaningful and relevant: connect development to real tasks, teaching practice, or everyday digital workflows
• Address localised needs: demonstrate how digital support can solve specific departmental or role‑based problems
• Celebrate small journeys: recognise incremental progress - not just advanced technical accomplishments
• Narrow the focus to avoid overwhelm: limit the scope to key digital tools or practices rather than ‘everything digital'

Impact of peer learning and support

For our next release we want to hear from you with your stories about the impact of communities on your development, or the development of your teams.

We would love to hear stories from a range of different perspectives. Please get in touch by completing our stories form, and your story could feature in our resources.

We’d love to hear from you if you are:

• a member of an in-house staff community for building digital capabilities/skills
• a community-lead for in-house community at your college or university that helps build staff digital capabilities/skills
• a member of any wider community that helps you build digital skills and practice
• someone involved in facilitating a community for cross-sector/multiple organisations, on any topic related to digital

Your contribution can be anonymous or you can share your details with us.