January 27, 2022

Data literacy for all

The University of Konstanz is one of the signatories of the German Stifterverband’s Data-Literacy-Charter and is committed to promoting data literacy among all its members and the public – as highlighted by its Advanced Data and Information Literacy Track (ADILT) programme.

This January (2022), the University of Konstanz signed the Data-Literacy-Charter initiated by the Stifterverband. By signing the charter, it recognizes data literacy as key competencies for all people in a world that is increasingly shaped by digitalization. The university also commits to fostering the acquisition of abilities associated with data literacy. An important pillar of this objective is the university’s Advanced Data and Information Literacy Track (ADILT) programme.

ADILT was launched in 2020 within the university’s e-science strategy, which is funded in the context of the German Excellence Strategy. ADILT is an interdisciplinary programme that allows students of all disciplines to supplement their specific curriculum with lectures and courses involving computer science basics, methods of data processing and their legal foundations, as well as reflection on the social relevance of data. It aims to teach students to handle data and information technically correctly, responsibly and in a well-informed manner. After completing the programme, participants are awarded the “ADILT certificate”.

The programme is accompanied by a lecture series that provides an overview of data-based methods and issues in digitalization and information literacy in addition to insights into different subject-specific and research topics. Teaching staff are encouraged to contribute to the ADILT lecture series, but also to attend the lectures themselves to exchange ideas with university teachers from other disciplines and to identify commonalities and opportunities for collaboration. ADILT also serves as an experimental space for structural and didactic innovation in digital teaching in which new course concepts and digital tools can be developed, tested and made available to all lecturers at the university. 

Some of the ADILT lectures are also open to the public. Additionally, the ADILT team runs a public blog featuring general topics involving data and information literacy education, along with information about public events and workshops. The team also collaborates with the Konstanz chapter of CorrelAid

Contact: Veronika Pöhnl, ADILT coordinator, Office for Curricular Affairs, University of Konstanz

Photo: University of Konstanz. Credit: Patrick Doodt © University of Konstanz

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