Liz Starbuck Greer shares a personal lesson in the difference between digital confidence and digital competence.
Those of you who saw my presentation at MoodleMoot Global 2025 or heard our recent podcast will know about my fascination with digital capital as a way to understand the different experiences and outcomes of our learners.
Digital capital — the combination of access, skills, experience, and social support that shapes how effectively a person can use digital tools and participate in online environments — can help explain why individual learners experience the same courses differently.
While access to technology may be a first step in bridging this “digital divide”, it doesn’t lead to equality or advancement on its own. How we use technology and what for — and the extent of the benefits we receive from that usage — are all part of the wider picture. By thinking holistically about the digital advantages or disadvantages our learners might bring into our virtual learning environment, we can design learning experiences that enable better outcomes for all.
When access wasn’t the problem
Here’s a real story to illustrate the concept. My son, like many other young people, was deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He had moved up to high school only a few months before the UK went into lockdown, and was still getting to know the new norms and expectations of this unfamiliar world, when schools closed and he was suddenly thrown into emergency online learning.
While I struggled to quell the demands of 300 angry business school students, manage stressed and anxious staff and faculty, and support a younger child who needed real time supervision, my son sank slowly into a quiet disaffection.
We were better situated than many people. We had a good, strong internet connection, multiple devices and a decent amount of technical know-how between us. My husband and I worked professional jobs requiring daily use of technology, and had both done a certain amount of online learning in our time. I had even designed and built online courses in the past, and was literally in the process of turning a whole MBA program into an [admittedly imperfect] online learning experience.
Also — having grown up overseas — our children were used to connecting with family and friends over technology, and despite my continued requests that he get outside on his bike instead, my son was a competent and enthusiastic gamer. As a family, we were pretty high on the digital capital scale.
We only knew something was wrong when a teacher alerted us that our son was behind on his work and hadn’t been turning up for his scheduled online classes. We were disappointed in him and ourselves, realising too late that he wasn’t old enough to make good choices when the rules and routines of school “in real life” were removed.
Hundreds of “Untitled Documents”
After a serious conversation and tears all round, we sat down to figure out what he needed to do to catch up. I asked him to pull up the exercise he was working on, and he opened his school drive to hundreds of versions of ‘Untitled Document’.
“It’s in one of these. Or maybe the questions are in the chat. Or they might be on email”
It quickly became clear that we’d completely misjudged the situation. He didn’t know how to title a document or create a folder. His typing was slow and basic. He didn’t know where to find the work he needed to complete. He didn’t know how to write or send an email if he had a question. Different teachers used different channels to transmit the work and to receive it and he had no idea what he was meant to be doing and when.
We’d made the assumption that because he was confident and capable of using technology in a social capacity, he would know how to use it as an online learner. But the skills and norms of using technology in an educational capacity were no more obvious to him than the intricacies of Fortnite were to me. And while the school was trying their best in difficult circumstances, every inconsistent process and expectation made him more confused and less likely to succeed. I guess I just assumed they’d be better at it. No doubt exactly what my students were saying about me and their faculty. Whoever’s fault it was, my son had got lost and left behind, and he’d simply given up.
Designing for the digital reality our learners bring
As I reflect on what we could all have done differently, I return to the concept of digital capital. We had the technology and resources my son needed to succeed, but we made assumptions about his digital skills and confidence in the online world. Strength in one digital arena doesn’t promise success in another.
Although this was an unprecedented and unplanned learning scenario, it is just as real an issue today. It’s easy to assume that an online learner has the digital skills they need to succeed, but not all learners will have come to online learning by choice and their ability to use technology socially doesn’t necessarily translate. Until they get started, they don’t know what they don’t know.
The choices made by my son’s teachers led to inconsistent expectations, processes and approaches to using technology. While we all like the freedom to design and deliver our courses as we choose, we may be making things more difficult for our learners than they need to be.
Clarity and consistency in structure and signposting can help all learners, but may be especially valuable to those with low levels of digital capital. Instructors and learning designers can also develop learners’ skills and confidence by providing clear instructions for tasks, modelling expectations for learner interactions, and checking in when someone seems to be falling behind.
Thankfully my son pulled through, and although I can’t say he was unscathed by the experience he’s managed to move on to bigger and better things. Remember him when you’re designing your next online learning experience, and don’t forget Moodle’s super power: its community of supportive colleagues who are ready to help.
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