Digital Well-Being in Higher Education

Higher Ground is an exploratory podcast series that seeks to answer the questions, “What issues related to engagement, safety, and environment are on the minds of the Higher Education community right now”, and “What more can we explore about them?” In this series, our goal is to inspire expanded research on these top-of-mind topics by speaking to experts from the U.S. Department of Education and other Federal agencies. It also highlights the voices of faculty, administrators, student affairs professionals, and students. The series is hosted by Dr. Jamie Muskopf, Higher Education Task Lead for the National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE).

In this episode of Higher Ground, we explore the critical topic of digital well-being in higher education with insights from both Sara Trettin of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and Laurie Fritsch, Assistant Director of Wellness from Virginia Tech.

• Sara discusses the Department’s focus on digital health, safety, and citizenship, highlighting their new initiatives to bridge the digital divides in access, usage, and design. She also touches on the importance of co-designing device policies with students to foster healthier tech habits.
   
• Laurie then shares her journey of promoting digital mindfulness at Virginia Tech, starting with small, targeted interventions that grew into comprehensive campus-wide initiatives like the four-week Digital Well-being Challenge. From classroom tools to community programs like phone boxes and conversation cards, Laurie emphasizes the importance of collaboration with students and faculty. She discusses how these efforts helped Virginia Tech become the world's first digitally well university and offers advice on how institutions can take small steps to create a lasting impact in digital wellbeing.

Resources Shared by Sara Trettin in This Episode

• Planning Together: A Playbook for Student Personal Device Policies

You can read the press release about the playbook on the U.S. Department of Education website.

Resources Shared by Laurie Fritsch in This Episode

• Coalition for Collegiate Digital Well-Being’s Digital Well-Being Action Planning Worksheet
• Coalition for Collegiate Digital Well-Being Interest Form

You can learn more about Virginia Tech’s Digital Well-Being Program and the Weekly Digital Well-Being Challenges mentioned in this podcast on the Hokie Wellness website.

Outline of Discussion

Time Stamp	Question / Topic Discussed
0:00 - 2:00	Introduction to Digital Well-Being in Higher Education: Overview of the "Higher Ground" podcast series and the focus on digital well-being
2:01 - 6:45	Understanding the U.S. Department of Education's Approach: Sara Trettin explains digital divides and the Department's focus on digital health, safety, and citizenship.
6:46 - 9:00	Specific Resources and Their Relevance to Higher Education: The co-designed Planning Together: A Playbook for Student Personal Device Policies and the Kids Online Health and Safety Task Force report, and their potential applications in higher education.
9:01 - 11:30	Connecting Digital Citizenship to Higher Education: The importance of digital citizenship education and the need for faculty modeling and open communication with students.
11:31 - 14:55	Virginia Tech's Journey to Becoming a Digitally Well University: Laurie Fritsch’s background and the initial observations that led to the focus on digital well-being.
14:56 - 22:00	Implementing Digital Well-Being Practices at Virginia Tech: Integrating digital well-being into existing programs, community-based interventions, and the digital well-being challenge.
22:01 - 26:19	Lessons Learned and Future Directions: Advice for other institutions, the formation of the digital well-being coalition, and the need for better measurement tools.

Transcript

View Episode Transcript Here

For all questions or feedback, you can email NCSSLE@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, these podcasts do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor do they imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.