Discovery Tool
The Jisc Discovery Tool helps helps you to develop your digital skills with structured guidance and an opportunity for you to reflect on your current confidence and experience across different digital tools and tasks.
You can use the tool as a bank of resources to help you with your digital assessments or personal projects. You can also answer short question sets to record and understand the digital skills, understanding and confidence that you are developing during your time at university.
Getting started
Go to the Discovery Tool – we use single sign-on, so you should be signed in automatically.
The first time you access the tool, you will need to complete a short registration form. Please check that the details are correct before submitting. If the ‘Level of Course’ field in the form shows ‘FE’, please change this to your correct HE level of study.
If you are having difficulties with single sign-on, please check the Discovery tool: student guide, which provides alternative instructions for accessing the tool.
Key digital themes
The Discovery Tool is organised into themes, which relate to your level of study or your specific interests and needs.
Each themed page is divided into two parts: resources to support and inspire you; and a question set that will help you to identify your current experience and confidence and provide you with personalised tips for developing your digital skills and understanding.
These links will take you directly to the key Discovery Tool themes – please note they will only work if you are registered as a student:
- Essential digital skills – build confidence and develop essential digital skills for daily life
- New students – start here if you are preparing for or have just started your university course
- Overall digital capabilities – move beyond the essentials to explore a wider range digital skills as you advance through your studies
- Digital skills in AI and generative AI – gain understanding and confidence in using AI tools effectively and responsibly
- Recognising digital skills for employability – develop a range of digital skills that could help you prepare for and thrive in the world of work
- Cybersecurity and online safety – learn how to protect yourself from online threats, from fraud to cyberbullying (this theme has resources only).
Understanding your digital skills
If you complete a question set, you will receive a personalised report with detailed insights into your current digital skills and experience, as well as relevant resources and suggestions for further development.
Each question in a set consists of two parts:
- a multiple-choice component, in which you select the statements or scenarios that match your experience
- a slide bar component, in which you record your confidence in that area of digital capabilities.
Some question sets are longer than others, but the Discovery Tool allows you to save your answers and exit at any point, so you can return and finish later. It is always better to answer each question thoughtfully and carefully, rather than trying to rush through to the end.
Your answers and your report are completely anonymous and personal to you and cannot be accessed by anyone else. However, you can choose to share your report by downloading a PDF copy. This could be helpful when talking with your tutor, a digital learning advisor or others who can help you to identify other opportunities to develop your skills.
All your Discovery Tool reports are saved in the ‘My content’ area. If you repeat a question set, you can compare your earlier results with your current report to understand how your digital skills and confidence are developing over time.
Developing your digital capabilities
The Discovery Tool is based upon the JISC digital capabilities framework (PDF), which is used by the University of Leeds to help staff and students to identify and develop the skills and attributes that are needed to live, learn and work in a digital society. Each event in our Digital capabilities programme is clearly linked to the framework to make it easier for you to act on any areas for development highlighted in your Discovery Tool report.