Call for Proposals: 3T’s Engaging Students with Transliteracy, Technology and Teaching

The  3T’s Engaging Students with Transliteracy, Technology and Teaching has put out a call for proposals.

Call for Proposals (deadline December 1, 2011)

3Ts 2012: Engaging Students with Teaching, Technology, and Transliteracy.

• Do you collaborate with colleagues, using various technologies that have created an effective learning module?
• Have you created a successful teaching collaboration with colleagues that incorporates technology and/or with emphasis on metaliteracy?
• Do you use a mode of metaliteracy or transliteracy that you have found to be effective?
• Are you using innovative technologies to assist with learning in the classroom and/or virtually?
• Do you use your students’ fluency across media, modes, and disciplines to enhance their learning experiences?
• Have you been successful in blending various modes of technology into your teaching?
• Are you interested in integrating technology and transliteracy into your teaching?
• Do you use teaching models that include team-based or project based-learning in conjuction with any 21st Century literacy?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, the conference planning committee for The 3 T’s: Exploring New Frontiers in Teaching, Technology, and Transliteracy wants YOU to submit a proposal here:

Proposal Form: http://bit.ly/tOxJIO

Don’t miss out on your chance to share your innovative classroom methods and achievements!

Proposals should address the following questions:

• How have you drawn upon metaliteracy or transliteracy to support student learning?
• How have underlying principles and theories guided your inclusion of a specific technology or technologies in the classroom?
• How did teaching and technology connect to improve both technological literacy and learning?
• How has your teaching style or method changed as technology is now infused into your course?

As proposals undergo a peer-reviewprocess, emphasis on the following are highly encouraged:

• Connecting theory to practice as discussed and modeled through your proposal, presentation, and delivery
• Collaborative projects/lesson plans that could include (but are not limited to) cross-disciplinary teaching, faculty/librarian partnerships, partnerships with instructional designers and librarians or faculty, and K-12/college experiences

Proposals can include any meaningful integration of technology and teaching used to support the growing number of literacies students need for learning and succeeding in today’s information-rich academic and professional worlds.

Possible tracks and technologies might include:

Literacies:

• Information literacy
• Visual literacy
• Digital literacy
• Media literacy
• Cultural literacy
• Critical literacy

Technologies:

• Open Source
• Web 2.0
• Social Networking (Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Ning)
• Mobile Technology (Mobile apps, texting)
• Classroom Technologies (Smartboards, Tablets)
• Collaborative Technology (Wikis)
• Multimedia (Podcasts, Vcasts)

Conference sessions will consist of 45 minutes speaking/workshop time with 15 minutes allocated for Q&A  OR a 2 hour hands on interactive workshop.

Questions regarding proposals can be asked of Mark McBride at mcbridmf@buffalostate.edu

Submissions must be received by December 1st. Participants will be notified by December 15th.

New National Digital Literacy Portal

On Friday the 13th of May the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the launch of their National Digital Literacy Portal at digitalliteracy.gov.

While, I applaud these efforts I’m not sure that an online resource on digital literacy skills is going to reach the people who need it the most. The good news is it makes a great resource for those of us in libraries teaching these skills.  It includes sections such as Learn the Basics, Learn Job Skills that appear to be aimed at the general public (but also useful for us) in addition to educator specific sections such as Find Educator Tools and Browse Resources.

From the Press Release

“Technology is the key to jobs in today’s economy, but more people need access to computers and the ability to use them,” U.S. Senator Ben Cardin said. “Coppin State University’s community computer center is at the forefront of ensuring that Marylanders have the skills they need to succeed and find jobs. This computer center will help make technology more accessible, and the new website – DigitalLiteracy.gov – will provide people with the computer and Internet skills needed for the digital age.”

The FAQ sheet:

Fact Sheet: Digital Literacy

We Live in an Internet Economy

• Global online transactions currently total an estimated $10 trillion annually.[i] In the United States alone, according to the U.S. Census, domestic online transactions in 2008 were estimated to total $3.7 trillion annually.[ii]
• By one estimate, American jobs related to the Internet contributed an estimated $300 billion of economic activity to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2009.[iii]

Digital Literacy is Necessary for Today’s Jobs

• Ninety-six percent of working Americans use new communications technologies as part of their daily life, while sixty-two percent of working Americans use the Internet as an integral part of their jobs.[iv]
• Between 1998 and 2008, the number of domestic IT jobs grew by 26 percent, four times faster than U.S. employment as a whole. By 2018, IT employment is expected to grow by another 22 percent.[v]
• According to one estimate, as of 2009, advertising-supported Internet services directly or indirectly employed three million Americans, 1.2 million of whom hold jobs that did not exist two decades ago.[vi]
• High-speed Internet access and online skills are not only necessary for seeking, applying for, and getting today’s jobs, but also to take advantage of the growing educational, civic, and health care advances spurred by broadband. For example, an increasing amount of activities – such as taking college classes, monitoring chronic medical conditions, renewing your driver’s license, tracking your child’s school assignments  – are now commonly conducted online.

Digital Literacy Training is Needed

• Despite the growing importance of the Internet in American life, 28 percent of Americans do not use the Internet at all.[vii]
  • Nearly one-third of U.S. households (32 percent) lack broadband service.[viii]
  • The two most commonly cited reasons for not having broadband Internet access at home are that it is perceived as not needed (46 percent) or too expensive (25  percent).[ix]
  • There are notable disparities between demographic groups: people with low incomes, disabilities, seniors, minorities, the less-educated, non-family households, and the non-employed tend to lag behind other groups in home broadband use.[x]
  • While there is no single solution to closing the broadband adoption gap, increasing digital literacy skills among non-users is key to bringing them online and opening doors to opportunity.

DigitalLiteracy.gov Provides Easy Access to Free Resources and Tools

• www.DigitalLiteracy.gov is an online portal that makes it easy to find resources and tools that teach computer and online skills. Practitioners in service-oriented organizations — such as libraries, schools, community centers, community colleges, and workforce training centers — can provide feedback on and share digital literacy content and practices. Anyone can use the web portal to identify the skills needed for various jobs, locate suitable training, and search for employment.

DigitalLiteracy.gov Includes:

• Workforce development materials such as tutorials, presentations, and reports that teach individuals how to find a job, create a resume, and use productivity software such as word processing and spreadsheets.
• Curriculum materials such as lesson plans, student handouts, and class exercises that teach basic computer and online skills in formal and informal classroom settings.
• Train-the-trainer materials such as presentations, handouts, and exercises used to teach individuals how to teach digital literacy skills to others.
• Games and interactive tutorials that teach digital literacy skills to various audiences through active use.
• Reports and articles on a range of digital literacy topics.

Interactive and User-Friendly Features

• Easy Navigation: A user-friendly taxonomy and search feature helps visitors find resources by general topic, skill type, skill level, format, audience, user-rating, and keywords.
• Collaboration: Discussion threads allow users to post comments and share ideas on a wide-range of digital literacy topics.
• Rating System: A star rating system allows visitors to provide feedback on resources.

Digital Literacy Partners

• DigitalLiteracy.gov was created by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in collaboration with the Department of Education and other federal agencies: the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Federal Communications Commission, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor.
• DigitalLiteracy.gov augments NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, a Recovery Act grant program that is investing in projects to expand broadband access and adoption in America. Many of these projects are teaching digital literacy skills, and www.DigitalLiteracy.gov is a central location where grantees can upload and share content and best practices with other practitioners and the general public, leveraging the value of these projects. In launching www.DigitalLiteracy.gov, NTIA is building on knowledge gained from managing its broadband grants program in order to provide digital literacy resources to all Americans.
• NTIA is partnering with the American Library Association and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to promote the use of the portal by the nation’s 16,600 public libraries where, in 2009, over 30 million people used computers to seek and apply for jobs.

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[i] Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), The Internet Economy 25 Years After .com  (Mar. 15, 2010), http://www.itif.org/publications/internet-economy-25-years-after-com.

[ii] U.S. Census Bureau, E-Stats, May 27, 2010, http://www.census.gov/estats/2008/2008reportfinal.pdf.

[iii] See John Deighton et al., Economic Value of the Advertising-Supported Internet Ecosystem (2009) at 12, available at http://www.iab.net/media/file/Economic-Value-Report.pdf.

[iv] Pew Internet and American Life Project, Most Working Americans Now Use The Internet or Email at Their Jobs, Sept. 24, 2008, http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Networked-Workers/1-Summary-of-Findings.aspx.

[v] U.S. Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force, Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework, Green Paper (Dec. 2010),  http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/2010/IPTF_Privacy_GreenPaper_12162010.pdf.

[vi]Economic Value of the Advertising-Supported Internet Ecosystem at 6.

[vii]Digital Nation: Expanding Internet Usage, NTIA Research Preview (Feb. 2011) at 5,http://www.ntia.doc.gov/reports/2011/NTIA_Internet_Use_Report_February_2011.pdf.

[viii] Id. at 2.

[ix] Id. at 24.

[x] Id. at 2.

Read more

• Federal Government to Launch Online Digital Literacy Portal
• Secretary Locke Announces Digital Literacy Initiative
• Digital Literacy Initiative Aims to Help Americans Build Online Skills
• ALA collaborates with NTIA to launch, enhance DigitalLiteracy.gov

What is a Digital Literacy?

In What Are Digital Literacies? Let’s Ask the Students Cathy Davidson talks about asking her students in “This Is Your Brain on the Internet” and “Twenty-First Century Literacies” (two classes I would love to take btw!) about digital literacies. Here is the list they came up with:

• Using online sources to network, knowledge-outreach, publicize content, collaborate and innovate
• Collecting, managing, and interpreting multimedia and online data and/or content
• Appreciating the complex ethics surrounding online practices
• Engaging successfully in an “Innovation Challenge,” an exercise in simultaneous multi-user, real-time distance collaboration, on deadline
• Developing a diversity of writing styles and modes of communication to best reach, address, and accommodate multiple audiences across multiple online platforms
• Demonstrating technical and media skills: Web video, WordPress, blogging, Google Docs, Livechat, Twitter, Facebook Groups, Wikipedia editing
• Participating successfully in peer leadership (without an authority figure as the leader to police, guide, or protect the collaborators), peer assessment, peer self-evaluation; making contributions to a group on a coherent and innovative project
• Cultivating strategies for managing the line between personal and professional life in visible, online communities
• Understanding how to transform complicated ideas and gut reactions about technology into flexible technology policy
• Learning how to champion the importance of the open Web and ‘Net Neutrality
• Collaborating across disciplines, working with people from different backgrounds and fields, including across liberal arts and engineering
• Understanding the complexity of copyright and intellectual property and the relationship between “open source” and “profitability” or “sustainability”
• Excelling in collaborative online publishing skills and expertise, from conception to execution to implementation to dissemination
• Incorporating technology efficiently and wisely into a specific classroom or work environment
• Leading peers in discussing the implications and ethics of intellectual collaborative discourse and engagement online and beyond
• Using the superior expertise of a peer to extend my own knowledge

So I thought I’d ask you, our readers, what do consider to be a digital literacy?

Knowledgeable to Knowledge-ABLE

I finally had a chance to watch Michael Wesch’s new TEDxKC talk (October, 2010).

When I went to find the code for the video, I came across this article he wrote on the same subject here in the Academic Commons.

This new media environment can be enormously disruptive to our current teaching methods and philosophies. As we increasingly move toward an environment of instant and infinite information, it becomes less important for students to know, memorize, or recall information, and more important for them to be able to find, sort, analyze, share, discuss, critique, and create information. They need to move from being simply knowledgeable to being knowledge-able.

His argument that we need to be able to find, sort, analyze and even create new information in a new media landscape is perfectly in line with the principles of Transliteracy, but the section I was most struck by was around 6:30 when he talks about students seeking meaning in their lives. Near the end he states, “meaning is not just something you find, but ultimately something you create.” As someone also working with young people, I know he’s absolutely right and I find myself thinking more about context.

Knowledge Ability changes over time, based on the communication environment they are in.

Media are not just tools, they mediate relationships and allow us to connect with each other. When media change, our relationships change. Does that sound familiar to anyone who read Transliteracy: Crossing Divides?

The literacies (digital, numerate, oral) may be different, but the transliteracies (social, economic, political) often transect them in similar ways, depending on cultural context.

Wesch says learning is not a one-way conversation anymore – I say neither is librarianship! The old model with youth was “sit-down, be quiet and take in what I tell/give you.” We need to find ways to transform the one-way into two-way conversations.

But here is my great challenge as a children’s librarian in a public library. How do I help teach this in my informal learning environment? How can I help students learn outside the classroom? Wesch’s quote from Neil Postman, “You will do nothing” is not an option for public librarians!

So, what AM I doing? I’m going to do a quick self-audit of Wesch’s criteria to make young people knowledge-able:

• Connect – We bring together students from across the district with shared interests through our programs and with their friends in the physical space. We’re working toward making our website/catalog (SOPAC) to become a social space where members can connect with each other through the site.
• Organize – I don’t think I’m doing much of anything to help them organize.
• Share – Our kids and teens have a voice. They can write comments on the website, write reviews in the catalog and I work hard to hire staff that listens and encourages the kids to share their stories and ideas.
• Collect – I guess we help kids collect their research, but most often kids come in when they’ve finished their web research and the teacher is making them use a book. The nature of our work as Librarians allows us ample opportunity to collect resources and make them available, but I don’t see us having much of a role in our patrons experience of collecting anything.
• Collaborate – Staff collaborates all the time using tools like google docs (I have introduced staff in other departments to these tools too) to plan summer reading programs, big events or preparing resource lists. Our Teen and  Kids Advisory Boards collaborate to plan events and collaborate with staff, and sometimes they may work together on a game or craft, but nothing I can identify as an organized effort in our department.
• Publish – We are experimenting with an elementary school class to digitally publish their personal narratives and make them available on the library’s website. Close, but an unfinished project. Some of us try to “publish” content the kids and teens make in programs, but there isn’t much more I see us doing to publish kids’ creations at the moment. I see lots of potential in this area for public librarians.

Sadly, this makes me realize I am doing a better job of providing this structure for my staff than I am for my patrons. The places I see this type of work happening in a public library are through programming and through our Reference/Reader’s Adivsory with the public. I guess I need to think about those services with an eye toward this concept.

I will take his statement to heart and continue to keep this in my mind:

Knowledge-ability is a practice

I shall practice making more opportunities for my patrons that’s for sure!

My Tuppence Worth

The heated online discussion with challenges and questions about the term “transliteracy” and it’s place in Library Land seems to have subsided, but I had yet to chime in with my two cents to respond to the request for definitions and desire to see results.

A Brief Background:

When I decided to go to library school, I was drawn to children’s librarianship and found that storytelling was a natural fit for me with my theatrical background. While in the MLS program at Pratt, that interest began to cross into multi-media. My professors opened my eyes to see that Stories exist through forms of media. It wasn’t something that was taught. It wasn’t something that was even discussed (that I remember). It didn’t have a name and I couldn’t identify it, but knew it excited me.

A year or so later I attended a presentation by Bobbi at Computers in Libraries on Transliteracy and it clicked for me. This was a concept that aligned with my ideas! It helps me frame discussions with patrons and staff in my everyday work.

Definitions:

I do agree that there are many similar qualities between the two terms Transliteracy and Information Literacy, but I don’t see them as equal. To me, the term Information Literacy is very academic, with a focus on formal instruction. My work in a public library does not include or require formal instruction. In fact, I am not sure that I know of a public library anywhere that requires continuing education for librarians. What I do know is that there are still librarians who lack basic technology skills (I recently heard a story from a colleague of visiting a library where she had to demo how to cut and paste – no joke) and my thinking is that we have to keep exploring and presenting new ways of thinking about learning and literacy in the hopes that something will click for them too.

photo by Flickr user yohann.aberkane

Transliteracy allows me to include fun, art, creativity, playfulness and what brought me here to begin with…Story. The definition from transliteracy.com works just fine for me – “the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media…” Sure there are other terms that are very similar like 21st Century Learning, e-literacy, and transmedia, but like Buffy J. Hamilton, I think Transliteracy is an umbrella term that allows us to explore the possibilities of communication and creation through many media forms (not necessarily just electronic) and quite frankly, I just like it!

Results:

Here is where the challenge lies. I don’t work in conducting research and formal studies with large groups. I work with a large cross-section of people, but in small groups. My task is to encourage and assist them in using modern tools to access information and entertainment as well as tools from the past.

My hope through working with this group is that I can share my own projects of exploration in my everyday work and hear stories of other libraries facing this challenge. Clearly formal educational environments provide more opportunities for exploring the concept while the absence of a classroom makes it difficult for those of us in public libraries to measure the effectiveness of an initiative. What a shame since public libraries have the potential to reach the largest audience!

So, I’m curious to know how public librarians are exploring multiple literacies at their libraries? How are you teaching transliteracy at your institution?