Metaliteracy MOOC Topic 1 #metaliteracy

When I first heard about the Metaliteracy MOOC I was a bit hesitant about signing up (this semester is especially busy, and I had only made it halfway through the last MOOC I signed up for), but I'm happy to say that one of my coworker's enthusiasm about the course convinced me to give it a try.

So far, I'm enjoying the way the course has been designed including its connectivist format. I've been able to catch up thanks to the pace of the course, and the amount of suggested readings still allow enough time to read many of the blog posts being written by the course participants.

The course focuses on the idea of metaliteracy which according to Mackey and Jacobson (2011), "expands the scope of information literacy as more than a set of discrete skills, challenging us to rethink information literacy as active knowledge production and distribution in collaborative online environments" (p. 64).

I really like the idea of having students be active participants in knowledge creation through web 2.0 technologies rather than passive consumers, but as with most things I'm still struggling with how I can incorporate these sorts of activities into 45 minute one-shot instruction sessions. This might be a good time to finally try out a flipped classroom structure so that I have more time for activities during my sessions or since I teach education students who will eventually have to teach metaliteracy/information literacy skills to their own students, perhaps I could host an optional workshop about metaliteracy for them.

Just some reflections as I work through topic 1 : )


Resources for Topic 1 included two articles and a welcome plenary:

Mackey, T. P., and T. E. Jacobson. (2011). Reframing information literacy as a metaliteracy. College & Research Libraries, 72(1), 62-78. Retrieved from http://crl.acrl.org/content/72/1/62.full.pdf+html

Mackey, T. P. (2011). Transparency as a catalyst for interaction and participation in open learning environments. First Monday, 16(10). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3333/3070

Prezi for Welcome Plenary

Additionally, professor Tor Loney shared the syllabus that will be used by the students taking UUNL 205x.

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Update:  Some interesting blog posts have come up in the Metaliteracy Newsletter from other students participating in the course.

http://metaliteracy9000.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/notes-about-authority-and-reliability-in-evaluating-sources/

http://metaliteracy9000.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/notes-about-authority-and-evaluating-sources-2/

http://beyondinformationliteracy.blogspot.com/2013/08/so-much-time-and-so-little-to-do.html

Voting for Conversation Starter and Ignite Sessions at ALA Annual

Voting is now open for Conversation Starter and Ignite Sessions at ALA Annual.  I'm so excited for all of the interesting program proposals!

If you're interested in voting you can do so at the following link:

http://connect.ala.org/ala2013csvoting


If you're interested in Digital Learning Objects please consider voting for Digital Learning Objects: Creating, Coordinating and Circulating which is being proposed by Anna Fidgeon.  Anna is a great librarian, and I think she's covering a very timely topic.

ACRL in Second Life MOOC Program

I recently presented as part of the ACRL Virtual World Interest Group panel on MOOCs (massively open online courses). 

If you'd like to view slides from the presentation, they are available at
http://www.slideshare.net/valibrarian/acr-lmooc-panelsildeshare
 
The Panelists Included:
Valerie Hill, PhD - (Valibrarian Gregg in SL) LISD Library Media
Specialist, Adjunct Instructor, TWU School of Library and Information Studies

Ilene- Frank, MLS (Ilene Pratt in SL) Adjunct Associate Professor,
University of Maryland University College

Michelle Keba, MS in Information Science- (librarianatadistance in SL) Distance and Instructional Services Librarian, Nova Southeastern University

George Djorgovski, (Curious George in SL) Professor of Astonomy, CaltechGeorge Djorgovski, (Curious George in SL) Professor of Astonomy, Caltech

 

Building Relationships with Faculty

As the liaison to the Undergraduate Education Program, I try to reach students during their upper level education classes which require a research component.  Because I just started my position in June, my biggest goal has been to build relationships with and garner support from faculty members.    I'm hoping to reach more students by first investing their professors in the value of  information literacy training, and by getting to know the professors I gain a deeper understanding of their courses and teaching styles.

I’ve been lucky to be able to attend the department's monthly curriculum meetings where I give a 5 minute talk and a handout featuring a library database.  I've chosen databases that have instructional videos that can be used in their courses, lesson plans that their students can use, and  databases that can help them with their own research.  I got the idea of having a database of the month handout from Salena Coller, a librarian at the Sanford-Brown Institute in Ft. Lauderdale, who presented a poster at the Florida ACRL Conference.

The professors have seemed excited about the information and have followed up with me about using the resources, so I believe it’s been going well.  As professors have gotten to know me better, they have agreed to have me teach a session in their classes, and hopefully their positive feedback at the curriculum meetings will encourage more professors to include library training sessions in their classes as well.  I hope to eventually move away from giving one shot sessions to becoming embedded within the department.

So far I have created handouts for Education in Video, World Book Classroom, and Google Scholar.

Has anyone else been trying to build relationships with faculty or with key stakeholders where they work?