Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World

The new metaliteracy book edited by Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson, Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World, has been published by ALA Neal Schuman. This timely volume addresses the profound challenges of the post-truth world through the exploration of metaliteracy theory and practice from multiple disciplinary perspectives. An excerpt from the new book features the Foreword, written by Troy Swanson, MLIS, Ph.D., Department Chair Library Services, Moraine Valley Community College, the book’s Table of Contents, with the titles and authors of all nine chapters, and a snippet of the first chapter Empowering Metaliterate Learners for the Post-Truth World, by Tom Mackey. This framing chapter examines the emergence of post-truth terminology, explores several of the related issues that define post-truth circumstances, such as confirmation bias, false information, and personal privacy/information security, and also includes an expanded Metaliteracy Learner Characteristics figure and revised Metaliteracy Goals and Learning Objectives, both developed with Trudi Jacobson.

This edited volume examines both the theory and practice of metaliteracy in the post-truth era with chapters authored by faculty and librarians. Several of the chapters have been featured in this blog, including “Poetic Ethnography and Metaliteracy: Empowering Voices in a Hybrid Theater Arts Course” by Kimmika L. H. Williams-Witherspoon, “When Stories and Pictures Lie Together — And You Don’t Even Know It” by Thomas Palmer, and “Reconstructing Scientific Literacy through Metaliteracy: Implications for Learning in a Post Truth World,” by Allison Brungard and Kristin Klucevsek. This book also features chapters written by Marc Kosciejew, Josh Compton, Nicole A. Cooke, and Rachel Magee, Allison Hosier, and Jaclyn Partyka.

The themes examined in this latest metaliteracy book inform a SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG) project by the Metaliteracy Learning Collaborative to develop an Open edX MOOC entitled Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World (to be offered in March 2019).

As part of SUNY’s Communities of Practice Fall Convening at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Trudi Jacobson and Tom Mackey were invited to discuss the Innovative Instruction Technology Grants (IITGs) that funded several metaliteracy projects. This year’s event explored New Models for Enrollment, Retention & Completion (ERC) and emphasized cross-institutional collaborations. Tom and Trudi presented a poster about their work with the Metaliteracy Learning Collaborative and discussed their experience with the SUNY IITG program.

Christine Paige, Kelsey O’Brien, Alena Roddick and Tom Mackey

Metaliteracy was featured as part of two different panel presentations at this year’s Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate Conference in Orlando Florida. Kelsey O’Brien, Christine Paige, Alena Roddick and Tom Mackey conducted an interactive panel presentation Accelerating Metaliterate Learning with a Global MOOC and Digital Badging System. The presenters explored the SUNY-wide Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG) to develop an Open EdX MOOC Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World, an initiative developed with Co-Principal Investigator Trudi Jacobson. A second panel presentation at the conference entitled Digital Ethics in a Post-Truth Society led by Nicola Marae Allain, included contributions from Enrico Bocciolesi, Diane Gal, and Tom Mackey who discussed metaliteracy in a post-truth world.The slide deck for the panel presentation about the Open EdX project is available via this blog post and Slideshare.net.

In a program sponsored by the Albany Public Library, metaliteracy was discussed in a panel about Fake News and Real Teens: Problems and Possibility on Sunday, November 4. The event celebrated the start of Media Literacy Week and featured panelists Tom Mackey, Professor of Arts and Media, SUNY Empire State College, Amanda Fries, Times Union reporter, and Heather Kovar, CBS News anchor and reporter. This conversation among journalists, educators, and members of the local community explored how to deal with and arrive at solutions for false and misleading information online. Students from Youth FX, an Albany-based media arts program that empowers young people to produce digital films and media arts, also participated in the discussion and provided excellent insights throughout the event. Metaliteracy was examined as one of the ways to address the challenges of the post-truth world, a theme consistent with the forthcoming book by Mackey & Jacobson for ALA Publishing entitled Metaliterate Learning for the Post Truth World.