Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson have been invited to present a collaborative keynote on metaliteracy at The University of Puerto Rico’s Mobile Learning Week event on Monday, March 20 at 10am eastern time. In a presentation entitled “Metaliteracy as an Empowering Model for Teaching Mobile and Social Learners,” Tom and Trudi will explore the theory of metaliteracy while illustrating practical applications that can be applied in a variety of teaching and learning situations. In today’s mobile media environments our learners are continuously engaged with information in a variety of forms using a range of technologies. Learners from around the world are texting, posting, and sharing documents they find online through a multitude of social media spaces and mobile devices. But how much of this information can be trusted? Do learners know how to differentiate between what is real and what is fake in these environments? And do learners fully appreciate the importance of critical thinking and contributing as active and original producers of information, beyond posting selfies via mobile phones? How do learners bridge their free-flowing access to information via social media and mobile devices with the academic resources available in the library? How do learners make meaning from these different sources of information to advance their participatory roles as researchers and scholars? Metaliteracy is a model for understanding how information is produced and shared collaboratively in networked social spaces. The metaliterate learner is metacognitive, a critical consumer of information and an informed producer of digital media. The metaliterate learner adapts to changing technologies and always brings a critical and reflective sensibility to these experiences, asking good questions and being open to multiple perspectives.

Our approach to metaliteracy in practice is informed by several projects developed by the Metaliteracy Learning Collaborative, including a competency-based digital badging system and three Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This presentation will examine the Metaliteracy Learning Goals and Objectives that inform these projects as a flexible, adaptable, and evolving resource. In addition, the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education will be introduced and explained. The information environment that compels us to move beyond the Standards is the one that spurred our development of metaliteracy. Indeed, one of the underpinning elements of the Framework is metaliteracy. This connection, as well as the threshold concept structure, will be explored in detail.

We appreciate the invitation to present from Ana I. Medina Hernández, MIS, Coordinadora Red Graduada, Decanato de Estudios Graduados e Investigación and Rossana I. Barrios Llorens, MIS, CLA, Head Librarian Serials and e-Access Department, Conrado F. Asenjo Library, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus.