Category Archives: Media Literacy

New Metaliteracy Book Reviewed in the Latest Journal of Information Literacy

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Now that Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers has been published, what do the critics think? We were thrilled to read this review of our new book written by Jodie R Heap from Staffordshire University in the latest issue of Journal of Information Literacy, one of the premiere journals in the field!

According to Heap’s book review of Metaliteracy in a Connected World:

The flow of the text works well to introduce the reader to the concepts surrounding metaliteracy and then proceeds to provide evidence and a variety of examples of metaliteracy in action within Higher Education settings. The reader is supported in their understanding of how application of the metaliteracy framework and concepts could vary depending on the course. The activity section deserves particular appreciation —it provides various examples through which the framework could be applied, a useful scaffolding tool which not many texts offer.

(Heap, 2022, p. 131)

The reviewer provides an analysis of all six of the book’s chapters and argues that “It offers a useful jumping off point for both teachers and librarians in exploring the application of metaliteracy in the classroom” (Heap, 2022, p. 132).

We appreciate this review of our latest metaliteracy book published by ALA Neal-Schuman and look forward to seeing how it is received by authors and practitioners in the field and beyond. If you are aware of other reviews, feel free to send them our way!

Tom and Trudi

HEAP, Jodie R. Book review of Mackey, T., and Jacobson, T. 2022. Metaliteracy in a connected world: Developing learners as producers. Journal of Information Literacy, [S.l.], v. 16, n. 1, p. 131-132, june 2022. ISSN 1750-5968. Available at: <https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/JIL/article/view/BR-V16-11-1>. Date accessed: 20 june 2022. doi: https://doi.org/10.11645/16.1.3217.

Metaliteracy in a Connected World Book Published by ALA Publishing!

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The new book co-authored by Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson entitled Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers has been published by ALA Neal Schuman! The idea of learner as producer is foundational to the metaliteracy framework and is explored in depth in this new publication.

The book’s Foreword is written by Jako Olivier, UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning, and OER Professor in Multimodal Learning, North-West University, South Africa.

According to the press release from ALA Publishing, the new metaliteracy book “offers an overview of the development of the metaliterate producer through metaliteracy’s goals, learning objectives, learning domains, active learner roles, and associated characteristics” and “explores the ways in which metaliteracy provides scaffolding for open pedagogical settings, encouraging students to understand and embrace their active roles,” among other highlights.

The new book examines metaliteracy in relation to such timely and relevant themes as self-directed learning, multimodality, open pedagogy, digital citizenship, and developing a growth mindset. Metaliteracy in a Connected World is organized into six related chapters:

Chapter 1: Metaliteracy for Empowering Learners as Producers

Chapter 2: Engaging Metaliterate Producers through Multimodal Learning

Chapter 3: Metaliteracy and Open Pedagogy

Chapter 4: Developing Metaliterate Producers Using Open Pedagogy

Chapter 5: Designing an Online Metaliteracy Course to Engage Informed Producers

Chapter 6: Developing Productive Metaliterate Citizens with Growth Mindsets

This is the fourth book about metaliteracy and presents a fully realized model that has developed considerably since we first introduced the concept in 2011. We look forward to your feedback and welcome the opportunity to engage with audiences about the themes examined in each chapter!

Tom and Trudi

Metaliteracy Recording from LIT Virtual Conference Now Online

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Image of Webex recording of metaliteracy presentation.

The Webex recording of the metaliteracy presentation at the Learning with Innovative Technology (LIT) Conference Virtual Conference is now available online. The session recording entitled Preparing Metaliterate Learners for the College Environment with SUNY’s iSucceed College Success Course by Trudi Jacobson, Kelsey O’Brien and Tom Mackey examines the metaliteracy module designed for the Lumen Learning iSucceed College Success course.

This fully open and flexible resource was developed for SUNY OER Services and is adaptable to both K-12 and higher education settings.The presentation explores the current learning environment, including the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, provides an overview of the iSucceed College Success Course, and takes a deep dive into the metaliteracy module based on the metaliteracy framework. Several suggestions for adapting the metaliteracy module to your setting are discussed. This talk also refers to openly available resources for teaching with metaliteracy, including videos, interactive learning objects, and specific segments from the iSucceed module.

All of the slides from the presentation Preparing Metaliterate Learners for the College Environment with SUNY’s iSucceed College Success Course are available as well. The LIT conference web site at SUNY Empire State College includes this presentation, along with all of the recorded presentations from this event.

Metaliteracy Post-Truth MOOC is Popular and Recommended

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Characteristics of the Metaliterate Learner (Mackey & Jacobson, 2019)

According to Class Central, the Coursera version of our most recent metaliteracy MOOC Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World is one of 2019’s Most Popular Online Courses. The founder and CEO of Class Central, Dhawal Shah noted that his site aggregates MOOCs and collects course enrollment data from MOOC providers as well as data from learners at Class Central to arrive at the list of most popular online courses.

In another recent mention of our Metaliteracy MOOC, Jessica Stillman Contributor at Inc.com recommended Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World in her latest article “20 Online Courses That Will Make You More Successful in 2020.” According to Stillman, she selected “classes in everything from exercise to data analysis that will help you be more motivated, productive and successful this year.” Our MOOC was mentioned along with classes from around the world about such topics as Statistics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Design, Writing and Public Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Ethical Hacking. We join Jessica Stillman in wishing everyone a productive and successful 2020!

Applying Metaliteracy in Teaching and Learning Practices Session at ICIL, South Africa

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Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson

Tom Mackey’s and Trudi Jacobson’s last, and rather unexpected, joint presentation while they were in South Africa was a session on September 25 at the International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) at North-West University (NWU) in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. They were invited to give this presentation by Dr. Jako Olivier when another presenter’s session fell through. The presentation, Applying Metaliteracy in Teaching and Learning Practices, was very well attended, particularly for a last minute addition to the schedule. Trudi and Tom explored changing literacy types, the value of metaliteracy in an environment of competing and overlapping literacies, core components of metaliteracy, and the open educational resources available to embed in disciplinary courses. This last part of the presentation focused on the metaliterate learner badges and the metaliteracy MOOCs (massive open online courses), although other resources were also described.

Metaliteracy and Post-Truth Explored in Keynote at NWU in South Africa

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Tom Mackey presented an international keynote entitled Building Communities of Trust: Metaliterate Learning for a Post-Truth Society at the International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) at North-West University (NWU) in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. Tom was invited to keynote at the conference by Dr. Jako Olivier, UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and OER and Professor in Multimodal Learning at NWU.

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Tom Mackey Keynoting at NWU (photo by Louise Olivier)

Tom’s keynote is based on the framing chapter he wrote “Empowering Metaliterate Learners for the Post-Truth World” for his latest metaliteracy book with Trudi Jacobson Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World published by ALA/Neal-Schuman.

As noted in the abstract for this presentation: Metaliteracy is a reframing of information literacy to develop metaliterate learners as active producers of information in both local and global communities of trust. In today’s post-truth society, personal and political beliefs have diminished the meaning and impact of verifiable facts and truthful reasoning. Metaliterate learners are empowered through reflective practice to responsibly consume and creatively produce information in collaborative and participatory social spaces. Through informed civic engagement, individuals take control of their participation while working cooperatively with others to build responsible communities of trust. Visualizations have the power to enhance our understanding of and connections with the metaliteracy framework and several were shared as part of this presentation.

An analysis of the Open edX and Coursera versions of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World, demonstrated how metaliteracy is applied as a pedagogical model to the challenges of a post-truth society.

Prestige Lecture at NWU in South Africa Features Metaliteracy

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Trudi Jacobson, Jako Olivier, and Tom Mackey pictured at the Prestige lecture.
Trudi Jacobson, Jako Olivier, and Tom Mackey

At the invitation of Dr. Jako Olivier, UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and OER and Professor in Multimodal Learning at North-West University in South Africa, Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson presented a Prestige Lecture entitled Exploring the Foundation of Metaliteracy in Theory and Practice at the Potchefstroom Campus on September 19, 2019. This collaborative lecture set the stage for two workshops with librarians, faculty and staff during the same week. All three events were presented in advance of the International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL) at North-West University in Vanderbijlpark. Trudi and Tom both presented individual keynotes at ICIL as well as one additional collaborative presentation.

Metaliteracy Keynotes Featured at ICIL in South Africa

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North-West University, South Africa, host of the 2019 ICIL

Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson have been invited to South Africa as keynote speakers at the International Conference on Information Literacy (ICIL), being held this year at North-West University in Vanderbijlpark. The conference theme is Information Literacy in All Spheres of Life, and will take place September 23-26. 

Tom’s keynote, to take place on September 24, is titled Building Communities of Trust: Metaliterate Learning for a Post-Truth Society. Trudi is presenting on September 26 on Creating Shareable Knowledge: Exploring the Synergy between Metaliteracy and Open Pedagogy. The other international and national keynote speakers at the conference include Serap Kurbanoglu of the Department of Information Management at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, Irina Zhilavskaya, Chair of Media Education, Moscow Pedagogical State University, Bosire Onyancha of the Department of Information Science at the University of South Africa, Karin de Jager, University of Cape Town, Ina Fourie, Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria, and Jako Olivier, professor of Multimodal Learning in the School of Professional Studies in Education at North-West University.

Trudi and Tom have also been invited by Dr. Olivier to give a prestige lecture and two workshops at the Potchefstroom campus of North-West University the week prior to the conference. The collaborative lecture is Exploring the Foundation of Metaliteracy in Theory and Practice, and the workshops are Applying Open Educational Practices to Develop Active Metaliterate Learners and Integrating Metaliteracy and Information Literacy into Teaching and Learning.

Look to Metaliteracy.org for future posts that feature slides from both keynotes, the collaborative prestige lecture, and the shared workshops.

Two Revised Metaliteracy MOOCs Launch on Coursera

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AI (Artificial Intelligence) concept. 3D illustration.Two Metaliteracy MOOCs are now available for registration via the Coursera platform. First, our original Coursera MOOC Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World has been streamlined and enhanced with new video content, resources, and learning activities. Learners will be introduced to the metaliteracy model, learn about copyright, intellectual property, and open-licensing through the Creative Commons, and explore digital storytelling as a creative form of information production. By the end of this MOOC, learners will see themselves as content creators and develop a digital artifact or story of their own. Registration for this MOOC is open now for launch on October 14, 2019.

Second, the recently revised Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World MOOC is being offered on Coursera for the first time. Registration is open now for immediate launch. This course explores a wide range of issues related to the post-truth world and empowers learners to think about the role of experts in society, examine false representations in constructed media, reflect on their own biases, and explore ways to build collaborative communities of trust and reinvent a truthful world. Learners will be empowered to raise and share their own voice by creating a digital response to the post-truth world.

Both MOOCs provide dynamic video content, updated links to open readings and resources, discussions, and interactive learning activities. The MOOCs can be explored independently, or in sequence (if new to both MOOCs, you may want to start with the Connected World and move to Post-Truth World, but either sequence is fine). These updated resources are available to teachers, students, librarians, administrators, and lifelong learners interested in applying metaliteracy to a variety of teaching and learning situations and/or everyday life. Metaliteracy supports reflective learning and the active production of new knowledge in collaborative communities.

Metaliteracy Featured in Educause Digital Literacies Document

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2018MLCharacteristicsMetaliteracy is featured as part of the recently published 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Literacies document published by Educause. Trudi Jacobson contributed to this brief from the 7 Things You Should Know About… series developed by the Educause Learning Initiative (ELI), along with Debra Gilchrist, Alison Head, and  Joan Lippincott. According to the abstract for this brief:

The concept of digital literacy encompasses a range of skills and knowledge necessary to evaluate, use, and create digital information in various forms. Digital literacies include data literacy, information literacy, visual literacy, media literacy, and metaliteracy, as well as related capacities for assessing social and ethical issues in our digital world. Administrators, faculty members, librarians, instructional designers, and others have a pivotal role to play in helping students understand how information is shaped and shared today across the digital landscape (7 Things You Should Know About Digital Literacies).

The inclusion of metaliteracy in this series offers potential for the further analysis of this model as a comprehensive and unifying framework that emphasizes the importance of metacognitive reflection and associated metaliteracy learner characteristics in a digital world.