Category Archives: MOOC

Metaliteracy MOOCs Continue to Reach Learners Internationally

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Since the launch of our two Coursera MOOCs, Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World in 2016, and Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World in 2019, we have reached learners from around the world. So far, the first MOOC has enrolled 4,870 learners and the second has had 3,549 total learners worldwide. At times, we have been lucky enough to hear directly from the participants who successfully completed one or both of the MOOCs. Recently, Dr. Haleema Anwar from CMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry in Lahore, Pakistan contacted us about her experience with the Coursera MOOC Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World. According to Haleema:

I am a final-year medical student, a researcher, and an author. I discovered the MOOC while going through the recommendation of courses for me on my app. This was a topic I wanted insight into. 

I learned that there is a diverse variety of roles that a person can take to create a community of trust in a Post truth world- leading to  prosperity.

Thank you!

Haleema Anwar

As part of the MOOC experience, participants apply the “learner as producer” role of metaliteracy to create a final digital media project. We share with permission, Haleema’s final project for the MOOC entitled “Metaliteracy in Action”:

Haleema describes this project in the following way:

This mind map is to walk us through the idea of meta-literacy and its practical implication.

The credit for the content is directed to a course by SUNY “Empowering yourself in a post-truth world”, a course I found on Coursera.

A central theme I learned is- “meta literacy is an integrated model for us to be a lifelong learner and to create a truthful community”

-Haleema Anwar

Thanks to Haleema for sharing such valuable insights about metaliteracy after completing our Coursera MOOC.

We always welcome this kind of feedback about our open metaliteracy projects! If you complete one of our MOOCs or any of our Metaliteracy Learning Resources, feel free to drop us a line and let us know if you would like to share your work via our blog.

To explore an analysis of the Post-Truth MOOC and how it was designed, read Embedding Metaliteracy in the Design of a Post-Truth MOOC: Building Communities of Trust (Mackey, 2020) in Communications in Information Literacy. 

Best,

Tom and Trudi

Embedding Metaliteracy in Learning Design to Advance Metacognitive Thinking: From OER to MOOCs

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As part of this year’s European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL 2021), Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson presented the paper “Embedding Metaliteracy in Learning Design to Advance Metacognitive Thinking: From OER to MOOCs.” The full-text version of the paper is available via ResearchGate. According to the abstract:

This paper describes several examples of how metaliteracy is embedded in teaching praxis through open educational resources (OER) that include interactive learning objects and digital badging content as well as fully developed Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Specifically, these metaliteracy OER have been applied by the authors in an information literacy course at the University at Albany, SUNY, as well as online courses in the Digital Arts at SUNY Empire State College (Mackey & Jacobson, 2021).

This presentation follows an interactive workshop entitled “Teaching with Metaliteracy: Developing Informed, Reflective, and Participatory Citizens” that was provided at the conference earlier in the week. All of these ideas and resources are transferrable to a wide range of teaching and learning environments. If you would like to talk with us about ways to apply metaliteracy OER to your setting, feel free to reach out to us.

Tom and Trudi

Virtual Conference Features Metaliteracy Keynote

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A new metaliteracy keynote entitled The Role of Metaliteracy in Designing Open Learning Initiatives was presented by Profs. Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson at the virtual conference Intercultural Perspectives on Information Literacy on January 30, 2021. This international event is an outcome of the “Intercultural perspectives on Information Literacy” project led by Prof. Dr. Joachim Griesbaum from Hildesheim University, Germany. This international collaboration connects the Department for Information Science and Natural Language Processing, Hildesheim University Germany and Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune, India. The conference YouTube Channel features recorded sessions, including the keynote.

This new presentation addresses today’s fractured information environment and how metaliteracy can be applied in these challenging times. Trudi and Tom talk about ways to rebuild trust in these environments through metaliteracy and to share ideas about how to design open learning initiatives with this model.

Metaliteracy Keynote to be Featured at International Online Conference

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Registration is now open for the online conference Intercultural Perspectives on Information Literacy that will feature a keynote presentation on metaliteracy by Profs. Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson on January 30, 2021. This first metaliteracy keynote of the new year will explore The Role of Metaliteracy in Designing Open Learning Initiatives.

This international conference is a part of the  “Intercultural perspectives on Information Literacy” project that “pursues the goal of establishing a common learning space in which students from different countries can learn together and thus fundamentally build up intercultural competence” (About the project). This project is a collaboration between the Department for Information Science and Natural Language Processing, Hildesheim University Germany and Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce Pune, India. The project team is led by project manager Prof. Dr. Joachim Griesbaum, Hildesheim University.

As noted in the keynote description:

The metaliteracy model supports the design of open learning initiatives by reinforcing the value of ethical and responsible information production and sharing, and by scaffolding learners as they step into new roles that accompany open learning opportunities. These scenarios often include the opportunity to design and contribute to the communal learning environment. This presentation will describe the metaliteracy model and its intersections with open learning, and conclude by showcasing two initiatives that embody this approach.

As part of this presentation, Profs. Mackey and Jacobson will discuss the metaliteracy model within the context of today’s complex information environment. The presentation will reference the two recently published articles in Communications in Information Literacy, including Analyzing Information Sources Through the Lens of the ACRL Framework: A Case Study of Wikipedia by Prof. Jacobson and Embedding Metaliteracy in the Design of a Post-Truth MOOC: Building Communities of Trust by Prof. Mackey.

The full conference program is available here: https://ipil.blog.uni-hildesheim.de/conference-programme/.

We look forward to seeing you bright and early at 5:30am EST on January 30, 2021!

Tom and Trudi

Metaliteracy Featured in Two New Articles in Communications in Information Literacy

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The latest issue of Communications in Information Literacy (CIL) features two new articles that focus on metaliteracy.

In the Perspectives section, Trudi E. Jacobson contributes her essay entitled Analyzing Information Sources Through the Lens of the ACRL Framework: A Case Study of Wikipedia. Trudi’s article starts a conversation about the six frames of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education as explored in relation to Wikipedia and through the lens of metaliteracy. As Jacobson (2020) argues:

There are a number of components in Wikipedia that align with the Framework, suggesting that an analysis of Wikipedia might serve as a contained but rich case study of how the Framework can serve as a construct whose utility extends beyond individuals’ information literacy understanding and progress. Individual frames shed light on this resource, and metaliteracy, which influenced the Framework, highlights additional elements of Wikipedia, particularly as an immersive teaching tool.

(Jacobson, p. 374).

The Innovative Practices section of CIL features a new article by Tom Mackey entitled Embedding Metaliteracy in the Design of a Post-Truth MOOC: Building Communities of Trust. Tom’s contribution provides a descriptive analysis of the grant-funded Coursera MOOC Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World based on the metaliteracy framework and one of the key themes to emerge from the project related to building communities of trust. As Mackey (2020) argues:

This descriptive analysis of the Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World MOOC shows how metaliteracy is embedded in the course to prepare learners as informed consumers and ethical producers of information. Participants gain insights about their affective responses to information by reflecting on their preconceptions and conducting research to create a digital artifact. The course-specific learning outcomes in each module are based on the metaliteracy goals and learning objectives and associated components such as the learner roles, learning domains, and characteristics.

(Mackey, p. 357)

We welcome your feedback about these new metaliteracy articles and look forward to being in dialogue with you in 2021!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Tom and Trudi

Metaliteracy Presentation at the Information Literacy & Democracy Conference

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Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson will present Advancing democratic dialogue by applying metaliteracy in teaching praxis at the Information Literacy & Democracy Virtual Conference June 19-20. The video presentation is available in advance of the conference and their live session will take place on June 19 at 11:30 am Eastern Savings Time (5.30 p.m Central European Summer Time – CEST). To join the live session, register for free by sending an e-mail to infodem (at) uni-hildesheim.de. All of the conference presentations are available via the Information Literacy & Democracy conference web site and YouTube. The Information Literacy and Democracy (IDE) project is supported by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, Germany.

Tom and Trudi’s presentation explores metaliteracy as a pedagogical model to develop a metaliteracy mindset for effectively consuming, producing, and sharing information. This comprehensive framework promotes democratic dialogue with learners to uphold democracy in a post-truth world of misinformation and disinformation. This presentation describes the four components of metaliteracy and offers ideas for advancing democratic dialogue with learners.

Metaliteracy Keynote Features Open Resources for Teaching and Learning at a Distance

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Tom and Trudi at Virtual Keynote

Trudi Jacobson and Tom Mackey keynoted on Teaching Metaliteracy as a Vital Literacy for Today’s Digital World at the Edge consortium’s Annual Teaching with Technology Showcase: Excellence in Action on April 24. This conference was transitioned to a virtual format as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and the presentation includes open resources that are available to faculty and librarians who have transitioned to online and remote teaching during this crisis. The keynote also features adaptable reflective questions about the information we consume, produce, and share at a time when accurate and reliable information is more important than ever. Trudi and Tom were invited to keynote by Nancy Zimmerman, Executive Director for EdgeEvents and Print Communications. Edge is the regional technology partner for colleges and universities in New Jersey. If you have any questions about the slides or would like to continue the conversation let us know!

Metaliteracy Resources for Online or Remote Teaching & Learning

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As educators respond to the COVID-19 crisis and transition to online and remote learning, or expand what they are doing at a distance, consider several metaliteracy resources that are adaptable for these purposes. We’ve seen an increase in the use of our MOOCs during these unprecedented times and would like to highlight those resources and other OER that were designed for teaching and learning with metaliteracy:

iSucceed College Success – SUNY OER Services recently launched this expanded College Success course with a new metaliteracy module to prepare students for the college environment. The Metaliteracy Module is adaptable to K-12 and college environments and provides open content, learning objects, videos, and assignments that are adaptable to your educational setting.

Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World – This was our first Coursera MOOC that introduces metaliteracy and was recently revised with updated content and streamlined to a four-module format.

Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World – This Coursera MOOC addresses the challenges of the post-truth world and is especially relevant now that accurate and reliable information is paramount during this global pandemic.

Metaliteracy Digital Badging – All of the content developed for our Metaliteracy Digital Badging system is openly available to apply online and through remote learning.

Metaliteracy Learning Goals and Objectives – This resource is at the heart of metaliteracy and has undergone revisions to address post-truth issues while expanding to include several new translations to address the international interest in metalieracy.

Metaliterate Learner Roles – This diagram features the essential metaliterate learner roles and associated questions that spark reflection and online discussion in multiple disciplines.

Metaliteracy and Your Role as a Metaliterate Learner – This resource also features the learner roles and the four domains of metaliteracy and features reflective questions written and shared by Professor Sally Friedman, University at Albany.

Metaliterate Learner Characteristics – This interactive learning object highlights the characteristics that individuals strive toward as they develop as metaliterate learners.

Metaliterate Learner Characteristics Aligned with the ACRL Framework Dispositions – This open model is ideal for faculty and librarians teaching information literacy with the ACRL Framework while incorporating key elements of metaliteracy.

Metaliteracy YouTube Channel– All of the videos we’ve created for our MOOC projects are openly available in one location via the Metaliteracy Learning Collaborative YouTube Channel.

Additional resources are available through this blog and if you would like to share any open metaliteracy resources that you have developed be sure to let us know.

Take care and be well during this challenging time.

Tom, Trudi, and Kelsey

Knowing Metaliteracy: A reflective digital story of my metaliteracy journey

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Reflective Digital Story

We thank Mehreen Tahir, Information Commons Librarian at Forman Christian College, for providing this guest posting about Knowing Metaliteracy: A reflective digital story of my metaliteracy journey. Mehreen developed this final project as part of her participation in our Coursera MOOC, Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World. We invite you to do the same!

Greetings Everyone,

I am excited to share that I have successfully completed the Coursera online course Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World by The State University of New York (SUNY). Metaliteracy has always been my area of interest and thanks to the instructors Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson for developing this course with their colleagues at SUNY. This MOOC experience was an amazing learning opportunity for me to explore the concept of metaliteracy, its various learner roles, Creative Commons licensing, creating digital stories, and much more. 

My digital story is basically a reflective journey of my understanding of the different metaliteracy learner roles and the way I identified them during this course. It helped me in recognizing the roles I have been silently playing in my activities online through different social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram on a daily basis, but also urged me to build a creative thinking mechanism to incorporate these roles in the future as well. I feel like developing a sense of being a responsible digital citizen, reflecting upon my own experiences while navigating through these 21st century social media environments. Hoping to learn and explore more in this area.

Thanks,

Mehreen Tahir

New Book about the ACRL Framework Includes Metaliteracy

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The new book edited by Heidi Julien, Melissa Gross, and Don Latham The Information Literacy Framework: Case Studies of Successful Implementation, features a Foreword written by Trudi E. Jacobson and a metaliteracy chapter authored by Tom Mackey. Trudi’s perspective as co-chair of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) task force that developed the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, informed her Foreword for the book. Trudi noted that: “The chapter authors and editors of this volume have done a great service for librarians and other educators who wold like to expand their understanding of the potential impact and use of the Framework and add to their repertoire of ways for integrating it into their work” (p. xi).

The ACRL Framework was influenced by aspects of metaliteracy and in his chapter entitled “Exploring Metaliterate Learning through the Frames of Information Literacy,” Tom Mackey investigates both models as complementary. In particular, he examines the final project assignment in the metaliteracy MOOC Empowering Yourself in a Post-Truth World as an example of metaliterate learning from the perspective of the six frames of the ACRL Framework. He also argues that “The metacognitive aspect of metaliteracy has been a driver for these projects and suggests the need for further development of this approach in information literacy as well” (p. 217).

This new book, published by Rowman & Littlefield, includes 18 different case studies from librarians and faculty members who have experience applying the ACRL Framework in practice. Take a look at the range of the chapters–you are certain to find some pertinent to your interests!