Category Archives: OER

Another Metaliteracy open learning opportunity is about to begin

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In fall 2013 the Metaliteracy Learning Collaborative hosted a connectivist MOOC, Metaliteracy MOOC, which provided a collaborative learning environment to explore a range of aspects connected with metaliteracy. Over 500 people registered for the course, primarily professionals from information-related fields.

We are delighted to announce that this spring we will offer not one but two x-MOOCs, one on Coursera and one on Canvas. First up is the Coursera MOOC: Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World. Registration for this first MOOC is now open at Coursera.org and the 10-week course will be begin on February 2, 2015. The second MOOC is being developed in Canvas Network with a particular emphasis on Digital Citizenship and additional details about registration will be forthcoming. These MOOCs are open to all, but we expect that many people who are not information professionals will engage in learning about their active roles in our information age, and how they can contribute to these social spaces as informed digital citizens.  While our original connectivist MOOC was focused on exploring the theory of metaliteracy from multiple perspectives through our collaborative MOOC Talks, both X-MOOCs are designed for learners interested in putting theory into practice through an integrated and collaborative learning experience.

The two new metaliteracy MOOCs are being supported by an Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG) Designing Innovative Online Learning: Integrating a Coursera MOOC with Open SUNY Badging.  Both MOOCs integrate content from our Metaliteracy Digital Badging system and the Canvas Network version will provide opportunities for learners to earn a sharable Digital Citizen badge.

Register now for Empowering Yourself in a Connected World!  Look forward to seeing you in the open course!

Second SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant Supports Metaliteracy

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A team from Empire State College, SUNY and the University at Albany was awarded a Tier 3 SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG) for 2014-2015. This $60,000 grant, Designing Innovative Online Learning: Integrating a Coursera MOOC with Open SUNY Badging, is funding several initiatives focused on metaliteracy and badging.

As described in the grant proposal, “This project merges two innovative and flexible learning models: a metaliteracy Coursera MOOC open to all SUNY students, and its integration with competency-based badging. This unified approach to learning appeals to students and employers alike, and serves as a robust model to advance Open SUNY.” In addition, the funding will provide the means to develop a community of support for SUNY faculty interested in developing Open SUNY badging initiatives.

The team, led by Trudi Jacobson, Distinguished Librarian at the University at Albany, and Tom Mackey, Interim Vice Provost for Academic Programs at Empire State College, is building upon strengths developed from their 2012-2013 IITG-funded projects. They and members of the Metaliteracy Collaborative developed a connectivist MOOC that was offered in the fall of 2013, and they have created a very rich digital badging system based on the metaliteracy learning objectives.

Additional members of the grant team are Kelsey O’Brien (project director), Jenna Hecker, and Allison Hosier from the University at Albany, and Michele Forte, Kathleen Stone, Amy McQuigge, and Dana Longley from Empire State College.Three graduate students at the University at Albany’s School of Education,, Andrea Beukema, Brandon West, and Carmita Sanchez-Fong, will assist. Samuel Abramovich from the University at Buffalo’s Department of Learning and Instruction will oversee a MOOC-related research study.

Speaking of MOOCs, the team will offer not just one MOOC during spring 2015, but rather two! This came about because Coursera is currently unable to offer the functionality the team needed to integrate the badges with the MOOC. However, due to their high profile in the MOOC arena, and their selection as the platform of choice for SUNY, the team is adapting its original intentions in order to proceed with the planned course.The Coursera MOOC will feature a longer (10-week) learning opportunity that utilizes the high-end videos common to many of the company’s offerings, and will address a range of the metaliteracy learning objectives. Kathleen Stone is overseeing the Coursera component of the grant. This MOOC will begin in February 2015.

The Canvas MOOC will vary in several ways.  It will be shorter, probably 5 weeks, and will start in March. It will focus on one of the four main areas of metaliteracy, Digital Citizen. Those who enroll in this MOOC will be working their way through a shareable badge, one that they can display via Credly.There is great interest in determining what impact the badging will have on student motivation, and what can be learned comparing the two different platforms and courses.

More details about the MOOCs and other grant-funded projects will be posted soon.

 

Metaliteracy Presentation Videos from CIT2014

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The SUNY wide Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT 2014) recently published the presentation videos from this year’s event at Cornell University. We developed a presentation with colleagues from the University at Albany and Empire State College based on last year’s Metaliteracy MOOC. This video features Michele Forte, Nicola Allain, Jenna Pitera and Tom Mackey (Trudi Jacobson was presenting a keynote at the Cornell University Library the same week).  Here’s the link to the video now available via the CIT2014 site: Metaliteracy in Practice: Strengthening Learning Through a Connectivist MOOC.  Tom Mackey was also part of a featured panel presentation about MOOCs with SUNY colleagues from Stony Brook who developed a Coursera MOOC.  This was an excellent chance to discuss our connectivist MOOC in comparison with a Coursera MOOC.  The video for this panel presentation is also available:  Beyond the Front Row Experience: Blending a University Course with a MOOC.  The keynote speaker for the conference was Daphe Koller from Coursera: The Online Revolution: Learning without Limits.  Toward the end of Daphne Koller’s keynote, look for questions from Betty Hurley and Nicola Allain from Empire State College and Jenna Pitera from the University at Albany.

Video of 2014 CT IL Conference Keynote

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This is the YouTube video of our metaliteracy keynote at the 2014 Connecticut Information Literacy Conference. All of the presentation videos are available via the conference web site. The metaliteracy keynote slides are also available on slideshare.

Photo Gallery from Recent Metaliteracy Keynote

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In June we presented the keynote address at the Connecticut Information Literacy Conference sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association.  Thanks to the conference organizers for sending us several pictures from that event!  We really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with everyone at the conference.  Click on any image to see the full gallery.

Video Recording of 2014 IL Summit Keynote

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Thanks to Troy Swanson Department Chair and Teaching & Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College for posting the video of our keynote Changing Models, Changing Emphases: The Evolution of Information Literacy at the 2014 IL Summit.  We enjoyed our time at the summit and appreciate this opportunity to share the video.

Metaliteracy Discussed at Westchester Library Association Mid-Winter Conference 2014

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Tom Mackey presented on the topic Promoting Access for All with Open and Online Learning at the Westchester Library Association Mid-Winter Conference at The Gateway Center at Westchester Community College.  The theme of this year’s conference explored distance education and also featured Linda Braun, youth services Manager for Seattle Public Library, and keynote speaker Joe Nocera, Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times and commentator for NPR’s Weekend Edition.  The one-day conference featured Linda Braun’s use of Google Hangouts, Tom Mackey’s discussion about open and online learning, MOOCs, OERs, and Metaliteracy and Joe Nocera’s keynote about digital privacy.   This is the complete PowerPoint presentation by Tom Mackey:

Metaliteracy Presentation at Dartmouth College

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Trudi Jacobson and Tom Mackey presented Reimagining Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy: Empowering Learners for Participation, Collaboration, and Reflection at the New England Library Instruction Group Annual Program at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.  Both presenters also conducted workshops: Trudi engaged participants in team-based learning with “What a Wonderful World: What Team-based Learning Brings to Metaliteracy Instruction” and Tom led a discussion on “Designing Learning Activities to Promote Metaliteracy” in blended and online learning environments.

Metaliteracy discussed at 3T’s Conference

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As part of the 3T’s Transliteracy, Technology, and Teaching conference Tom Mackey, Trudi Jacobson, and Greg Bobish collaborated on a presentation entitled: “Metaliteracy sounds great but how do I teach it?”  The conference also included a keynote by Sue Thomas and a session about OER 101 by Mark McBride and Beth Burns.  All three presentations were recorded by SUNY Empire State College, the host of this year’s 3T’s conference. The link to the main video page can be found via our playlist.  Here are the links to all three videos: