When I set out to translate the Metaliteracy Goals and Learning Objectives into Portuguese, I realized I had a unique opportunity: why not apply metaliterate thinking to the very tool reshaping our educational landscape? As part of my ongoing work on AI in education, I partnered with Gemini to generate the initial translation, not just to save time, but to test the boundaries of human-AI collaboration in academic localization. The goal was to evaluate the tool’s accuracy, identify where human critical thinking becomes indispensable, and explore how emerging technologies can support a framework as nuanced as Metaliteracy.
The workflow operated as a true collaboration: the initial translation was generated by the AI, followed by a process of critical review, linguistic refinement, and contextual adaptation led by me. At the end of the process, I asked the AI itself to generate an analytical report synthesizing the rationale behind the revisions I had made.
Below are two central examples that illustrate the dynamics of this human-in-the-loop revision:
1. Adapting “Metaliterate Mindset” and “Metaliterate Learner”
Initial AI Suggestion: “mentalidade de metaletramento” (a wordy nominal construction) and “aprendiz praticante do metaletramento” (a clunky phrasing).
Human Refinement: “mentalidade metaletrada” and “aprendiz metaletrado”.
Linguistic Rationale: Human intervention identified a more natural adjectival solution. In Portuguese, the noun letramento (literacy) derives into the adjective letrado (literate). Applying this same morphological rule to create metaletrada/o avoids heavy phrasing, significantly enhancing the document’s cohesion, fluency, and professional tone.
2. Transitioning from “O aprendizado metaliterativo abrange…” to “A aprendizagem metaletrada envolve/compreende…”
Initial AI Suggestion: “O aprendizado metaliterativo abrange quatro domínios…”
Human Refinement: “A aprendizagem metaletrada envolve, ou compreende, quatro domínios…”
Linguistic Rationale: This intervention ensured crucial pedagogical and semantic precision based on two factors:
Pedagogical Precision (Aprendizagem vs. Aprendizado): In Portuguese educational theory and academic literature, aprendizagem is the established technical term for describing the active cognitive process of knowledge construction. In contrast, aprendizado sounds more colloquial and focused strictly on an outcome.
Semantic Clarity: The AI’s initial choice of the word metaliterativo introduced semantic noise, as readers might mistakenly associate it with literature (literatura) or literary studies. The human selection of metaletrada firmly anchors the concept in its true root: letramento (literacy).
Conclusion: Ultimately, this project served as a practical demonstration of metaliteracy in action. While Artificial Intelligence provided a swift structural baseline, human critical thinking was indispensable for translating context, culture, and pedagogical intent. The refinement went beyond proofreading; it was an exercise in metacognition, critically evaluating machine-generated content to preserve academic rigor. As AI continues to reshape how we learn and communicate, this experience reinforces a fundamental truth of metaliteracy: technology is a powerful co-pilot, but the human mind remains the ultimate navigator. We are excited to share this framework adapted into Portuguese with the Lusophone community, empowering educators and learners to navigate our evolving information ecosystem together.
Helda Pinheiro holds a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Brasília (UnB), Brazil. She currently conducts research focusing on AI in education, human-AI collaboration, and academic localization. Her doctoral research, defended in 2022, pioneered the study of the Metaliteracy framework in Brazil. She and two colleagues participated in the evaluation and updating of the Metaliteracy framework in 2025. Helda also translated the 2018 and 2025 versions of the Metaliteracy Goals and Learning Objectives into Portuguese, aiming to empower educators and students throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.
The manuscript for the new edited book by Drs. Nicola Marae Allain and Tom Mackey, AI and Metaliteracy: Empowering Learners for the Generative Revolution, has officially moved into the production phase at Bloomsbury Publishing. Scheduled for publication in early 2027, the volume features a Foreword by Distinguished Librarian Emerita Trudi E. Jacobson and appears in Bloomsbury’s Innovations in Information Literacy series, for which she serves as series editor. As generative AI continues to transform teaching and learning, the collection offers timely perspectives on empowering learners to engage critically and ethically with these technologies.
The new book includes a framing chapter by Allain and Mackey entitled, The Aura of the Image: Embedding AI and Metaliteracy in the Digital Media Arts. The chapter integrates media theory and metaliteracy with adaptable case studies, including examples from Empire State University’s Digital Media Arts program, to explore how metaliteracy can support creative inquiry, reflective learning, and ethical engagement with artificial intelligence.
Bringing together an international community of scholars and practitioners, the collection demonstrates how AI and metaliteracy can foster learner agency, strengthen visual and digital literacy, promote digital citizenship and social justice, and advance ethical engagement across educational and information contexts. Additional chapters examine applications in STEM education, financial literacy, digital workspaces, the metaverse, and library and information settings, while also addressing issues of accessibility and inclusive participation. Collectively, these contributions illustrate the broad applicability of AI and metaliteracy across disciplines and professional environments. The case studies offer innovative approaches that can be adapted and transferred across disciplines, institutions, and learning environments.
In addition, Mackey contributes a chapter co-authored with colleagues from the Intercultural Perspectives on Information Literacy and Metaliteracy (IPILM) virtual exchange team. The chapter examines how information literacy and metaliteracy can be combined with AI education to foster intercultural understanding and global engagement in team-based learning environments.
As publication approaches, we look forward to sharing additional details about the volume and to continuing the conversation about the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence, metaliteracy, and learner empowerment in digital environments.
The first book introducing the metaliteracy framework, Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners (2014) by Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson, has now been translated and published in Chinese, making the metaliteracy framework more accessible to students and educators across higher education and library communities in China. The translation was initiated and completed by Wu Changhong (Bella Wu), Information Literacy & AI Literacy Librarian, Subject Librarian for History, and Instructor at Northeast Normal University. This is the first of a series that will also include the Chinese translation of Metaliteracy in Practice (2016) and Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World (2018).
Wu Changhong launched the project in 2023 and coordinated the collaboration among the authors, Northeast Normal University Press, and American Library Association Editions to secure publication permissions and guide the translation process.
The publication was highlighted in an IFLA news announcement that noted:
This project reflects Northeast Normal University Library’s ongoing efforts to align with international standards and foster a culture of critical, reflective, and participatory learning among students. We believe that the metaliteracy framework will empower Chinese learners to become not only discerning consumers but also responsible creators of information.
As noted in the IFLA newsletter, the Chinese edition has also been included in the New Education Library Series of Northeast Normal University and will serve as a course text for the credit-bearing class Social Media Literacyand Metaliteracy Capabilities.
This translation represents a significant milestone in the continued international development of metaliteracy as an established framework. It reflects the growing global interest in learner-centered approaches to metacognitive reflection, collaborative learning, and ethical participation in digital environments.
We are deeply appreciative of Bella Wu’s leadership, commitment, and scholarly work in making this translation possible and helping extend the reach of metaliteracy to new academic and professional communities.
Generative AI is reshaping how we design assignments, support student learning, and think about authorship and participation. The question is no longer whether to engage with AI in our teaching—but how to do so in ways that are ethical, reflective, and effective.
At the Conference on Instruction & Technology 2026, we invite you to register for a hands-on preconference workshop focused on applying the AI & Metaliteracy OER Toolkit in your own teaching.
Learn to Apply Ethical, Effective Learning with AI Using Metaliteracy 🗓 Tuesday, May 26, 2026 🕒 2:30–5:30 PM ET 📍 SAC 304, Stony Brook University
This interactive session will also mark the official launch of the AI & Metaliteracy OER Toolkit, developed through a SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant by a collaborative team at Empire State University. The project is led by Principal Investigators Nicola Marae Allain and Thomas P. Mackey, with Alena Rodick serving as Project Manager and Eugenio Solis de Ovando leading digital video and AI avatar development. It also includes collaboration with Kathleen Olmstead and Logan Roth, Ph.D., both at SUNY Brockport.
This is a working session designed for direct application. Participants will explore the AI & Metaliteracy OER Toolkit, identify sample assignments and rubrics to adapt for their own courses, and revise those materials for their specific teaching context. Participants will also have the option to use AI as part of this process, modeling reflective and ethical engagement in their design choices. We encourage you to bring a learning activity you would like to develop or revise for your instructional setting.
Participants will leave with practical strategies for integrating AI through the metaliteracy framework, along with adapted assignments they have developed for their own course. They will also gain access to a wide range of resources from the AI & Metaliteracy OER Toolkit, including customizable assignment templates, guidelines, rubrics, learning modules, and implementation strategies. The workshop will also provide opportunities to connect with colleagues engaged in this work, with the potential to continue sharing ideas beyond the session.
AI is not just a new tool—it is reshaping how learners engage with information, create content, and participate in knowledge production. This workshop focuses on how metaliteracy can guide that work in practice, supporting learners as reflective, responsible, and active contributors in AI-mediated environments.
This work also reflects a broader commitment to open and collaborative dialogue about teaching and learning with AI, and we look forward to sharing additional updates as the toolkit becomes more widely available.
The session will be led by Dr. Nicola Marae Allain, Dr. Thomas P. Mackey, and Dr. Eugenio Solis de Ovando.
Please bring your own device and come ready to work with your own course materials.
The interactive workshop Advancing OER Through Metaliteracy and AI Integration, presented by Prof. Tom Mackey of Empire State University, explored the application of metaliteracy and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the design of Open Educational Resources (OER). This online session was organized by Prof. Dorothy Laubscher, UNESCO Chair at North-West University (NWU) in South Africa, and was featured as part of the NWU OER Fellows and the SADiLaR Digital Humanities OER Champions Project.
The workshop introduced key concepts from metaliteracy and emphasized the updated Metaliteracy Goals and Learning Objectives to address the challenges and opportunities of AI for teaching and learning. Participants engaged in several interactive surveys and two workshop activities that emphasized ethical, creative, and collaborative applications of AI in open learning environments. The session illustrated how careful planning and inclusive engagement reinforce the learning experience through the development of sustainable OER.
Real-world examples from the Digital Media Arts program at Empire State University illustrated how metaliteracy supports self-directed and multimodal learning in AI-driven environments.
The video recording from the session is now available:
Video recording of OER + Metaliteracy + AI Workshop
Watch the video to learn how to integrate AI and metaliteracy to support effective OER development. Try the workshop activities or adapt them to your OER projects. We invite you to share the outcome of your work via this blog, and we’ll gladly support you in doing so. If you have any questions, let us know!
At the Faculty360.org 2025 Summit, hosted virtually by Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, Tom Mackey delivered a presentation titled “Developing Metaliterate Learners for Generative AI.” The summit theme, Beyond the AI Hype: Faculty Futures in a Changing World, provided the context for a session that introduced metaliteracy as a holistic pedagogical framework for teaching and learning with generative AI. The presentation examined how the model supports critical thinking, knowledge production, and collaborative learning in AI environments.
The talk outlined the key elements of the metaliteracy framework and illustrated how its learner domains, roles, and characteristics guide effective engagement with generative AI. The 2025 revision of the Metaliteracy Goals and Learning Objectives was discussed as a transferable resource for educators seeking to support ethical, reflective, and empowered engagement with AI across disciplines.
Several examples of learning activities from the Digital Media Arts program at Empire State University illustrated how the integration of AI and metaliteracy can foster creativity, critical reflection, and informed decision-making. The session also introduced new versions of the metaliteracy diagrams, offering updated visualizations that show how the framework enhances multiple modality learning in a wide range of educational settings.
The slide deck from this presentation is now available and can be accessed below.
If you would like to contribute your own take on these ideas, particularly as they relate to the metaliteracy framework and the updated Metaliteracy Goals and Learning Objectives, we would be glad to work with you on a guest blog post.
As part of the SDL (Self-Directed Learning) Collaborative Corner on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources (OER) at North-West University, Prof. Tom Mackey, Empire State University, presented an interactive session on Reimagining Course Design with AI: Practical Strategies for Global Learning. The virtual event brought together educators and researchers to explore innovative ways of redesigning courses with artificial intelligence (AI) to support OER and multimodal learning.
The presentation drew on examples from the Digital Media Arts program at Empire State University, highlighting practical strategies from courses such as Digital Storytelling, Information Design, and Ethics of Digital Art & Design. In doing so, it connected the application of AI in course design with a metaliteracy perspective, underscoring the importance of reflective, ethical, and collaborative learning.
Explore the Session
The full session recording is now available, offering an in-depth look at the key themes and interactive discussions (click on the image):
Key Takeaways
Revise course content and learning activities with AI to expand opportunities for reflection, collaboration, and creativity.
Create original images with AI to enhance open resources and support multimodal learning experiences.
Develop transparent and ethical AI use policies to ensure responsible student engagement with emerging tools.
Design rubrics for AI-assisted and multimodal projects to provide clear, equitable assessment frameworks.
These approaches demonstrate how AI can be integrated as an effective tool across disciplines and learning environments. Educators are encouraged to consider how such strategies can be adapted to their own teaching practices, fostering inclusive, innovative, and globally connected learning opportunities.
For a closer view of the concepts and examples shared, the slide deck provides a visual overview of the session. Respond to the workshop prompt on slide 26 to reimagine your own learning activity with AI:
This presentation contributes to the ongoing dialogue about the role of AI in education and its potential to empower learners and educators in designing flexible, reflective, and future-ready courses. It offers a metaliteracy perspective to further emphasize the importance of ethical engagement, critical reflection, and collaborative learning in applying AI to course design.
If you have ideas or case studies about integrating AI and metaliteracy into your own course design, we invite you to reach out. We would be glad to feature your approaches as a guest post on the Metaliteracy blog and share your insights with our global community.
We welcome this guest blog post from Riaz Laghari. He is an English language teacher, researcher, and writer from Pakistan. His work focuses on digital literacy, education, language, and critical thinking. As a passionate lifelong learner, he is dedicated to exploring how pedagogy and technology intersect to promote responsible digital citizenship.
I completed the Coursera MOOC Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World offered by Empire State University. It was an incredibly enriching experience that broadened my understanding of how learners engage with information in today’s digital environment.
This story published in Medium entitled Embracing Metaliteracy in the Digital Age reflects my personal journey and learning process. It emphasizes the importance of being a responsible digital citizen in today’s interconnected world. Through the narrative, I explore how embracing metaliteracy has helped me understand the significance of critical thinking. It also highlights the importance of ethical information sharing. Collaboration in digital spaces is another key aspect I have come to appreciate. As I state in the article:
Metaliteracy has transformed my approach to digital engagement, equipping me with the tools to navigate the online world responsibly, ethically, and collaboratively.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, being an informed and ethical participant in online spaces is more important than ever. In this piece, I reflect on my personal journey as a digital citizen. I also consider my professional journey. My experiences are guided by the principles of metaliteracy. This article highlights how this model has influenced my way of learning. It details how I teach and share information. It shows how I evaluate online sources and engage responsibly in digital communities.
As I state in the article:
In my experience, embracing metaliteracy has meant developing a heightened awareness of my role in the digital ecosystem. It’s about recognizing that the content I create and share impacts others, and therefore, I must engage with this content thoughtfully and critically. This responsibility extends to both professional and personal digital spaces.
Besides my own journey, I also apply metaliteracy concepts in my teaching. I encouraged my students to reflect critically on the sources they use. I urged them to recognize their role as both consumers and producers of information. I also motivated them to collaborate more mindfully in digital spaces. For instance, I integrated reflective blog writing into the curriculum. I also added peer feedback activities. These methods helped promote metacognitive awareness. They fostered a more participatory learning environment. It was particularly effective in helping students become more responsible and confident digital citizens.
As I conclude in my Medium article:
As we continue to interact with the ever-expanding digital landscape, it is crucial for all of us to embrace metaliteracy. By doing so, we can foster a more informed, ethical, and connected world, where information flows freely and responsibly.
Riaz is an English teacher, and writes about language and political discourse in Pakistan. You can find his work on Mediumand via his personal blog. If you would like to share your personal or professional experience with metaliteracy, feel free to reach out.
We are excited to invite contributions to our forthcoming book, “AI and Metaliteracy: Empowering Learners for the Generative Revolution” edited by Dr. Nicola Marae Allain and Dr. Thomas P. Mackey. This new volume will be published in fall 2025 for the Innovations in Information Literacy series edited by Trudi E. Jacobson for Bloomsbury Publishing (Rowman & Littlefield).
This pioneering book will feature theories and case studies about empowering learners with metaliteracy as reflective producers, informed writers, and active participants for the technological, pedagogical, and cultural revolution inspired by generative AI (Heaven, 2022, Mackey & Jacobson, 2011, 2022).
We are interested in groundbreaking approaches to metaliteracy education that encourage learners to engage with innovative AI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, among many others, for creating artistic, literary, scientific, and scholarly forms of generative text, image, and video. Each chapter will focus on developing ethical metaliterate learners with autonomy and agency who are capable of producing individual and collaborative knowledge with AI (Mackey & Jacobson, 2011, 2022). We encourage imaginative chapters about the effective use of AI through the lens of metaliteracy and related literacy models, such as the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and the ACRL Visual Literacy Framework.
We welcome proposals from educators and practitioners, including librarians, teachers and professors worldwide, particularly those offering case studies with solid theoretical foundations and transferrable pedagogical strategies. We are seeking authors from wide-ranging disciplines, such as the Arts and Humanities, Digital Media Arts, Social Sciences, Composition Studies, Library and Information Science, Nursing, Business, and STEM. Chapter themes will also address the relevance of AI and metaliteracy to adult learning and workforce development and the importance of designing inclusive AI-driven learning experiences to advance digital equity, and accessibility for students with disabilities. The book will present methods for assessing the effectiveness of teaching metaliteracy competencies and highlight collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. We aim to provide international perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of empowering learners with generative AI and metaliteracy, exploring innovative theories and case studies that provide future directions for AI-driven learning environments.
Submission Guidelines
Proposals should include the following information:
Title: The concise and descriptive title for your proposed chapter.
Abstract: A summary (300-500 words) outlining the main objectives, theoretical foundation, metaliteracy components, generative AI tools, assessment methodology, and expected contributions of your chapter.
Author Information: Names, affiliations, and contact details of all authors.
Biographical Note: A brief biography (150-200 words) of each author highlighting relevant expertise and experience.
Please submit your proposals by December 15, 2024, to Tom.Mackey@sunyempire.edu. Selected authors will be notified by February 1, 2024, and full chapters will be due by May 1, 2025. Final chapters should be between 20 and 25 pages (double-spaced) and follow the formatting guidelines that will be provided upon acceptance.
Important Dates
Proposal Submission Deadline: December 15, 2024
Notification of Acceptance: February 1, 2025
Full Chapter Submission Deadline: May 1, 2025
Expected Publication Date: November 1, 2025
We look forward to receiving your innovative and insightful contributions that will help shape the future of metaliteracy for the generative AI revolution. For any inquiries or further information, please contact Nicola Marae Allain at Nicola.Allain@sunyempire.edu or Tom Mackey at Tom.Mackey@sunyempire.edu.
Join us in this groundbreaking project to advance education and empower learners with metaliteracy worldwide for the generative AI revolution!
Editors
Nicola Marae Allain, Ph.D. is the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at SUNY Empire State University, where she has held faculty (tenured) and administrative roles since 2002. Her research and leadership have focused on digital learning, immersive and virtual environments, and emerging technologies. She holds a PhD in Media and Communication from the European Graduate School, a MA in Dramatic Art, Dance and Music from the University of California, and a BA in English from the University of Ottawa. Allain’s interdisciplinary background in arts and humanities complements expertise in higher education technologies and systems, digital media arts, visual pedagogy, and digital communication. Throughout her career, Allain has demonstrated a commitment to developing an aptitude for lifelong learning among students and faculty, while supporting the agency and autonomy of learners within active and authentic learning environments. Her leadership in faculty development and curriculum design has modeled innovative strategies that scale across disciplines, and were widely adopted by SUNY Empire and institutions in New Zealand. Her decade-long role on the SUNY Innovative Instruction Research Council led to collaborations with the SUNY Faculty and Teaching with Technology (FACT2) Committee AI Task Group. Allain co-authored the SUNY FACT² Guide “Optimizing AI in Higher Education” (May 2024), for which she contributed sections on the social impact and creative applications of AI. She has previously collaborated on metaliteracy initiatives, courses and publications. Her recent articles focus on curriculum innovations in digital humanities, mindfulness, and leadership in higher education settings. Fluent in several languages, Allain is also a translator of French poetry and Classical Chinese literary texts.
Thomas P. Mackey, Ph.D. is Professor of Arts and Media and Program Coordinator for the BA and BS programs in Digital Media Arts at Empire State University. He is Academic Coordinator for online courses in Arts and Media. Dr. Mackey is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Scholarship and Creative Activities (2022) and the Dr. Susan H Turben Chair in Mentoring (2021–2022). He has an honorary appointment as Extraordinary Professor, Research Unit Self- Directed Learning, Faculty of Education, North-West University, South Africa. Dr. Mackey originated the metaliteracy framework with Prof. Trudi E. Jacobson to prepare learners as individual and collaborative producers of new knowledge. He has published four books with Prof. Jacobson on metaliteracy, including the first co-authored manuscript on this topic entitled Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy (2014). They co-edited two volumes Metaliteracy in Practice (2016) and Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World (2019). Their most recent book Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers (2022) is the recipient of the 2024 Divergent Publication Award for Excellence in Literacy in a Digital Age Research. Dr. Mackey’s latest book is a co-edited volume with Dr. Sheila Marie Aird entitled Teaching Digital Storytelling: Inspiring Voices through Online Narratives (2024). He has presented both nationally and internationally about metaliteracy and generative AI and has designed learning assignments in several courses to engage learners in the generative AI revolution.
ACRL Association of College and Research Libraries. (2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education. American Library Association. Retrieved July 20, 2024, from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework.
Mackey, T. P., & Jacobson, T. E. (2011). Reframing information literacy as a metaliteracy. College & Research Libraries, 72(1), 62–78. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl-76r1.
Mackey, T. P., & Jacobson, T. E. (2022). Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers. ALA Neal-Schuman.
Book image created in DALL-E using the prompt: “Visualize a dynamic book cover for AI and Metaliteracy: Empowering Learners for the Generative Revolution” (October 28, 2024).
Here’s the slideshow of the Metaliteracy and AI Keynote:
Tom’s keynote offered several takeaways:
The development of AI is both a revolution and evolution
Several international organizations have defined ethical frameworks for engaging with AI
Generative AI contributes to the proliferation of mis- and disinformation
Metaliteracy supports the design of effective learning activities with generative AI
Metacognitive reflection is key to the learning process when working with AI
Reflecting on their learner roles, especially the producer role, reinforces active engagement with AI
The analysis of AI ethics is reinforced through metaliteracy’s civic-minded characteristic
Digital storytelling and the inventive production of AI-generated content support learners in discovering their authentic voice
This international conference offered a chance to engage with educators and learners from around the world. It emphasized the value of exploring generative AI through the lens of metaliteracy. The keynote emphasized the core components of metaliteracy including the learning domains, roles, and characteristics. It focused on how these elements work together to support learners in developing a metaliteracy mindset. This mindset prepares them for wide ranging information environments that are increasingly mediated by AI.
If you are interested in learning more about metaliteracy, please explore the many open resources via this blog as a starting point. Additionally, we want to know how you engage with metaliteracy in your teaching and learning with AI. If you have an idea for a guest blog post, feel free to reach out to Tom Mackey or Trudi Jacobson directly.
Metaliteracy.org 