Learning to Look New Literacies for the Digital Age
Susan Metros, MFA, Associate Vice Provost and Associate CIO for Technology‐Enhanced Learning,
Professor of Visual Design, The Roski School of Fine Arts.
University of Southern California American college students are technology dependent and visually stimulated, but not always tech savvy and visually literate. While we educate students to read and write, we do not teach them to see. Institutions of higher education must revisit and revise the basic tenets of a foundational education by asking, "What does it mean to be literate in a visually overloaded and digitally saturated world?" By reframing institutional goals, applying discipline‐specific instructional strategies, leveraging new and emerging technologies, and building upon the strength and will of community and culture, educators can prepare students to thrive as astute consumers, producers, and critics for this new visual and digital realm.
Download the Presentation Here
Click here for Susan Metros' keynote address
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Welcome
The 2013 Information Fluency Conference committee invites you to submit proposals for presentation, and to attend the 2013 Information Fluency Conference at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. This year's theme is "Critically Examining Information Fluency Education."
In her article, "Assessing Information Fluency: Gathering Evidence of Student Learning", Barbara Stripling says, "Information fluency is the ability to access, make sense of, and use information to build new understandings. The term 'information fluency' is now accepted in the field of library science as a replacement for 'information literacy' because students must not only know the skills, but also apply the skills fluently in any personal or academic learning situation. Information fluency skills make sense to students when they are engaged in a coherent process of inquiry and learning." (Stripling, 2007)
This topic for the annual Information Fluency Conference to be held at the University of Central Florida, March 13-14, 2013, brings to light many questions about the technical and information culture on college and university campuses. The emerging questions become, "What does the 21st century student need to know," "How do we ensure the skills are learned by our students," "How do we collaborate as faculty, professional staff, technology specialists, and librarians to infuse information fluency skills throughout a student's education," "How do we create a coherent process of inquiry and learning," and "How do we assess the skills learned and the value of those skills."
There are many articles in the literature that critically examine information technology education, even more work on how to examine information literacy education, and an abundance of work on how to examine the critical thinking skills of students. Little is found, however, on critically examining all of these areas together in a planned and intentional process.
How do we know our graduates are information fluent? What is being done in colleges and universities around the world in teaching information fluency and in assessing information fluency? ACRL and ITEE have skill sets that information fluent students need to possess. Are they realistic? How are they being incorporated into curriculum? What changes are needed in the culture of and collaborative spaces on our campuses to ensure these skill sets are being met by our students?
Join us as we discuss these issues and more during the 2013 Information Fluency Conference.
- Assessment of IF skills
- Creative Instruction of IF Skills
- Campus Culture and Collaborative spaces that promote IF Skills
- Information Literacy to Support IF Skills
- Critical Thinking to Support IF Skills
- Adding Value to Graduates' degrees through Information Fluency
- The 21st Century Student
Additional information on the conference, including submitting a presentation proposal and registering for the conference may be found at www.ce.ucf.edu/if.