A Metaliteracy MOOC

For those interested in all-things MOOC, there is a new MOOC specific to metaliteracy.

The class appears to run from August 26 - December 18.

From the website:
In collaboration with Empire State College and the University at Albany, this is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that examines metaliteracy as a comprehensive approach to information literacy in the social media age.  Metaliteracy provides a metacognitive perspective that empowers learners to produce and share information in participatory social media environments. It also introduces an overarching framework for related literacy types, such as visual literacy, digital literacy, and media literacy, in connection to an expanded metaliteracy structure. As a metaliteracy cMOOC this learning experience will be collaboratively produced and delivered by scholars from around the world with expertise in emerging literacies. These terms will be discussed within a metaliteracy viewpoint that unifies complementary approaches to literacy with a self-empowering metacognitive perspective.  Learners will engage in an open online environment using some of the online resources that have inspired metaliteracy, including blogs, video conferencing, twitter, online discussions, and collaborative online communities.

What is Metaliteracy?

Metaliteracy promotes critical thinking and collaboration in a digital age, providing a comprehensive framework to effectively participate in social media and online communities. It is a unified construct that supports the acquisition, production, and sharing of knowledge in collaborative online communities. Metaliteracy challenges traditional skills-based approaches to information literacy by recognizing related literacy types and incorporating emerging technologies. Standard definitions of information literacy are insufficient for the revolutionary social technologies currently prevalent online (Mackey & Jacobson, Reframing Information as a Metaliteracy, 2011, 62-62)

This concept is important for legal scholars today. Legal scholars still rely on an what some believe is an outmoded way of communicating ideas and adding to the field with the traditional law review article. "But when it comes to discussion of timely controversies, slash-and-thrust debates, and other forms of writing that people actually go out of their way to read, there's no doubt where talented legal academics are headed: to blogs and other shorter-form online publications."

Metaliteracy is an important way to push information out to the public. Legal scholars should be familiar with emerging technologies because these technologies allow legal scholars to reach a wider audience. One of the main criticisms of the traditional law review article is that no one reads them.

Even though I blog, use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, these technologies are always changing and new ones are emerging. If you want to reach a wider audience and promote your work or find all relevant information, it's imperative to stay on top of these technologies and understand how to use them (hashtags, handles). This MOOC is right on time.

The Atlantic -- Abolish the Law Reviews!

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