Your Name and Title: Dr. Lesley Farmer, Professor of Library Media
School or Organization Name: California State University Long Beach
Co-Presenter Name(s):
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: California
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): librarians and subject teachers
Short Session Description (one line): Learn ways to incorporate ICT literacy into the curriculum, focusing on locating and using international OERs, supported by MERLOT.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
This era is sometimes labelled the Information Society or the Knowledge Society, reflecting how information drives economies and societal action. To that end, then, people need to become ICT literate, herein defined as the ability to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, communicate information purposefully, knowledgeably, technically, and ethically around the globe.
Several standards provide guidance on ICT and related literacy: the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), UNESCO, and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Furthermore, faculty realize that the importance of digital resources, not only for textbooks but also other materials that can be accessed online to scaffold, personalize, and enrich learning. Particularly for students from different cultures and languages, locating materials in their first language and culture helps them relate to the concepts at hand. The task can seem daunting: to locate and evaluate reputable sources, especially in non-English languages. Faculty must also consider that students need to have ICT skills in order to access, evaluate, engage with, and transform those digital resources. However, many faculty have not had training in instructional design.
Of special note are Open Educational Resources (OER). These digital resources are freely available at little or no cost. They may be retained, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed as agreed upon. They are particularly attractive to educators in developing countries who lack funds and publishing infrastructures.
To help faculty locate and use digital resources, especially OERs, the California State University (CSU) system established a repository of online learning materials, all of which are peer- or reviewed by members of the community. This free resource is called MERLOT links to more than 70,000 items from around the world in several language -- and academic communities as well as faculty support services. One of these services is the ICT Literacy Project, which suggests several strategies for integrating ICT literacy into the curriculum in a systematic way.
The session explains ICT literacy and instructional design, provides strategies and examples for locating culturally relevant OERs in support of ICT literacy, and suggests ways to integrate them into the curriculum to gain and demonstrate subject competency.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: www.merlot.org
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