Literacy Information

The 8th Creating Knowledge (CK) conference will be held in Reykjavík, Iceland, 2-3 June, 2016, hosted by the joint forces of Icelandic universities. This conference series is a Nordic collaboration arranged by NordINFOLIT: I have attended a number of CKs and they were all enjoyable and thought-provoking experiences! The conference theme is Practices, Goals and Visions for Information Literacy in Higher Education, with four sub-themes: Implementation of information literacy into the curriculum; Assessment of information literacy; Information literacy and writing centres; New challenges for information literacy. The call for papers will open on May 15 and the website is at http://upplysing.is/Default.asp?Page=487
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom in Blackheath, April 2015

There's an information literacy teachmeet at Southampton Solent University, UK, on 16 July 2015 in the afternoon. "Do you have a problematic, inventive or interesting item to share about your information literacy teaching? We are looking for presenters, activities and attendees for a free event to share good practice" More info and registration at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/teachmeet-at-solent-university-arlg-southern-event-tickets-16513686882 Closing date for sign-up is 1 July
Photo by Sheila Webber: Borage and (another flower), Blackheath, April 2015

Sign up quickly if you want to participate in the online discussion of game-based learning in library teaching which takes place on May 19 at 11am Pacific time USA (which is 7pm UK time): only 40 can participate. Sign up here http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a49acac28a1f58-gamebased. The session is led by Annie Pho and Amanda Dinscore who wrote the short Tips and Trends article on Game Based Learning that has just been published on the ACRL Instruction Section, Instructional Technologies Committee Tips and Trends page. Go to http://www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/sections/is/iswebsite/projpubs/tipsandtrends
Photo by Sheila Webber: Balloons at the start of the London Marathon on Blackheath, April 2015

On 21 May 2015 (6pm-9.30pm UK time), in London, UK, SLA Europe and CILIP Information Literacy Group are presenting an event: Information Literacy in The Workplace. It is free to SLA or CILIP ILG members, £15 to others. Speakers are Nancy Graham, Stéphane Goldstein and Ian Hunter. More info and booking at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sla-europe-cilip-ilg-information-literacy-in-the-workplace-tickets-16649442932
A second joint SLA Europe/CILIP ILG events is on 22 May, also in London, this time a morning event. Information Literacy at the interface: Learning from practice in the classroom and employment "will feature information professionals working in corporate settings and within higher education. They will offer insight into the strategies, and practical techniques and approaches to Information Literacy support applied in their respective sectors. These presentations will be followed by facilitated activity which will encourage the generation of new ideas and discussion, helping you to invigorate your own IL practice by learning from those in your sector and outside of it." Prices are the same as the first event. More information at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/information-literacy-at-the-interface-learning-from-practice-in-the-classroom-and-employment-tickets-16723854499
Photo by Sheila Webber: spring violets, April 2015

Ithaca College Library has produced a short tutorial, Evaluating Resources, in which the ACCORD checklist is introduced (that's Agenda, Credentials, Citations, Oversight, Relevance, Date) and then you are asked to evaluate a few resources (on the theme of red wine and health) http://ithacalibrary.com/research/eval_tut/
Photo by Sheila Webber: red grapes.

I webinar I attended alerted me to the DigiLit Leicester project. This is a project in the city of Leicester (UK) involving secondary schools, the city council and De Montfort University. "The project focuses on supporting secondary school teaching and teaching support staff in developing their digital literacy knowledge, skills and practice, and their effective use of digital tools, environments and approaches in their work with learners." Go to http://www.digilitleic.com/
Specifically, I was alerted to work with teachers on exploring OERs (Open Educational Resources) and there is asite for the OERs Schools conference that took place in Leicester in January 2015: there are presentations and reports here http://www.digilitleic.com/?page_id=700 and the hashtag was #OERSCH15.
Two general sites to do with OERs that were also mentioned are: OER Map and OER Research Hub
Photo by Sheila Webber: my cherry blossom, April 2015

Interesting to see that the Open University has produced a few documents outlining its policy on ethical use of data that it collects about students' learning (e.g. all the information on which students has used what in a virtual learning environment or MOOC, student comments in discussion fora). They have a policy document, Policy on Ethical use of Student Data for Learning Analytics, an FAQ and a document aimed at the students' themselves, Using information to support student learning. This looks like a good development that others should follow. http://www.open.ac.uk/students/charter/essential-documents/ethical-use-student-data-learning-analytics-policy
Photo by Sheila Webber: cherry blossom in my garden this morning