Leadership from academic librarians advances media literacy education
DATE: Thursday, September 29
TIME: 12 PM EST
Joanna Burkhardt shares insights from her new book, Media Smart: Lessons, Tips and Strategies for Librarians, Classroom Instructors and Other Information Professionals.
Join us for a disussion of how changes with the internet, technology and the media create the need for media literacy. Librarians and information professionals have long supported students and faculty in selecting information sources. But knowing what and how to choose can be vexing, given the changing nature of expertise, authority and credibility. Understanding the language of media messages and how communication techniques can sway our thinking is important. Algorithms, bots, cyborgs and artificial intelligence can add and detract from the ability to find accurate and reliable information. Data can be understood through the creation of data visualizations, but these tools can also be used to inform or misinform. Images affect our reactions to information, but how can the authenticity of imaged be verified? Burkhardt offers examples of classroom exercises that could help to illustrate various aspects of media literacy and a list of resources providing useful information for educators.
PRESENTER: Joanna Burkhardt, University of Rhode Island
As librarian at the University of Rhode Island for more than 30 years, Joanna Burkhardt and her colleagues created one of the first credit-bearing college courses in information literacy in the country, and she taught the course in person and online until 2015. She also created several short courses for ALA (the American Library Association) and ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) to help teachers of information literacy prepare their own courses.