Design Features of a Professional Development Program in Digital Literacy (original) (raw)

Teaser Text: To advance the digital literacy competencies of educators, create opportunities for them to reflect on their motivations for using digital media, make collaborative inquiry a substantive component of the hands-on learning experience, and create opportunities to put teachers and learners (not machines) at the center of attention. Abstract This essay introduces readers to three design features of the University of Rhode Island's Summer Institute in Digital Literacy (SIDL), a 42-hour week-long professional learning experience in digital literacy for educators, librarians, college faculty and other adult learners. The program is explicitly designed to (a) promote reflection on one's motivations for advancing digital literacy; (b) deepen appreciation for collaborative inquiry; and (c) focus on how educators and learners (not machines) personalize learning. Evidence of how these themes are developed through practice illustrates the design philosophy that is embedded in the program. Digital media platforms, texts and technologies enable pedagogical practices that put learners and teachers at the center of an increasingly networked social world but these approaches also require respect for diverse perspectives, deliberative dialogue and collaborative inquiry to bring them into the mainstream educational practice of schools, libraries, universities and communities. * * * We had been together for five years before we decided to celebrate. And we didn't celebrate by having a five-year birthday party-instead, we wrote this paper to reflect and wonder and consider what we have built together with the help of many willing hands, including 25 faculty colleagues from around the country and around the world. Every summer since 2013, Renee and Julie (the authors) have worked with K-12 educators, youth media professionals, school leaders, college faculty and librarians who share our interests in the intersection of education, information, communication and media studies. Through designing, implementing, and assessing a professional development program, we have conceptualized digital literacy in relation to the needs of experienced adult learners whose motives for wanting to incorporate digital texts, tools and technologies into the curriculum vary widely. Our collaborative work in digital literacy is thus located in pragmatic action focused on professional development. Over time and as a result of sustained exposure to the many more than 500 adult learners who have participated in an intensive professional development program at the University of Rhode Island's Summer Institute in Digital Literacy, we have collaboratively built a joint understanding of