Metaliteracy Viewed Through Metacognitive Lenses(2nd MOOC Talk)

The second MOOC Talk based on the subject, "Metacognition- A Literacy of Awareness," was held on Wednesday, September 18, 2013, and it was facilitated by Char Booth, an Instruction Services Manager and E-Learning Librarian at Claremont Colleges Library.

It has become extremely important for all participants in the metacognitive field to be very much aware of their thought processes just as they occur. There are underlying factors that are critical in advancing the cause of metacognition. These factors include but are not limited to developmental factors, cultural factors, social factors, and mentoring/instruction. How an individual becomes aware of his/her way of thinking and learning to boost performance is directly related to the aforementioned factors. On average, individuals become aware of their cognition at age 4 and the way of life these individuals are accustomed to(culture) also affects their thinking and learning processes. Societal norms as well as the socialization that comes in the form on mentoring and instruction affect metacognitive knowledge and experiences. Metacognitive knowledge has to with how one senses development in terms of his or her own cognition, the perception of one's self as well as other people, then finally how one perceives what is easy and what is difficult to interpret within the metacognitive framework. Metacognitive experience is related to how an individual understands or misunderstands another person during an interaction, reviewing one's previously held opinions, and finally how a person interprets failure and success.

Regulation was another important concept that was touched on in the presentation. This concept is related to one's ability to input actions and strategies to make the most of the experience of metacognition. According to Schraw and Moshman(1995), regulation has to do with metacognitive activities that help control one's thinking or learning. Regulation of cognition involves planning, monitoring and evaluation of actions and strategies. One interesting thing I learned from this MOOC talk is how knowledge and experience in terms of metacognition varies from one individual to another. It is therefore not surprising that each individual's reaction to altercation or complication is unique. Char Booth's presentation ended with a look at the Learning Theories and analysis of Literacies and Metacognition. Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism form the learning theories. Behaviorism has to do with regulating one's behavior within the educational psychology framework. Cognitivism is related to designing learning experiences to help individuals retain information. Constructivism is multi-dimensional; it involves peer-to-peer interaction and social learning-what affects individuals and how their brains develop. Literacies and Metacognition stages in the model are interpretation, evaluation,reflection, revision, and justification.

The second MOOC talk was very detailed and informative. I enjoyed being a part of the videoconferencing experience!

Tale of the tape: Padlet versus Popplet

In our second  session of the semester last week, Professor Trudi Jacobson introduced the class to Padlet. Padlet is a very powerful online tool that enables the sharing of thoughts and ideas in a form of wall posts or a bulletin board. It was my very first time using this free and very simple application. Professor Jacobson put up a question which required students to describe metaliteracy in six words and it was amazing how each individual's response updated on each computer screen right after clicking the "publish" button. Padlet is a great tool for teaching and learning! It also provides features that help users to be more creative; the use of pictures, videos and other forms of multimedia as well as designing the interface to suit users' preferences.

After doing a thorough research I came across a similar online tool called Popplet. This application like Padlet helps users update ideas they acquire from brainstorming exercises and present those ideas in a form wall notes. It is also very simple to use and incorporates various types of multimedia to engage users as well as those they make presentations to. Popplet also provides tools and features that help bring out the preferences of every user. It is a very simple yet creative application which can be used for group and individual projects.

My First Massive Open Online Course(MOOC) Talk

On Wednesday, September 4, 2013, I had the opportunity to attend my first Massive Open Online Course(MOOC) talk organized by Professor Tom Mackey and Professor Trudi Jacobson in the Standish Room of the Science Library at the University at Albany. As it was my first time participating in a MOOC, I did not know what exactly to expect aside from the fact that I knew I would have the chance to interact with participants from all over because of the participatory nature of the course. It took a little while for the organizers to figure out how to successfully set up the equipment to make the talk a smooth exercise. But the exercise eventually began and a variety of topics and concepts were touched upon. 

The topics discussed ranged from the very nature of the subject of metaliteracy, reflecting about the research process(thinking thoroughly about one's way of thinking), what makes the concept of metaliteracy unique(how it differs from other disciplines related to literacy), the metaliterate learner, metacognition, the media involved including social media as well as the various types of participants in the field. It was an engaging forum however, there were a few concerns raised on how to make subsequent MOOC talks a smoother experience for the participants due to the technical difficulties experienced at the beginning. I had the singular honor of being the only student in the midst of learned professionals so I had the opportunity of learning a not of new ideas. I also had the chance to make a meaningful contribution and it is my hope that I will be instrumental in making the subsequent talks a smoother exercise as I intend to volunteer to help the organizers set up for the next MOOC exercise. Overall it was a very good experience for me and I am really excited to be a part of this!

The Concept of Metaliteracy

The concept of metaliteracy  is new to me. My understanding of this innovative style of teaching and learning is that it is a developing model which is making a transition from the theory phase to the actual practice phase. It involves the discovery of fairly new and growing technologies used in the process of crafting and sharing information in an open and healthy participatory online forum. This is my first time taking an online course and it is good to know I will have a chance to interact with participants from all over. I like the fact that I get to share what I learn in my blog simply because I just started a sports website with my best friend so I believe through this course there is so much I can learn about blogging to help make my column better. I commend Professor Trudi Jacobson and Professor Tom Mackey for all their time and effort in developing the metaliteracy model. I believe it will go a long way to enhance teaching and learning in a very creative way.