Month: October 2020

Personal Symbolic Models of Metaliteracy Built in 3D

valibrarian

Recently, the Virtual World MOOC 2020 shared presentations on numerous educational programs including one on Metaliteracy Symbolic Modeling, a creative process developed by Niela Miller. Niela provides training on facilitating symbolic modeling for various topics, subjects or purposes and I chose to utilize this creative process for understanding our personal responsibility for metaliteracy.

A session on Metaliteracy Symbolic Modeling was held in October 2020 with individuals creating models of how it feels to become metaliterate as literacy has changed. (Note: You may want to fast forward past the first 30 minutes as it is the Nonprofit Commons Meeting with introductions).

Watch as three participants share the 3D model they create and then discuss how they feel about metaliteracy. The process leads the individual to a personal reflection.

Understanding how literacy has changed in digital culture requires critical thinking. The concept of metaliteracy means we think about how we both produce and consume information. The impact of the internet and networked culture has dramatically changed the way we communicate and often we are faced with an overwhelming amount of information each day.

A Metaliteracy Symbolic Modeling Exhibit is scheduled to open soon at InfoLit Island for the Virtual World Education Round Table. Sheila Webber, information literacy expert in the UK shares regularly on the Information Literacy Weblog. Digital citizens around the world unite virtually!

Plunge into My VR Office – One Mind-bending Click Away!

valibrarian

Virtual reality apps have exploded.  Frame.io is a web-based VR platform created by Virbela which is currently in Beta and will be released next year. In addition, augmented reality (AR) has been around for years but is staged to take off in mainstream media for many uses.  We live and work in multiple realities and we juggle multiple communication tools which certainly require metaliteracy.  Click here to visit my VR office Frame.io/valibrarian or (if you have a device nearby) just use a smart camera to access with this QR code.

Note: the default setting is an open microphone.  I need to tell the Frame.io creators that this might be a privacy issue.  I had the tab open on my browser and then left to do work on other tabs.  A couple hours later, I heard a colleague saying, “Hi Val!  Are you there?”  I could not figure out where the voice was coming from until I clicked over to the Frame.io tab. Yikes! That felt weird.

The images in the VR office have links to resources about metaliteracy in metamodern culture, so click away as you wander through both 2D and 3D objects. Metaliteracy is a term, coined by Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson, that encompasses the way we juggle many communication tools every day including social media, email, text messages, app notifications, evaluation of online information and much more. If you come visit, you will create an avatar and be able to chat in voice. 

One wall shares a link to the Community Virtual Library Frame.io space, which also is just one click away! My office hours in Second Life at the Community Virtual Library are currently 1-2pm Pacific Time. I will “plunge” into FrameVR and be around if anyone wants to visit. Of course, if you are reading this ten years from now, we may meet elsewhere. Perhaps on Mars!