Episode 050 - Joelle Pitts and Matt Upson

Abstract

In this episode, we take a look at the work of the New Literacies Alliance. The NLA is a cross-institutional collaboration among librarians to create open educational resources intended to teach information literacy. They have created online lessons for introducing students to search strategies, scholarly conversations, the role of authority in research, citations, reading scientific research, and more.

Leading Lines producer Melissa Mallon caught up with two of the leaders of the New Literacies Alliance at a recent conference. Melissa spoke with Joelle Pitts, instructional design librarian at Kansas State University, and Matthew Upson, director of undergraduate instruction and outreach services at the Oklahoma State University libraries. They talk about the origin of the New Literacies Alliance, the challenges teaching students information literacy, and what’s next for the NLA and the lessons they’re developing.