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"Beyond Computer Literacy:
Implications of Technology for the Content and Outcomes of a
College Education"
The first of five outcomes of a
liberal education as described by the Association of American
Colleges and Universities:
1) Strong analytical, communication,
quantitative, and information skills— achieved and
demonstrated through learning in a range of fields, settings,
and media, and through advanced studies in one or more areas
of concentration;
In what ways do
the uses of information technology in the wider world have
implications for what all students in higher education should
learn, regardless of major? Some of what follows falls
under the heading of general education, while other elements
vary by major by have parallels in virtually all majors (e.g.,
information literacy).
Here are just a few examples -- please
send us more!
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Digital writing
(across the curriculum)
with the Web and multimedia have different strengths and weaknesses for academic
work than do traditional forms of academic writing (e.g.,
essays and term papers consisting of printable text).
Traditionally, students have written essays and term papers
in order to provide a framework for research, critical
thinking, and assessment. But all of those are shaped by the
fact that traditional essays are linear (i.e.,
printable, with a beginning, middle and end) and text-based.
In contrast, writing on the Web opens new possibilities for
thinking and assessment: the project can include many kinds of
data, such as images, sounds, database access, and video.
Readers can potentially interact with the writing. Perhaps
most important, it's easier to make web-based writing
available to readers outside the classroom and outside the
academy. (Click here for examples
and resources)
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“Information literacy”
is the label applied to one of academe’s early responses to
these changes: a collaborative effort by faculty and
librarians to help students learn to find, evaluate and
analyze information found in all kinds of sources, in and out
of the library. As with “writing across the curriculum,” the
real engine for learning is the series of assignments, and
feedback on student work, that should occur throughout the
student’s course of study. Librarians can often help faculty
plan a progression of such assignments and make sure important
resources (on- and off-campus) are available. (Click
here for examples and resources.)
Return to
"Beyond Computer Literacy:
Implications of Technology for the Content and Outcomes of a
College Education"
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Phone:
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