11 REASONS WHY
You should join us for the 11th
Annual Summer Institute in Digital Literacy
July 9-14, 2023
1. Re-Discover Your "Why"
In the face of ongoing instability and uncertainty, what makes work joyful for you? The Summer Institute in Digital Literacy is a place to re-discover your passion and your place of opportunity to make a difference in the context of your work and life. Gain new skills in learning how to exercise generous authority in managing difficult situations. Get inspired through our purposeful gatherings that build a climate of trust and respect where everyone learns from everyone.
2. Accelerate Creativity with the Power of Two
Meet people who share your interests or are faced with similar challenges. Through informal dialogue, explore win-win possibilities as you discover ways you can help each other. Then make a choice to work collaboratively with someone. Explain yourself. Ask questions. Listen. Gather ideas. Reflect. Create something on your own or together. Get meaningful feedback from others. Feel the pride that comes from composing creative and practical work you can immediately use in your work context. Imagine and plan how you can employ "the power of two" in your work content.
3. Advance Your Expertise in Digital Media Literacy
In 2023, public schools in Rhode Island and 13 other states are required to offer a unit of media literacy instruction to high school students. In many other communities across the country and around the world, there is increased momentum for media literacy education across the curriculum. Learn from experts about instructional practices, resources, and materials that help you advance digital media literacy in your community. Meet with others to collaborate and share ideas as you develop interdisciplinary unit plans in English language arts, social studies, and health/wellness education.
4. Experience Create-to-Learn & Digital Inquiry Pedagogies
Develop a question that's meaningful to you. Select from among 40+ workshops to gather new information and ideas. Spend time learning to create something new and explore digital media apps that enable you to create infographics, podcasts, websites, videos, digital stories, sketchnotes, and more. Get elbow-to-elbow support from experts as you experience “just-in-time” learning.
5. Join Meaningful Conversations
We come together to talk about what matters most in 2023 and beyond. Listen to the voices of those who embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion and meet with people who use digital and media literacy as anti-racist change agents in their schools, libraries, and communities. Share your own experiences with giving people opportunities to tell their own stories & share their thoughts about facing and overcoming adversity. Develop practical and concrete action steps that you can implement in your work context.
6. Explore the City as a Classroom
Space and place can change your thinking. Consider how learning happens when taking a walking tour to "read the world," interpreting the many different types of texts and symbols in the built environment. Learn how to plan, implement, and assess a field trip to explore a local community organization. Take time to tell the story of your neighborhood, community, library, or school.
7. Promote Learners' Right to Read
Collaborate with other educational professionals as you generate strategies for how to employ digital inquiry practices that promote skills in language, critical thinking, and comprehension. Learn how to plan and implement activities that ensure students have voice and choice as part of evidence-based reading instruction. Exchange ideas for how school librarians can support equitable access to diverse, inclusive school library collections and the integration of technology for teaching and learning.
8. Learn How Your Leadership Matters
Discover or enlarge your identity as a leader in digital literacy. There are many ways that you can advance digital and media literacy to address so-called "learning loss" and prevent the spread of disinformation. Learn about research that supports your planning process and meet with others facing similar challenges to brainstorm creative approaches to use CARES funding for digital literacy initiatives.
9. Pique Learners' Curiosities with Personal Digital Inquiry
Capitalize on hands-on, minds-on supported experiences using a research-based framework of student-centered inquiry practices to help connect with people of any age and discover new ways of thinking about living, teaching, and learning. Weave in new practices for engaging learners in online, F2F, and hybrid approaches and discover "what works" when blending the formats.
10. Proactively Plan for Equity and Inclusion
Build strategies for how to proactively plan for student variability and begin to see culture and diversity as an asset. Learn how to employ the best practices of Universal Design for Learning alongside culturally responsive teaching techniques that tap into students' personal identities, create a sense of belonging, and empower them to co-create the education they are receiving. You will walk away with practical examples of how to leverage digital texts and tools to elevate learner voice and help build more equitable learning environments.
11. Stay Strong
It is important to appreciate the social and emotional dimensions of the learning environments we inhabit. If you're in a dysfunctional institution, you may feel a sense of hopelessness that alienates you from doing your best work. Discover the natural optimism that results when we simply honor and acknowledge the impossible challenges of work, life, and citizenship today.
Learn more about the history of the Summer Institute in Digital Literacy and see how we have pioneered the development of professional learning communities
