Learning Bursts: Open Pedagogy, Metaliteracy, and More

Back in 1993, a colleague and I wrote an article that I later thought was prescient. It involved online library catalogs and in it I suggested that catalog users be able to leave comments on books they had read. Sounds absolutely commonplace now, but back in 1993, it definitely wasn't. I'd have to go back and read the article again to see exactly what else I contributed to it, and if perhaps there are more things that later came to pass—though obviously not because of my suggestions. The question I grappled with yesterday was whether I could scan and upload the article to ResearchGate, so it has a chance to be read by others. At first I thought it might be available online, but it isn't.  I am not in a big rush since my copy of the journal issue is in my office--I place I haven't been in quite some time. The decision-making process about whether I could upload a copy to a platform other than my institution's repository had a number of complicating factors. Th...

Sarah has recently become fascinated by artist trading cards (ATCs), small 2 ½” by 3 ½” cards that can be used to express one’s creativity. This can range from painting to calligraphy to cartoon drawing to collage using paper or fabric. As the name implies, they can and are traded. The general feeling is it is bad form to sell them. Sarah doesn’t think of herself as having any drawing or painting abilities, but she loves the idea of coming up with creative collages. She looks around the house to see what materials she can use, and finds some paper napkins with clever designs of four owls with outlandish creations on their heads. Sarah carefully cuts them out, and creates a four ATC montages, each using part of an owl illustration and some other complementary items. She then posts photos of them on Instagram to share them with her friends. Sarah doesn’t even think about copyright, so we will have to do it for her. Sarah is in the United States, and subject to U.S. copyright...