Call for Presentations : Transliteracy Conference : Tuesday 9 February, 2010, 9:30 – 17:30 Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre Leicester, UK In association with the Institute of Creative Technologies & the NLab Small Business Network, De Montfort University http://nlabnetworks.typepad.com/transliteracy/conference2010.html Deadline for Abstracts: 1 December, 2009 Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. Since 2005, when Professor Sue Thomas introduced this concept in the UK, transliteracy has been taken up and explored by a broad range of academics and practitioners, from information scientists to literary theorists, artists and writers. The first Transliteracy Conference will take place at Leicester’s new Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre, on 9 Feb 2010. This one-day event offers an opportunity for academics, artists, business people and practitioners to share discoveries, ideas, and creative works that amplify and augment transliteracy research. This Call for Presentations invites 250 word abstracts. Presentations should be 10-15 minutes in duration, and can be used to show work or deliver a short paper. The Conference Panel will group presentations together thematically in sessions scheduled to include time to explore the
Transliteracy
Transliterate Divide – Working Definition
Transliterate Divide – The gap between people who have the skills to understand (read) and create (write) a message (information) and interact using a variety of tools across multiple media and platforms and the ability to apply those skills to new situations and formats and those who do not. My interest in transliteracy is tied to the skills one needs to be transliterate and determining the role of libraries in the acquisition and development of such skills. Although the primary direction of my work and this blog is tied to the internet and digital content, transliteracy is not. I’ve been reading. A lot. Reading about literacy and all the different types of literacies, technology, the digital divide and anything specifically written about transliteracy. My research and subsequent note-taking on a relatively new term (the practice is in no way new) has created a need for definitions. What about those who are not transliterate, un-transliterate, non-transliterate, transilliterate? I don’t know, I gave up on moved on leaving the decision, if any, to individuals wiser than me. This lead to my next issue, since I’m more interested in the skills and the development of those skills, I am interested in the divide between those with the skills
Vooks = Books + Online Video = Tranliteracy
A vook blends the text of a book with video into one story. I’m fascinated by this new this new multimedia approach to books. I have no idea if it will be successful, I can’t really see the appeal for fiction, but for something like a fitness or other how-to books I can see having a video as an advantage for demonstration. Think of all the how-to videos on YouTube. You get the advantages of text and video in one. Part of my fascination is due to the great example of transliteracy this provides. It is providing information through multiple media formats. We often see text in videos or on images. We are used to seeing videos embedded on websites and blogs. This does seem like the next logical step. But I wonder if it will really take off, maybe for a small market I’d like to see this affect ereaders, they can display text and images, and we are all waiting for color, why not video too? Curling Up With Hybrid Books, Videos Included What is a Vook and will it change how you read? Books + Online Video = Vooks: Watchable, Readable, & Very Cool Apple Tablet Books
Commentary On the Digital Divide from the Chief Executives of Netflix & CommonSenseMedia
If you’re thinking about transliteracy you almost have to be thinking about the digital divide. What does it mean? Is it real? How will we close the gap? This New York Times piece Will the Digital Divide Close by Itself? From the Google’s Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age provides a look at and arguments about the digital divide from two different perspectives. From Jim Steyer, chief executive of CommonSense Media and co-sponsor of the event “every kid needs to be digitally literate by the 8th grade” and called for a major public education campaign to make that happen. He argued that technology and learning are synonymous and that schools, parents, and kids must get up to speed in the next five years. On the other hand: Reed Hastings, the founder and chief executive of Netflix, contradicted him directly, saying it would take well more than five years to bridge the divide. Mr. Hastings, an avid education philanthropist and proponent of school reforms, argued that at the advent of any new technology — television, cars, even rockets — people get riled up and wring their hands over a growing gap between the haves and have-nots. He said that gaps narrow naturally
Libraries and Transliteracy – the video version
I took my slideshow on transliteracy and turned it into a video. I was curious about how easy it was to turn a slideshow into a video (its super easy!) so I thought I’d try it. Most of my presentations aren’t meant to stand alone and so don’t really translate well to video. When I was putting the transliteracy one together I wanted it to be able to stand alone, so I thought I’d give it a try. A little self indulgent I know But anyway here it is. Learn more about transliteracy Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Share on FriendFeed Buzz it up Share on netvibes share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tumblr it Buzz it up Subscribe to the comments on this post Print for later Tell a friend
Reading
