eli07netsavvysession and Curriculum Development

UC Berkeley's Mellon Fellowship for Undergraduate Research offers one model for strengthening the connections between undergraduate research, information literacy, and educational technologies. The initiative engages many issues: supporting instructors' pedagogical approaches; sustaining cross-departmental collaborations; leveraging resources to transform curriculum; assessing student learning; and evaluating faculty, departmental, and institutional change.

UC Berkeley's Mellon Fellowship for Undergraduate Research offers one model for strengthening the connections between undergraduate research, information literacy, and educational technologies. The initiative engages many issues: supporting instructors' pedagogical approaches; sustaining cross-departmental collaborations; leveraging resources to transform curriculum; assessing student learning; and evaluating faculty, departmental, and institutional change.

The introduction of new media tools and texts inevitably creates social tension as the roles of information receivers, producers, and gatekeepers shift with the changing literacy landscape. In particular, the traditional relationship between alphabetic literacy and schooling gives way to a complex and expansive view of multiple, critical literacies and their uses. How can educational institutions rethink the literacy and learning connection within the context of pervasive communication devices and shared knowledge networks? Instead of focusing on the challenges of integrating net savvy students into existing institutional practices, an assets model for new media education leverages everyday literacy skills and enlists students as partners in the design of relevant, customized, and dynamic learning environments in a digital world.