Leslie Farmer: So welcome, folks. I hope that the conference has been beneficial for you. There's so much good information and so much to reflect on and act upon. My name is Dr. Leslie Farmer. I am a professor of library media at California State University Long Beach. I am also the manager of the ICT Literacy Project for MERLOT.

So just a little bit of a tip on those acronyms. ICT is Information and Communications Technology. OERs are Open Educational Resources. And MERLOT is a repository or database of resources, almost 100,000 of them, that are specifically for education, and within that realm particularly post-secondary education. MERLOT stands for Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching. Making sure I get all my letters correct.

So I've been interested in this area, particularly about women, equity, and employment. So we're going to just drill down on that for specific issues and how they can be resolved, or at least addressed. So what indeed is the process? And what indeed is the issue? So we know that increasingly, folks need to have more information and be able to work in a number of different formats and different business sectors, and that in order to gain access, manipulate, and share that information as well as generate it, that they really need to know how to use technology effectively, which means that they need to be ICT literate. That is the ability to access, evaluate, use, share, communicate, and generate information in a number of different formats using technology.

And yet, when you go to different workplaces, they very seldom will actually use that term, ICT literacy. And the training that they usually get is usually just for a very specific software that company has. It might be proprietary, for example. They kind of assume, in most cases, that folks know how to use technology already in terms of just how to work with a new kind of software application.

So then what is indeed the problem? Well, women tend to get less access to technology. They oftentimes have less training, whether it's self learning or in a more formal situation, and have less time of practice. I don't have all of the time to kind of go into all of those details. But let's face it, there's a lot of external factors both in terms of school as well as outside demands.

And so what happens then as a result, the women are underrepresented in a number of industry sectors, particularly manufacturing, information technology, transportation, and construction. And oftentimes, those are really well-paying jobs. As a result of women not having those options, then there is inequity. They have fewer job options. They're already being paid usually less than males are in a lot of situations. And just in general, there's an issue of digital inequity.

So what happens with ICT literacy in the workplace itself? So the idea is then, how can folks use technology in order to find the information, whether it's within a company, or competitive intelligence, or guidance, or manuals, whatever, to find evaluate, manage, and communicate that information? So some of those examples are each company has their own specific computer use, digital pieces.

And so being able to use those applications productively and effectively needs a better sense of ICT literacy. There's a thing called knowledge management, which is basically the accumulation, curation, organization, and retrieval of workplace information, whether again, it's memos, or meeting minutes, or specs, manuals, et cetera. And so being able to find, and evaluate, and organize that information is another skill that requires ICT literacy.

And of course, most places have a lot of data. So being able to use that data, being able to analyze and act upon that requires ICT literacy. And then on top of that, you have communicating both in-house and with the public increasingly needs technology. So I invite you to take a look at this digital literacy website. And let's see if we can go ahead and watch it. And again, just have to check about our sound.

So let's continue with that then. So basically we're talking about technology. And the video talks about the use of open educational resources, open source materials. So when we're talking about that, we define then OERS as educational materials and resources that are offered freely and openly to anyone to use and under some licenses to remix, improve, and redistribute. And so this image on the right hand side tells you all the possible things that you could do. So you can download the materials. You can combine it with other materials. You can save it. You can redistribute it.

So that's really nice because with copyright laws you oftentimes have to have written permission for resources. But the issue is then, how do you find those resources? What are good ones? What kinds of information is really needed? And again, the reason why we want to use open educational resources besides that flexibility is that they are often free. And they are oftentimes just as good as the commercial items. You can also have your students, your learners add to those materials. You can customize them.

So there's lots of good reasons. Plus just the philosophy of knowledge being open and the idea of sharing it so we have a broader base for our knowledge and its improvement. So how can we then provide ICT literacy and provide resources that women can afford to use and are able to access easily? So I'll be talking about actually three different items. So one is skills commons. And another one is WISE, which is short for Women In Sustainable employment. And then we're adding on then the ICT and the OERs so that we'll have equitable digital training.

So that part that is kind of at the bottom, that's MERLOT, the repository. So it happens that Skills Commons is a partner with MERLOT, that WISE is a partner with MERLOT, and that ICT is a literacy community within MERLOT. And I should just give you a little more background on MERLOT. So MERLOT basically is a community-built database. And it's usually cases of the academic community that are providing those resources. Or they may have located them. And they're adding them to the repository. They are all indexed. They're tagged by different subject matters as well as format and audience. They are peer reviewed, so that you know that they are going to be useful for you.

So this is how then the ICT literacy supports WISE. Again, these are all within the MERLOT umbrella. Specifically ICT Literacy has a bookmark collection. So this is a really nice feature of MERLOT. And that is that you can curate and assemble bibliographies, or what they call bookmark collections, of materials on a particular subject. And then each of those collections, or bibliographies, has a unique URL. So you can then embed that into your instruction, or emails, however you wish to use a URL.

Not only that, but that collection then can be searchable just within those items that are put within that collection. There's also within ICT self-paced tutorials. And so there's a couple that have to do specifically with ICT literacy in the workplace, so that your learners can then take that at their convenience and be able to do a number of different activities as they gain knowledge in this subject area, so that they are more prepared.

You can also use those tutorials within some kind of course or other training. And there are training modules that go along with those tutorials. And again, most of these items are OERs. And MERLOT is largely composed of OERs or at least low-cost materials or ones that are freely available. So then WISE, this is basically a non-profit organization that tries to help folks or facilitate women getting into jobs that are higher paying and sustainable. They're oftentimes considered nontraditional jobs for women.

And basically, they provide then a number of employability, financial, and economic training materials. I have to say that the core audience, the core learners for WISE are young women who maybe have just high school education. So one group that's really interested in actually using these training materials are community colleges. So you can see that there are trainings available in terms of employability, interview skills, whether that has to do with communication, or just workplace manners, and dress, communication in-house, et cetera.

And then also you can see that there's a program that's just specifically in terms of business, whether you're managing your own or you're dealing with business aspects in some job. And there's specific courses just on business communication online. So there's one on just work-based learning so that if you do get on-the-job training, that this is how to optimize it. They also have trainings in terms of financial literacy, as well as some adult basic education pieces, whether it has to do with writing, mathematics. They are available again for free.

The other partner in this is Skills Commons. And this is again, another project where different educators-- and it can be business folks, but tends to be educators-- who provide training. They provide websites, modules, presentations for different subjects. And again, I'd say that the core contributors are folks that are teaching in community colleges. All of these materials are guaranteed to be OERs, so that you're able to use those freely. And of course, even just being able to access and use Skills Commons is also free.

So those are two of the parts. And then here's the ICT Literacy piece. And again, in MERLOT there are a number of what we call communities. So there's about 30 communities that are based on academic domains. So whether it's world languages, or fashion, or chemistry, or information technology, nursing, et cetera. So this is a really good place for you as an educator as well as students but particularly educators, to find out what are good resources and strategies. So the one that I maintain, ICT Literacy, goes across the academic domains because there's also a number of communities that are what they call academic support communities.

So within there you're going to find out about library services, how to teach online or do hybrid instruction, or how to help with students. There's also one that's on workplace development. So again, they're across different academic domains that help you in terms of your instruction, as well as finding resources. So as you can see along the top, there's a number of different pages that are fitting within the ICT Literacy community.

So we talk about standards for ICT Literacy, what people should be able to know and do and some of the guidelines that are out there. Professional development, so where you can get more information on ICT Literacy learning resources, which is the main piece. And that includes a lot of those bookmark collections and courses that are available to you. And then ICT in practice. So in this case, it's largely the Cal State University campuses that are supporting ICT Literacy, and then about our own group itself.

And you can see in the top, ictliteracy.merlot.org is the direct URL for that. One thing I did not mention that I really need to and that is MERLOT and ICT literacy, along with these other things that you're seeing, WISE and Skills Common, is free. And you can also become a member. And that also is free. It's open to any student and any educator. And that also includes librarians. So that not only can you access this information because anybody can access the different resources that are available from MERLOT. But it means that you too can create bookmark collections and have those nice URLS. You can create courses. You can create e-portfolios. And all of those then will have a unique URL that you can use and make available to others.

So within the section in terms of learning resources is this page that basically has a number of bookmarked collections. So within there-- and these are ones that I've developed over the last few years. So I have one section just on career-based ICT literacy. So you can see in that section we have one that's on workplace ICT literacy for women, period. But also, there's different ones, like college career readiness, health literacy, STEM, gender. And again, most of these are targeted both to the educators as well as to adult learners.

I also have a whole cluster of websites that have to do with ICT literacy, whether it has to do with integrating it into instructional design, or research about ICT literacy, et cetera. So you're welcome to look at those as well. So as I mentioned before, I've also created a couple of courses. And this is an example of one that is a self-paced tutorial. So in this case, we're talking about being able to define ICT and see how those skills can be part of your workplace, finding sources of information, and being able to evaluate that information, and then to be able to manage it.

So in each case, you get some information, some resources to look at, and then some activities to do for checks of understanding and to practice those skills. This is the beginning of an example of a facilitator's guide. So it works with or complements the tutorials. It also includes PowerPoints that are kind of built in. And so this is all scripted, so that you can then deliver that information to your learners. Within ICT Literacy there's specific pieces that have to do with media literacy. That is it really focuses on how format, whether it's social media, or video, or magazines, all of that, how that impacts then the message that you want to communicate, as well as how to then better understand and decode messages that are impacted by format.

So it gives you all the information you need in order to be successful with that. So in MERLOT I also then have courses for you as an instructional designer and trainer. So this is a four-part one on ICT literacy integration, especially for digital age learning. And the reason I provide this is because more and more we're actually doing hybrid and online learning. Even if it's face to face, we're including digital resources, again, whether it's a video, or an article, or simulation, or whatever.

We're also using more digitally-based textbooks. So reading a textbook in a print format and reading it online are two different experiences. Reading experience itself differs when you're using a print format as opposed to a digital one. And then on top of that, more and more we are asking our students to demonstrate their knowledge by either doing like online essays, or online quizzes, or asking them to create a podcast, a PowerPoint. And in all of those cases then they need to know how to use the technology in order to be productive and to have a product that accurately reflects their own competence.

So this four-part piece, which is also something that you can do for yourself as a self-paced module. You can do it as part of a course. You can do it in training. And the four parts have to do with what ICT literacy is and why those skills, not just asking people to create a podcast, but how do you create a podcast? What do you have to think about when doing a podcast? Those particular skills then need to actually be built in to scaffold students' learning so that they can successfully engage with digital resources, digital tools and work with them in order to represent their knowledge.

And then one section has to do with introducing MERLOT and its different features. And then the third piece talks about going beyond the textbook. Let's face it, at this point, it's almost hubris to think that one textbook is going to cover all the content and be able to be successfully used by all of your learners. So I talk about a number of different kinds of learning aids, different kinds of resources that can complement or even replace a textbook.

And so there's a big push in that in OARS And then the last piece has to do with tech for learning. And that is then how technology fits in for students as they're building community, as they're accessing these different materials, as they're using the tools, as you're using technology with the ICT literacy in order for students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, and be able to apply that work in authentic ways to, in this case, the workplace.

This is an example of a bookmark collection I created on workplace ICT literacy. You can see it's very simple. So it's basically the links and the titles. You can in a bookmark collection also describe the item, give it an annotation. You are not limited to just materials that are already in MERLOT. But you can also then link to materials outside MERLOT. And again, each one of these has its own URL and is a searchable collection of materials.

So with all of those different tools then, you're able to provide the training that helps make women more marketable and again, giving them agency for their own lifetime as well as career development learning. So with that, we do have enough time to show that video. So we're going to give that another shot. And as I set that up, questions, thoughts about how you might be able to use this? I also have enough time that I can actually show you some of these slides.

So at this point, Mandilee, if I put that in the chat, do you think you can bring that up?

Mandilee Gonzales: Yes, yes, I can do that.

Leslie Farmer: That would be fabulous. Sorry that didn't kind of work for--