GSOLE is currently accepting nominations for our upcoming election.

GSOLE leadership is enhanced by a variety of perspectives and welcomes nominations from any OLI professional, especially applicants with diverse backgrounds and life experiences holding any rank or status, including contingent faculty, graduate students, staff, and/or tutors. We aspire for our leadership to reflect the diverse professionals who labor to sustain online literacy education across higher education and K-12 contexts. Please send nominations, including self-nominations, to vice-president@gsole.org by May 1, 2024.

The GSOLE Nominating Committee is seeking candidates for Vice President, Secretary, and three Executive Board At-Large Members. More information about each position and the election process can be found on our site.

Full PDF Overview

2023–2024 Webinar Series

Instructors as Designers: Considering UX Design in OWI

“Students in the driver’s seat of course design: Branching scenarios in online writing instruction”

April 26, 2024, 4:00 – 5:30pm ET

Presented by: Tiffany Bourelle (She/Her)

Mitch Marty (He/Him): Adjunct Professor & Instructional Designer

Joseph Bartolotta (He/Him): Associate Professor

Webinar overview

This webinar will introduce participants to an active-learning strategy called “Branching Scenarios,” which challenge students by offering them various learning paths for composing a project. For instance, students are provided a writing assignment, given two rhetorical situations from which they can choose, and are prompted to choose the branch or path that best fits their learning styles and choice of audience, purpose, and medium for their chosen rhetorical situation. Whereas most instructional design or user-centered scholarship in online writing instruction focuses on instructors controlling the design of a course, Branching Scenarios insist that students become active participants in the design process. To model this approach, we’ll present a course module where students are provided an assignment that offers choices of rhetorical situation, various discussion boards based on their choices, and small-stakes activities based on their chosen medium for communication. We’ll then guide participants in brainstorming what assignment can work best for a scenario in their own courses and in thinking through what choices students can make along the process path of learning and creating the project. Participants will leave with an action plan and one scenario drafted to begin working in their courses.

Participants will

1. Understand the philosophy behind Branching Scenarios as they relate to Online Writing Instruction.

2. Consider how Branching Scenarios align with PARS (Personal, Accessible, Responsive, and Strategic) course design.

3. Discover how Branching Scenarios can be developed with Backwards Course Design to address the Student Learning Outcomes of an online-based writing course through a module designed by the attendees.

4. Learn how to deploy a Branching Scenarios activity in their own course by using basic tools in an LMS and through Storyline, a common software program used to develop Branching Scenarios.

Register now! https://gsole.org/event-5439481

GSOLE Affiliate Announcements

From International Writing Centers Association (IWCA)

The IWCA Awards Committee is seeking chairs willing to lead the sub-committees that will select this year's Outstanding Article, Outstanding Book, Future Leaders Awards, and Travel Grants, as well as those interested in serving as members of those committees. Committee chairs are tasked with selecting committee members, reviewing nominated texts or Future Leader applications, convening committee discussion to select winners, and presenting those awards at the annual conference this October. Committee members will review nominated texts and participate in the deliberation and selection process. The IWCA Awards Chairs will solicit nominations, provide each committee with copies of nominated texts, and guide each chair through the review and selection process.  If you've ever wanted to have a say about which scholars and scholarship are recognized in our field, this is a good opportunity to make your voice heard! If you are interested in volunteering or have questions about the role(s), please complete this Committee Members & Chairs volunteer form by Sunday, 31 March.  Please reach out to the co-chairs of the awards committee, Chessie Alberti and Kat Bell, if you have any questions.  IWCA at the Conference on College Composition and Communication

We are getting so excited about the 2024 IWCA Collaborative@CCCC on April 3! Here’s additional information for the Collaborative. Session Times Session times are as follows: 7:30 am-8:30 am -- Check-in, Breakfast, Welcome 8:30 am-9:45 am – Session A  9:50 am-11:05am – Session B  11:05 am-11:25 am – Snack & Coffee Break 11:30 am-12:45 pm – Session C  12:45 pm-2:00 pm – Lunch (Ballroom) 2:00 pm-3:15 pm – Session D  3:20 pm-4:35 pm – Session E (Breakout Rooms) 4:40 pm-5:30 pm – Closing Reception with Buffet (Ballroom)  We’ll email an electronic version of the full program early next week, which will include session time and location. Accessibility Please review this detailed conference accessibility guide for accessibility guidelines and practices.  Room Technology Each room is outfitted with either a projector/screen or a large TV for presentations. The projector/TV is connected to an in-room PC that presenters can use to either pull up their materials via the internet or, using a USB drive, they can also plug into the in-room PC. There are presentation clickers in every room. If presenters bring their own personal laptops, they can be connected directly to the TVs/projectors via HDMI. There are a few adaptors for those with Mac devices, but presenters may wish to bring their own Mac adaptor. For Wi-Fi, presenters and attendees can log on to the Gonzaga Guest Wi-Fi from their personal devices. To access, you just select the network and click that you have read and agree to the terms of service.  Conference Center staff will be in the building throughout the day to assist anyone with getting set up in their room. Swag Exchange Finally, please bring some small giveaways from your Writing Center, if you have any! We will have a “Swag Exchange” table, where you can stock up on pens, post-its, stickers, etc.! Julia Bleakney Chair, IWCA Collaborative@CCCC Hannah Hanson Coordinator, IWCA Collaborative@CCCC

We are pleased to announce a call for proposals for a special issue of Research in Online Literacy Education(ROLE), the peer-reviewed research journal of the Global Society for Online Literacy Education (GSOLE). This issue engages with the work of scholar, teacher, and founding editor of ROLE, Michael Greer, to commemorate his contributions to ROLE, GSOLE, and the field of online writing instruction more broadly. 

In his “Editor’s Note” from the March 2018 inaugural issue of ROLE, Greer put forth a number of priorities for the journal, including multimodality, multidisciplinarity, strategic pedagogy, and hybrid practices. Greer noted that the journal would define literacy “broadly, as a convergence of writing, reading, composing, interpreting, and designing texts that are alphabetic, multimodal, oral, visual, and digital.” He emphasized the importance of “bringing voices from reading, writing studies, technical communication, composition, writing centers, writing across the disciplines, digital humanities, cultural studies, and beyond.” He centered teacher-research and reflective practice, reiterating the journal’s commitment to “strategic pedagogy, where theory and practice engage and question one another.” And he invited teacher-scholars to imagine “new, hybrid approaches and practices” that address the unique context of online literacy “with its complex mix of technology, discourse, talk, text, image, and play.” 

One of his last publications, Design for Learning: User Experience in Online Teaching and Learning, co-authored with Jenae Cohn (2023), is an accessible guide for designing and teaching online classes. Reviewers note the strength of this work is its usability; situating the approach to online course design in user experience, Cohn and Greer crafted an exceedingly usable guide that offers readers multiple pathways to engage with it depending on their needs and experience.

The editors of the journal invite scholars, teachers, and practitioners working broadly in the field of online literacy education to contribute to this special issue. We invite submissions that engage with or consider in some way one or more of the following questions:

• What are current best practices in teaching, composing, designing, and/or interpreting multimodal texts?

• What new literacies related to multimodal composing are emerging?

• What new technologies or best practices can improve the accessibility of alphabetic, multimodal, oral, visual, and digital texts for both author and audience?

• What impact is AI having on online pedagogy, digital literacy, and/or muItimodal composing?

• What new opportunities for multidisciplinary research exist in the fields of user experience, online literacy instruction, and instructional design for learning?

• What tutor training or writing center practices can provide tutoring support for online literacy learning or multimodal composition?   

• In what ways do WAC/WID programs engage with multimodal composition and digital literacy?

• What opportunities exist for multidisciplinary collaboration in curriculum design to facilitate learning transfer related to digital literacy and multimodal composing?

• What strategic pedagogies are needed in the field to advance and improve online literacy education?

• What kinds of professional development opportunities can WPAs provide to support teacher-research and reflective practice for faculty engaged in online literacy education?

• What “new, hybrid approaches and practices” are needed to address the unique context of online literacy teaching and learning?

• What ways have you applied, tested, and/or benefited from the practices and strategies outlined in Design for Learning?  

We welcome proposals for full-length research articles (4,000-6,000 words) as well as shorter vignettes and narratives (500-1,500 words) that engage with the impact of Greer’s work on your teaching, tutoring, instructional design, learning, and research. Presenters at GSOLE conferences are especially encouraged to submit a proposal based on your presentation. We also invite submissions that push the boundaries of form to imagine other ways of presenting academic research, embodying the spirit of Greer’s vision for ROLE as “not just another journal, but another kind of journal.”

Submit 500-word proposals via this Google form by April 15, 2024. We also welcome email questions and project ideas as you prepare your proposals to Ashlyn Walden or Michelle Stuckey at role@gsole.org.

Timeline for issue:

Proposals: April 15, 2024 

Notifications: May 31, 2024

Full Draft Due: August 1, 2024

Forthcoming Issue: September 2024

References

Cohn, J., & Greer, M. (2003). Design for Learning: User Experience in Online Teaching and Learning. Rosenfield Media. Greer, M. (2018). Editor’s note. Research in Online Literacy Education. 1(1). Retrieved

February 17, 2024 from http://www.roleolor.org/editorrsquos-note.html

Think Aloud Protocols in Composition II Courses: Let’s Talk About Research by Laura Seeber

Supervising Asynchronous Team Projects: An Exercise in Trust by Bonnie McLean

Save the Date for GSOLE Con 2025! 

Synchronous Sessions on February 6-7 with Asynchronous Sessions available February 1.  

Call for proposals coming Summer 2024. 

Interested in Bulk Institutional Registration?  

Email vice-president@gsole.org for more information! 

The #GSOLE24 Conference Team would like to let everyone know they have extended the Call for Proposals until November 7.  

If you would like to submit a Proposal to present at the GSOLE Conference next year, please follow this link: 

https://gsole.org/2024-Conference-Call-for-Proposals

Call for Proposals:

Global Society of Online Literacy Educators

Sixth Annual Conference

Visions and Sites of Online Literacy Education

An Online Interactive Global Conference

Proposals Due: Monday, Oct. 23, 2023 Ext. until Nov. 7

Proposal Decisions By: Monday, Nov. 27, 2023

Submit Your Proposal Here

The Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE) invites proposals for its sixth annual online international conference. This event will be hosted online with asynchronous presentations and synchronous elements. Synchronous presentations will be Thursday, February 1, and Friday, February 2, 2024. As an international organization, we will do our best to accommodate reasonable presentation times for participant presenters from around the world.

Online literacy education is an enduring and emerging field of practice and research. Our theme of “visions and sites of online learning” creates space for us to take stock of what we know, what we’ve learned, what has changed, and what remains the same.

Check out this excellent Critical AI Literacy Resource  curated by #GSOLE's own Dr. Mary Lourdes Silva!

Here you will find some great resources to you understand and work with AI tools.  

Critical AI Literacy Resources

GSOLE is proud to offer a series of online Webinars over the next several months, starting in November with "Critical Language Awareness (CLA) Meets 'Digital Story-Mapping'" presented by Mary Lourdes Silva.  
Register Now at this link: https://gsole.org/webinars

In this 90-minute webinar, Dr. Silva will take participants on a journey from analogue story-mapping to digital story-mapping that applies a CLA approach. Participants will have a chance to create their own analogue and digital maps and share stories pinned to specific locations on the map and in their memories. They will learn to use applications like Google street view, Google My Maps, and Knight Lab. Last, based on an educator’s area of interest or discipline, they could apply a CLA approach to narrate geological maps, historical maps, political maps, demographic maps, linguistic maps, economic maps, literary maps, and social or cultural capital maps.

GSOLE is also offering more Webinars throughout the year and into 2024!

Click here to visit the #GSOLE Webinars Page for all the info and register now!

Reducing Barriers to Learning: Creating Accessible Learning Resources
by Katharine H. Brown, Mark Smith, & Heesun Yoon
Auburn University

Abstract

Accessible document design is essential for the removal of barriers to learning. This article explores how the authors retrofitted over 300 learning resource documents and PDFs for accessibility and published them in a new Open Educational Resource (OER) for University Writing at Auburn University. Working collaboratively, the authors learned about accessibility standards and the technical processes of creating accessible documents and PDFs. Using the four principles of document accessibility, including visibility, audibility, mobility, and searchability, the authors describe their retrofitting process and provide readers with considerations for document accessibility. Their article addresses OLI Principle 1: “Online literacy instruction should be universally accessible and inclusive.”

OLOR Series: OLOR Effective Practices

Author(s): Katharine H. Brown, Mark Smith, & Heesun Yoon

Original Publication Date: 5 June 2023

Permalink: olor/ep/2023.06.05/