Digital Gardening: Cultivating Digital Literacy in Higher Education

This episode of the Digital Gardener Podcast comes from the Digital Gardener Initiative AI/GenAI Webinar and Workshop Professional Development series. It features a panel discussion of higher education leaders taking stock of what we've learned so far and what might we do differently in relation to Generative AI going forward. Panelists include: Vivian Nun Halloran, Professor of English and Associate Dean for Arts + Humanities and Diversity + Inclusion in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington; Remi Kalir, Associate Director of Faculty Development and Applied Research at Duke University; and Adam Maksl, Professor of Journalism at IU Southeast and Senior Faculty Fellow for GenAI Learning Innovation through IU UITS Learning Technologies.

In this episode, we introduce a couple new voices as first-time DGI host Justin Hodgson (Director of the Digital Gardener Initiative) has a conversation with IU East Assistant Professor Dr. Justina Licata on the intersections of digital platforms, emergent technologies, and the teaching and doing of history. Justina talks about her work as a historian, the value and implications of doing public history work, the function of storytelling in this space, and her particular turn toward podcasting as a way of both making history exciting to students and bringing history alive through stories and voice. If you are interested in hearing more work from Justina, be sure to check out the "The Stories We Tell: A History Podcast," which she co-hosts with Dr. Jamie Mize. The Stories We Tell features episodes focused on historical narratives and legacies associated with diverse historical figures.

Join Adam Maksl and Paul Cook in this insightful episode of 'Digital Gardening' as they unpack the significance of generative AI in today's digital literacy landscape. This discussion highlights the immense potential and challenges of GenAI, including discussing the crucial need for smart regulation. This episide is our second on generative AI, the first being a humorous holiday-themed episode in December 2022, just a couple weeks after ChatGPT was released. We're sure there will be more. Dive into what we consider the most critical topic in digital literacy today.

In this special episode of Digital Gardening, Paul and Adam sit down with Renee Hobbs, Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Rhode Island and Founding Director of the Media Education Lab at URI's Harrington School of Communication. Dr. Hobbs' current project, Courageous RI, focuses on violence prevention via community-led discussions on such topics as "Feelings and Facts," "Conflict Entrepreneurs," and "Preventing Violent Extremism." All Courageous RI events are free, online, and open to the public. Our conversation in this episode spans several timely topics. We talk about the role of universities and colleges in repairing the epistemic divide and mitigating the hyper-polarization of our current moment, even as institutions of higher education (like all knowledge-producing institutions) are experiencing a crisis of confidence and lack of trust from the publics they serve. We discuss the rise of influencers and the concomitant decline in expert knowledge. And we explore the future of higher education and what must change--in terms of disciplinary siloing and incentive structures--for higher education to truly seize the gravity of our current postdigital moment. Thank you for listening to Digital Gardening. We hope you enjoy this podcast. Please reach out to us with your questions, feedback, and fan mail. You can reach us at [email protected].

Throughout history, libraries have been considered the heart of the university. Today, libraries are more important than ever before to learning, inquiry, and engagement in higher education, though certainly their roles have changed with the proliferation of digital media and online learning. Join Adam and Paul for a wide-ranging conversation with IU librarians Gemmicka Piper, Kym Kramer, and KT Lowe about the role of libraries and academic librarians in advancing digital and information literacy in the 21st century.  Thank you for listening to Digital Gardening. Do you have an idea for an episode? Want to be on the show? Just feel like dropping us a line? Send us an email! We would love to hear from you at [email protected]. You can also find us on Twitter at @dgi_iu.