(SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – March 11, 2013) Sue Thomas, an international scholar, author and research professor of new media at the Institute of Creative Technologies, faculty of art, design and humanities, at De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom, is this year’s keynote speaker for the 2013 Transliteracy, Technology and Teaching Conference themed “Transliteracy from Cradle to Career.”

The Transliteracy Research Group, led by Thomas, defines “transliteracy” as the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and “orality” to handwriting, print, TV, radio, film and digital social networks.

“Transliteracy is causing a stir among teachers, librarians, employers and anyone interested in the changing nature of communication,” said Thomas. “We take many of our literacy skills for granted, whether they involve scratching a message in the sand, talking on the phone, or penning a letter. But digital media has brought new kinds of literacies to the table. They will never replace traditional habits, but rather add to the rich menu of ways in which we interact with each other.”

Sponsored by the SUNY Empire State College’s Center for Distance Learning, the SUNY Librarians Association and the SUNYLA Working Group on Information Literacy, the goals of the 3Ts conference are to prepare participants with new ways to engage their students, enrich their classes and broaden their perspectives about 21^st-century teaching and learning.

“The expanded scope of this year’s conference, "Transliteracy from Cradle to Career," is achieved by including K-12 educators in order to create a dialogue with higher-education faculty, librarians and online instructional designers about the future of education,” said Tom Mackey, dean of SUNY Empire State College’s Center for Distance Learning. “Teaching and learning are changing just as fast as technology and we owe it to our students to help them succeed in completing their education.”

“Since the initial conference in 2011, the idea of including more of our K-12 colleagues has always been the spirit of the 3Ts,” said Mark McBride, coordinator of library instruction at Buffalo State College. “As educators we want to learn from each other about what works inside the classroom and how we can better support each other. Moving forward we need to work together to improve the educational experience for all students in New York state. The 3Ts is a perfect venue for educators to get together and share what works and how to improve what we do in our classrooms and in our schools.”

“Presenters at the 3Ts conference share cutting-edge ideas and practices, making it an exciting conference,” said Trudi Jacobson, head of the information literacy department at the University at Albany. “The conference has an impact far exceeding its single-day duration, in part due to the connections that it creates between topics, approaches and specializations. The broad range of individuals who attend, professors, librarians, technology experts and teachers, encourages cross-disciplinary conversations that I have found to be thought provoking and fruitful.”

Presentations will be led by scholars and practitioners from Auburn University, SUNY Geneseo, the University of Manitoba, Buffalo State College, the State University of New York at Albany, California State University Channel Islands, St. Jerome's University and Empire State College.

Sessions will include:

• creating virtual pathways for civic discussion
• using cloud conferencing to create opportunities for collaborative writing
• discussing the SUNY Statewide Teacher and School Leader Education Network
• understanding the role of transliteracy in the classroom
• teaching digital fluency through immersive technologies.

More information about the conference is available here and here.

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Media contact: David Henahan, director of communications

518-587-2100, ext. 2918

David.Henahan@esc.edu

518-321-7038 (after 5 p.m. and on weekends)