Information Management and Career Development
Module 2
Flexible Thinking and Metaliteracy
7 Courses
Groupthink: Understanding the Need for a Diverse Workplace Platform: FutureLearn Institution: Livity Started: 01/02/2023 Finished: 03/02/2023 Question Reality: Cosmos Platform: Coursera Institution: Dartmouth College Started: 31/01/2023 Finished: 02/02/2023 Question Reality: Matter Platform: Coursera Institution: Dartmouth College Started: 02/02/2023 Finished: 09/02/2023 Question Reality: Mind Platform: Coursera Institution: Dartmouth College Started: 09/02/2023 Finished: 12/02/2023 An Introduction to Recreational Math: Fun, Games and Puzzles Platform: FutureLearn Institution: Weizman Institute of Science Started: 15/06/2018 Finished: 23/06/2018 Information Literacy Platform: LinkedIn Institution: LinkedIn Learning Started: 21/01/2018 Finished: 26/01/2018 Metaliteracy: Empowering Yourself in a Connected World Platform: Coursera Institution: The State University of New York Started: 06/01/2018 Finished: 04/02/2018
10 Books
Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change Author: Leonard Mlodinow Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group Published: 2018 Started: 23/03/2018 Finished: 15/04/2018 Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently Author: Beau Lotto Publisher: Hachette Audio Published: 2017 Started: 10/02/2019 Finished: 27/02/2019 The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload Author: Daniel J. Levitin Publisher: Penguin Books Published: 2015 (first published August 2014) Started: 22/03/2018 Finished: 06/05/2018 The Use of Lateral Thinking Author: Edward de Bono Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd Pelican Published: 1971 (first published 1967) Started: 29/01/2016 Finished: 08/03/2016 Lateral Logic: Puzzle Your Way to Smart Thinking Author: Gareth Moore Publisher: Michael O’Mara Published: 2016 Started: 22/07/2016 Finished: 24/05/2021 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Author: Edwin A. Abbott Publisher: Kindle Amazon Classics Published: 2017 (originally published 1884) Started: 08/06/2021 Finished: 11/06/2021 The Left Hand of Darkness Author: Ursula K. Le Guin Publisher: Orbit Published: 1992 (originally published 1969) Started: 15/12/2014 Finished: 07/01/2015 Star Maker Author: Olaf Stapledon Publisher: Millennium Paperbacks Published: 1999 (originally published 1937) Started: 10/05/2020 Finished: Sirius Author: Olaf Stapledon Publisher: Gollancz Published: 2011 (originally published 1944) Started: 17/04/2015 Finished: 08/05/2015 Last and First Men and Last Men in London Author: Olaf Stapledon Publisher: Penguin Published: 1972 (originally published 1930 & 1932) Started: 22/05/2015 Finished: 20/06/2015
“The failure of businesses to adapt has led to the quick demise of countless companies, and major power shifts in industries from taxis to hospitality. But we must adapt to thrive in our personal lives, too. We have to be willing to rise above conventional mindsets, to reframe the questions we ask, to be open to new paradigms. We have to rely as much on our imagination as on logic, and have the ability to generate and integrate a wide variety of ideas, to welcome experiment, and be tolerant of failure.“
Leonard Mlodinow, The Power of Flexible Thinking, scientificamerica.com, 21/03/2018
Flexible thinking, or cognitive flexibility, is the ability to switch between thinking about different concepts and to think about multiple concepts simultaneously. Flexible thinking enables a person to handle a wide range of information in a healthy and constructive manner that stimulates imaginative, original and non-linear thinking.
Metaliteracy utilises flexible thinking (as well as critical thinking) by allowing digital citizens to reflect on their own behavioural, cognitive, affective and metacognitive literacy in a globally networked culture.
Building a strong proficiency in flexible thinking was a key goal of my MTA Portfolio because this is precisely the non-rigid thinking that is required in a fast changing and increasingly complex environment like the 21st-century.
My MTA Portfolio is a very much a “thinking outside of the box” endeavour and, through the process of constructing it, I wanted to become as nimble as a freerunner when thinking flexibly. I think I have achieved that, but I will let others judge how well I have succeeded.
Through the process of building my MTA Portfolio and learning about flexible thinking, I also came across the concept of digital citizenship and of thinking about our actions in the physical and digital world in a metaliterary way. This is to say from a range of perspectives on the active roles we play as producers of original and repurposed information.
Ultimately, metaliteracy was drawn into my studies because it further sharpens the effectiveness of flexible thinking, because its metacognitive qualities allow you to be a conscious, discerning, ethical and effective purveyor of information in an digital age that is increasingly saturated with fake, exploitative and misleading information.