Mission Statement:
The Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE) connects those who teach reading, alphabetic writing, and digital literacy in online educational settings. Dedicated to diversity, inclusivity, and access in literacy-based online education, GSOLE disseminates peer-reviewed research and information through its annual meeting, online conference, research support, educational and community-building Webinars, Website, online literacy certification programs, and two open-access online journals--Research in Online Literacy Education (ROLE) and the Online Literacy Open Resource (OLOR).
The Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE) connects those who teach reading, alphabetic writing, and digital literacy in online educational settings. Dedicated to diversity, inclusivity, and access in literacy-based online education, GSOLE disseminates peer-reviewed research and information through its annual meeting, online conference, research support, educational and community-building Webinars, Website, online literacy certification programs, and two open-access online journals--Research in Online Literacy Education (ROLE) and the Online Literacy Open Resource (OLOR).
A letter from our President
August 2018
GSOLE is a growing international organization of teachers, tutors, administrators, students, and researchers dedicated to diversity, inclusivity, and access in literacy-based online education. GSOLE is now two years old, and I am proud to be its second leader, following my colleague and friend, founding President (and now Immediate Past President) Beth Hewett, PhD.
GSOLE was born of the idea that all online education is linked by practices and concepts of literacy. Thanks to Beth’s leadership and the extremely hard work of many people, GSOLE has accomplished a great deal since its inception in 2016. We have a transparent organizational structure, well-defined bylaws, a focused mission, and clear membership processes. We had an effective initial Executive Board and committee chairs and had successful elections for the succession of officers. We conducted our first GSOLE Online Conference in January 2018, and we look forward to our next conference on January 25, 2019. We have two fully functioning journals, the peer-reviewed Online Literacy Open Resource (OLOR) of practical teaching strategies and the peer-reviewed digital article-focused journal Research in Online Literacy Education (ROLE). We have offered six webinars, which members can attend for free. Additionally, we have created affiliate relationships with other organizations and have a new working group in Online Literacy and Writing Tutoring (OLWT).
In the next two years, my top priority is to grow our membership. GSOLE is only as strong as its members’ interests and desires to participate in its work. I particularly want us to focus on the “G” of GSOLE and increase our international membership profile. I believe this goal will take some old-fashioned person-to-person networking, and I encourage members to talk to colleagues both nationally and internationally about our organization, what it offers, and what it means to them.
That leads me to a second, closely related goal, which is not only to increase but to clarify the benefits of membership. We are all emissaries of the organization, and we need talking points to share with colleagues about what we are and what membership brings with it. Our original Executive Board and Committee Chairs have helped us develop a recognizable array of member benefits. We want to continue to clarify the benefits for members while remembering a central tenet of GSOLE: That the scholarship and resources of online literacy instruction, or OLI, should be broadly accessible to postsecondary and secondary teachers, researchers, and students.
Every time I am at a conference and have the opportunity to talk with someone about GSOLE, I realize that we are onto something great. We have smart people working toward re-shaping OLI in ways that will help move our field into the twenty-first century. As Beth wrote in her inaugural President’s letter, core 21st-century literacies are reading, writing or alphabetic composition, and digital composition, yet these three literacies are often studied and taught separately, so “discussions about them have occurred in discrete sub-disciplines where their connections have not been fully explored or acknowledged.” GSOLE will continue to seek ways to connect the work of OLI educators from a range of fields.
I’m looking forward to more of those conversations. If you want to talk, feel free to reach out to me with your ideas at president@glosole.org.
Best,
Scott Warnock, PhD
GSOLE is a growing international organization of teachers, tutors, administrators, students, and researchers dedicated to diversity, inclusivity, and access in literacy-based online education. GSOLE is now two years old, and I am proud to be its second leader, following my colleague and friend, founding President (and now Immediate Past President) Beth Hewett, PhD.
GSOLE was born of the idea that all online education is linked by practices and concepts of literacy. Thanks to Beth’s leadership and the extremely hard work of many people, GSOLE has accomplished a great deal since its inception in 2016. We have a transparent organizational structure, well-defined bylaws, a focused mission, and clear membership processes. We had an effective initial Executive Board and committee chairs and had successful elections for the succession of officers. We conducted our first GSOLE Online Conference in January 2018, and we look forward to our next conference on January 25, 2019. We have two fully functioning journals, the peer-reviewed Online Literacy Open Resource (OLOR) of practical teaching strategies and the peer-reviewed digital article-focused journal Research in Online Literacy Education (ROLE). We have offered six webinars, which members can attend for free. Additionally, we have created affiliate relationships with other organizations and have a new working group in Online Literacy and Writing Tutoring (OLWT).
In the next two years, my top priority is to grow our membership. GSOLE is only as strong as its members’ interests and desires to participate in its work. I particularly want us to focus on the “G” of GSOLE and increase our international membership profile. I believe this goal will take some old-fashioned person-to-person networking, and I encourage members to talk to colleagues both nationally and internationally about our organization, what it offers, and what it means to them.
That leads me to a second, closely related goal, which is not only to increase but to clarify the benefits of membership. We are all emissaries of the organization, and we need talking points to share with colleagues about what we are and what membership brings with it. Our original Executive Board and Committee Chairs have helped us develop a recognizable array of member benefits. We want to continue to clarify the benefits for members while remembering a central tenet of GSOLE: That the scholarship and resources of online literacy instruction, or OLI, should be broadly accessible to postsecondary and secondary teachers, researchers, and students.
Every time I am at a conference and have the opportunity to talk with someone about GSOLE, I realize that we are onto something great. We have smart people working toward re-shaping OLI in ways that will help move our field into the twenty-first century. As Beth wrote in her inaugural President’s letter, core 21st-century literacies are reading, writing or alphabetic composition, and digital composition, yet these three literacies are often studied and taught separately, so “discussions about them have occurred in discrete sub-disciplines where their connections have not been fully explored or acknowledged.” GSOLE will continue to seek ways to connect the work of OLI educators from a range of fields.
I’m looking forward to more of those conversations. If you want to talk, feel free to reach out to me with your ideas at president@glosole.org.
Best,
Scott Warnock, PhD