You have just started the final section of the metaliteracy module. In this module, you will explore the idea of lifelong learning, specifically as a metaliterate learner. Lifelong learning doesn’t start once you have finished your formal education–just as your life doesn’t start when you graduate (though at times, you might think of it that way!). In this section, you will be thinking about your current learning goals (those that go beyond your courses at school) and begin thinking about learning in the future.

First, read what an undergraduate student from the University at Albany wrote about being an active learner informed by metaliteracy:

Metaliteracy embodies a continuous cycle of learning. Becoming an active learner, or a metaliterate learner, involves becoming well-versed in the aspects of learning and roles of an active learner. [It involves] Researching, questioning, examining how one individually learns best, and sharing what you learned.

Being metaliterate is important because learning becomes so routine. Sitting and listening or reading on autopilot becomes common, with little thought about organizing or sharing information that we obtain. Failing to reexamine how we best absorb and curate information leads to a dead-end education.

Now watch this short video on lifelong learning, created by the respected organization Project Information Literacy:

This video emphasizes the importance of key traits you learn in college, such as learning how to learn, how to ask questions, how to track down sources that you then evaluate. This leads to a mindset that values curiosity, and curiosity is a key part of lifelong learning. Without curiosity about new subjects, it is only too easy for learning, if it takes place at all, to happen on autopilot, as the student mentions. Information gained in this way just passes through you. Consider your own experience–think about a time you were really engaged with learning content. Compare it to a time when you were trying to learn because it was expected of you, not because you were interested. Which content is more vivid to you now?