It’s never been clearer that everyone—students and educators—need additional and improved access to digital learning opportunities.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the sudden and unprecedented transition to remote learning, ILA made relevant digital content from our library of resources available free to both members and nonmembers.
But we wanted to do more. We wanted to institute positive, meaningful change to help meet your needs not just now but also moving forward indefinitely.
In April, we reopened access to six of the most popular sessions livestreamed from the ILA 2019 Conference. We launched our first ILA Edcamp Online. We introduced ILA at Home, a new series of webinars free for ILA members, that kicked off on May 3 with Timothy Shanahan. A second with Donalyn Miller is scheduled for May 31.
Our next change: Literacy Today, your member magazine, is going all digital. This will begin with the May/June issue, scheduled to publish next week.
Why this change?
In this period of challenges, ILA recognizes the need to expand and improve upon the digital assets we already offer. By transitioning Literacy Today to a digital-only magazine, we can strengthen this member resource and unlock its potential. We won’t be limited by page counts or postal service. We can begin to experiment with embedded videos and other features. Perhaps most important: We can further extend the reach of the magazine into regions where print isn’t possible.
Literacy Today, in its 30-plus–year history, has helped build the community that is ILA. That will not change. This is still your magazine. It is driven by your needs, your feedback, and your content contributions. That also will not change.
In addition to the digital events mentioned previously, ILA is developing new, high-quality resources in line with today’s needs. This includes new member benefits designed to help keep you current on what’s going on in the field. Look for more information on those in the coming months.
In the meantime, I invite you to continue to let us know what additional resources you’d like to see—the topics, the formats, and everything in between.
We will get through this time of uncertainty together, and we will be stronger because of it.
Together, we will shape the future of literacy.
Marcie Craig Post is the executive director of the International Literacy Association.
| For those whose membership included a subscription to the print version of the magazine (Regular Members, Student Members, and Retired Members), ILA is extending your membership. Those with a one-year membership will receive two complimentary months. For those with a two-year membership, you will receive four additional months, and for those with a three-year membership, you will receive six additional months. |