Advancing Teaching and Learning
The Teaching and Learning Committee advances the role of research libraries in education. Key efforts include developing a pan-Canadian framework for essential literacies, promoting equitable access to learning materials, and leveraging technology to improve academic success.
Working Groups
Communities of Practice
Research libraries play a critical role in supporting teaching and learning by championing a pan-Canadian framework that fosters essential literacies. These include digital skills, information literacy, and data literacy. By promoting greater access to educational materials through open educational resources, affordable e-textbook licensing, and controlled digital lending, these libraries ensure equitable access to knowledge for both students and faculty. Strategic partnerships with academic institutions drive initiatives to enhance student success, including support for mental health and wellness, and efforts to Indigenize and decolonize curriculum content. Through these collaborative efforts, research libraries help optimize the educational experience, shaping a more inclusive and effective academic landscape.
CARL aims to support the advancement of teaching and learning by:
- Articulating the strategic role of research libraries in supporting the delivery of education (both teaching and learning);
- Working collectively to develop and implement a pan-Canadian framework to support essential student, faculty and researcher literacies;
- Pursuing strategic partnerships and innovative, scalable opportunities to promote equity as it pertains to student and faculty access to information and ways of knowing;
- Partnering in initiatives to enhance student academic success in CARL institutions including student mental health and wellness.
Open Education
Digital Literacy
CARL actively advances digital literacy by supporting Canadian academic and research libraries in equipping students with the skills needed to navigate an increasingly complex digital world. The CARL Digital Literacy Framework highlights the essential role of libraries in teaching digital literacy, defined by UNESCO as the ability to safely and effectively engage with information through digital technologies. Building on a strong tradition of library instruction, the framework provides guidance for integrating digital literacy into programs of study and fostering collaborations to embed these skills at a programmatic level.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping research libraries across Canada by enhancing teaching, learning, and research. CARL’s Advancing Teaching and Learning Committee developed Generative Artificial Intelligence: A Brief Primer for CARL Institutions in 2023 to guide library leaders in understanding and navigating the opportunities and risks of generative AI. In 2024, CARL hosted a webinar featuring librarians from Concordia and McGill universities, showcasing the GenAI Quickstart: Foundations for Faculty micromodules—openly licensed resources to help faculty navigate generative AI tools and adapt them for local use.