High Tech High Touch: Online Instruction

High Tech, High Touch: Online Instruction Meredith Farkas

Online instruction doesn’t have to be “less than” • Not limited by the librarian’s or faculty member’s schedules • Instruction can take place at logical points in a class instead of all at once • We can cover so much more than we could in a one-shot • Students can customize their learning experience based on what they already know • We can create multiple learning experiences that appeal to different learning styles

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Before I start looking at tech • Talk to faculty and look at syllabi • Develop learning outcomes • Find out what technologies students use and faculty teach with • Find out how students communicate with faculty and other students • Find out if distance learners have synchronous components to their classes

Evaluating Tech •Find the right balance between •high impact/low impact •high cost/low or no cost •more effort/less effort •Consider long-term sustainability of the project

Some Options for Online Instruction

Subject and course guides/pages LibGuides

Library a la Carte

Drupal

Facebook

Other options for subject/course guides • Other open source library guide software: Research Guide, Subjects Plus, Libdata, MyLibrary. • Wordpress blog, Scriblio (Wordpress fork) • Wikis (PBWorks, MediaWiki) • delicious (syndicate RSS feeds of bookmarked content on web page) • Create inside of course management system

Subject and course guides/pages • Pros • Easy to create, tailored to speciﬁc courses and subjects, consistent look and feel, often offer places to connect with a librarian • Cons • No interactivity, text heavy, as number of guides grows it require signiﬁcant staff time to update, usability of guides rarely assessed

Static HTML Tutorials

Static HTML Tutorials • Pros • Relatively easy to create; easy for students to skim, scan and skip around; easy for students to try out resource while looking at screenshots and instructions; easy to update screenshots and text when interfaces change • Cons • No interactivity, text heavy, less engaging, doesn’t appeal to aural learners and those who prefer to watch a demonstration

Screencast Tutorials

Screencast Tutorials • Pros • Appeals to diverse learning styles, visually engaging, interactivity can be integrated, quizzes can be integrated • Cons • Time-consuming to create and update; have to be short; difﬁcult for students to skim, scan and skip around; difﬁcult for students to apply what they’re learning while they watch; accessibility issues

Teaching Through Web Conferencing

Teaching Through Web Conferencing • Pros • Live interaction with a librarian builds a sense of connection, students can ask questions, can be archived for people to watch later, not limited by classroom size • Cons • Staff time, cost of technology, possible technology issues for attendees and presenters, not the best idea if distance learning program has no synchronous components

Online Assessment • Quizzes and assignments • Requires collaboration with faculty • Best when integrated into course • Librarian or instructor-graded? • Open-ended or multiple choice questions? • Also worth assessing what students think of the learning objects.

Other (less ideal) options • Videotape live sessions • Most won’t have attention span to watch • Embedded librarian • Librarian on discussion boards in courseware • Information literacy electronic game • BIG investment of time/effort

Modular Research Toolkit Approach

Modular Research Toolkit Approach • Pros • Can provide a variety of learning experiences using different tools, doesn’t need to be done in a single class session, easy for faculty to integrate into their course • Cons • Cons largely dependent on technologies chosen, requires close collaboration with faculty

Important Considerations • Working closely with faculty is critical • Working closely with academic computing is ideal • Even with unmediated instruction, make it easy for students to get help from a librarian • Design with learning styles in mind • Think about accessibility • Think about mobile device compatibility • Place instruction at users’ points of need

Important Considerations • Give students choices - let them determine the order in which they wish to learn things • Integrate active learning as much as possible • Required instruction is ideal, but if not, get faculty on-board to market to their students • Information literacy instruction does not need to be provided by a librarian • Also think about instructing faculty!

Thanks! Meredith Farkas mgfarkas@gmail.com AIM: librarianmer

High Tech High Touch: Online Instruction

by Meredith Farkas

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