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Fifty Shades of Information Literacy: Kindling a passion for IL at Cardiff University
- 1. Fifty Shades of Information Literacy Kindling a passion for IL at Cardiff University Nigel Morgan, Susan Smith & Erica Swain, Information Services, Cardiff University
- 2. This presentation is about: “spicing things up” • Performing with confidence • Variety and pace • Maximum interaction (passive is out!) • Engagement tactics - the sensual approach: engaging the senses via video, images and sound The aim: total satisfaction for all
- 3. Fifty Shades of Grey: Preparing for action
- 4. Personal reflection Quiz Please complete your quiz sheet You have 5 minutes
- 5. Confidentometer Score: 8-10 You are obviously a „Fifty Shades‟ virgin 11-18 You must follow your animal instincts more 19-28 Wise approach - you recognise the challenges and understand how they can be faced 29-32 Your technique is impressive - would you lead this session please?
- 6. The manifestations of IL session induced nerves Sweating ‘Butterflies’ in stomach Queasiness Increased pulse / breathing rate Dry mouth Knocking knees ‘Get me out of here!’ Loss of appetite / sleep Reduced libido Excessive fidgeting Twitches / stammers
- 7. How we overcome nerves when preparing / delivering IL sessions 1. Sharing delivery with a colleague - this takes some pressure off! 2. Avoiding speaking for long stretches 3. Avoiding „chalk and talk‟ - get a 2-way thing going 4. Keeping our expectations realistic 5. Using music 6. By reminding ourselves: „we are the experts‟
- 8. Our guide to positive thinking We feel exposed / scrutinised Our audience isn‟t interested in us - only in the information we provide! Worried about lack of verbal skills? We find that putting things across simply is always best Worried we‟ll forget particular points? We have notes & we can‟t expect to remember everything! Worried about letting ourselves down? We won‟t!
- 9. Fifty Shades Darker: The joy of interaction
- 10. Gathering Responses • Audience response systems e.g. Turning Point • Online polling e.g. Poll Everywhere • Twitter backchannel
- 11. Please text a code to 07624 806 527 (costs 17p per text) OR submit a code at http://pollev.com
- 12. Buzz Groups • Split group into smaller discussion groups • Assign groups a task/ discussion topic • Ask groups to report back • Gets students actively thinking and engaging
- 13. Encouraging discussion with questioning techniques • Questioning encourages students to think and interact • Breaking the „wall of silence‟ • Way of creating rapport • Adds variety to a lecture/ workshop
- 14. Fifty Shades Freed: The wiles of engagement
- 16. Using sound and movie clips Why? • Varies the tone and pace • Gives you a break from speaking • Gives your audience a break from you! How? • Create your own • Or look for resources made by others and published under a Creative Commons Licence, e.g. http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/openspires.html for podcasts http://www.youtube.com/user/cardiffunilib for films
- 17. How about a little aural stimulation? Cardiff University Student Survival Guide to Writing a Good Essay: Episode 6 - Meeting the Deadline. Available at http://ilrb.cf.ac.uk
- 18. In the back row: going to the movies Why movies ? • Useful for adding a little extra variety and spice • Exploit the power of the unexpected • Why not exploit the seductive lure of the movies..?
- 19. Cardiff University presents… (certificate TBC; probably X-rated) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0hSVXYBg6U
- 20. Animation • Short of time to create a live action film? • There is a fun alternative! • www.xtranormal.com • Here‟s one we made earlier…
- 21. How to score with your audience: a checklist Humour (presentation theme, quiz, video, animation) . Anecdotes („shared experiences‟) . Multimedia (pictures, video, cartoon) . Audio (music, podcast) . Activities (quiz, online polling) . Visuals (eye catching / memorable slides, images, videos) . Change of pace (quiz, video, podcast) . Contrasting presentation styles / accents (Welsh, Scottish, English) .
- 22. We hope you‟ve had a pleasurable experience this morning! Thank you all for coming xxx
Editor's Notes
- When we were asked to deliver a presentation on IL we decided to take a slightly different angle. We thought about our work in the IL field; we realised it had drama, trials and tribulations and our IL instructors are full of fire and passion. We thought that there were some obvious parallels to be drawn with the infamous ‘50 Shades’ trilogy. It could be argued that our presentation isn’t really about IL at all. It is really about how we develop the confidence to speak to groups, how we interact with and engage them. It just so happens that we’ll be discussing these issues within the context of our IL classes in CU. These issues are applicable within any situation in which public speaking is required.
- NIGELPotentially, teaching IL skills can be a thankless and dry task. However, over the past 10 years things have ‘hotted up’ in the IL classroom (as indeed they have in popular fiction). This presentation will focus on how we meet the challenges by ‘spicing things up’. Firstly, we (the instructors) have to get into the mood ourselves and be able to deliver with confidence. Confidence building is essential and I’ll explain how we overcome those inevitable nerves. Will also explain how we go about striking the right balance of the key elements of variety and pace. E.g. experimenting with lots of different techniques and changing ‘gear’ regularly to eliminate boredomOne way in which we do this is by minimising the passive elements. Interaction with our audience is key and we’ll be sharing some of the secrets of how we achieve this. We’ll peek into our toolbox of aids to stimulate and engage audiences but ultimately to help people learn. We plan sessions to appeal to different learning styles by incorporating a range of visual / audio experiences. It’s about a totally satisfactory experience for both instructor and students. And we hope that you will be satisfied with our performance today!
- NIGELIn keeping with the 50 shades trilogy, we have 3 sections. In the first, I will discuss how do we ‘psych ourselves up’ for performance in the IL classroom? Very little teaching is delivered online – face to face contact is the norm. Groups vary from in size considerably. They range from 1-2-1s with postgrads to 400+ undergraduates in lecture theatres. When those kinds of numbers come into play, delivering sessions can be nerve wracking. Developing confidence to speak to groups really important. As instructors, we can’t expect to engage and hold the attention of our learners if we are not confident ourselves.
- NIGELBefore we discuss this further, I’d like to get you all thinking about occasions in the past when you have may have been called upon to speak to groups of customers. This might have taken the form of a library tour or alternatively you might have been giving instruction. Please spend a few minutes completing the short reflection quiz. Don’t forget to tot up your final score.
- NIGELSo how did you do? Lets do some analysis of the results using my confidentometer. I’m not going to ask for a show of hands from those who scored between 8 and 10. You probably need to acquire some more experience. Your time will come. 11-18 – you need to abandon some of your inhibitions and take up yoga to help you relax19-28 – you have a good appreciation of joys and woes of presenting / speaking to groups. You are realistic approach and have a level-headed approach. 29-32 – you are a great performer though you’ve shot yourselves in the foot - you’ll be leading the next CLIC session :o)
- NIGELThese are some ways in which we minimise nerves and boost confidence prior to delivering a training session. A useful strategy is (where possible) to share the stress and workload by getting a co-presenter on board. It not only takes some of the pressure off you but can also enhances the session. The audience will have some variety - a different face to focus upon, a different presentational style (we all have our won unique qualities) and possibly a different accent.Unless you are a great politician or a brilliant comedian e.g. Ken Dodd it is extremely difficult to hold an audiences attention for a long period of time. So we don’t try. To sustain a performance over 50 minutes is exhausting. Breaks, activities or audio visual media give welcome breathers allowing us to recharge / gather our thoughts. We build in these elements when we plan our sessions. Similarly we don’t make ourselves the sole focus. Its good to make the audience part of the session. Interaction is key. The sage on the stage approach of yesteryear isn’t valid. Interacting with your audience takes confidence but it does mean that you are not the exclusive focus of attention and is pedagogically sound. Anxiety can be caused by trying to cram in as much as possible and we panic when we realise we are rapidly running out of time. Less is usually more when planning our content. Keeping your outcomes realistic, not expecting too much of ourselves or the students will result in a more relaxed session and spare the presenter much stress. One of my personal tips. Providing you have a PRS licence, try incorporating music. I like to play music whilst setting up a session. This is calming and also provides an inviting ambience when students arrive. You can manipulate the mood with your choice of music. Finally, we need to take heart from the fact that we are the experts, we are in a strong position and our audience is usually eager to learn and will be receptive to our efforts. Above all. we need to think positively.
- NIGELFor every fear or negative emotion there is a positive to be found if we dig deep. If we feel exposed and scrutinised we need to remind ourselves that we are simply a mouthpiece for the information and this is what the audience will be interested in rather than in analysing how we put that information across. We are librarians not accomplished lecturers and few of us are skilful wordsmiths. no problem - putting things in the simplest of terms is usually the most effective approach. If we stumble over words (as I often do) they will still get the gist of it. I long since stopped worrying about forgetting particular points of information. We usually have more than enough content. No one will shoot us if we refer to notes – we are not actors performing from a script so we need to accept that there will always be things that we will forget to include. One of the most persistent worries is that we will let ourselves and our audience down. If we’ve adequately prepared we can never let ourselves down. If we cover most of the content we intended we will not the audience down. Only then, when we are reasonably confident, reasonably positive in our outlook. can we expect to meaningfully interact with and engage our audience. This leads us to the next installment in the 50 shades trilogy.
- These are some ideas of how to make the passive more interactive -
- These are some ideas of how to make the passive more interactive – it can be quite dispiriting to see a sea of bored little faces in front of you and there are ways of waking them up a bit.I’m going to go over a few methods of how to make a session more interactive – all the things I show here can be a way of engaging people, and adding interest to a presentation. I’m going to start with methods of gathering responses - These methods can be useful to test prior knowledge, check understanding and gather opinions, feedback and add variety and interest to a session. People can contribute anonymously – some people too shy to even take part in a show of hands! Or too lazy….Turning Point is an audience response system, it is something that has to be bought, and it has little handsets that allow students to vote. Has anyone used this or heard of this? I used the Turning Point handsets with lectures on Citing and Referencing . I used the handsets to test the students’ knowledge of plagiarism – it can be really useful to underline points that they may have difficulty with e.g. In one of these lectures a few weeks ago I used it to test their knowledge of what is paraphrasing – I had an original sentence and then two example paraphrases and they had to pick the sentence that was better paraphrased. This came up with a very useful result – 50 – 50 split and led to good discussion. My colleagues who do the inductions in Aberconway, also make use of these. It can draw students in, they seem to like the voting idea. It’s a bit like ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ Twitter can be a way of gathering feedback – you can use it to ask questions, share resources and students can offer suggestions through it e.g. suggest topics you’d like to be covered by the presenter.Twitter can be a way of gathering feedback – used it in a session called the Connected Researcher I did about Social Media, and we encouraged participants to tweet about what we were doing and set up a hash tag so we could see all the tweets easily. I would just use it with a small group, as it worked well – I’d be wary of using it in a larger group like a lecture theatre as it could backfire – have been tales of people using it at conferences and people abusing it to ridicule the presenter.There are also some free options - online polling system – Poll Everywhere Just at Poll Everywhere.com – free with up to 40 students. Can vote on this via web from PC or mobile browser, text message & Twitter. Very easy to set up polls and we’ll be looking at one in a few minutes. You can set up multiple choice and free text polls. Need to get the balance right – don’t use too much or too little
- We’re going to ask you to do a poll to try it out.We’re going to use our phones to vote – you can either text (but this costs 17p! Or maybe even more!) or if you have a smartphone you can go to this short web address and submit a code via there. You can also use a weblink – I’ve done this before if I’ve sent an advance questionnaire to students , you can send them a web link which will open a web page which shows all the options and allows you to click on them
- Buzz groups – work in pairs or threes on a discussion. Lecturer selects a few groups to report back (or all groups if it is a small group)In a ‘Connected Researcher’ workshop, which introduces research students and staff to social media , we get people to do a group exercise where they works in twos and threes and google each other and then report back on what they find. They can often find some things about them that they didn’t know were on the internet!It makes the passive interactive – they are actually having to do some work during the session, so are actually thinking about the subject.
- Ask questions - scary and often met with a wall of silence but I think we should try to encourage students to think and interact.I do this in every teaching session I do, large or small. It can be a way of creating a rapport and also varies the lectureAs an example, with my ‘Finding Information for your assignments’ workshop that we do with all the taught postgraduates – I’ll ask students questions such as how many of you would just use Google for finding information – this is usually quite a few who say they do this and I can then lead into talking about why they shouldn't rely on it and what else they can use . I’ll also ask them to put their hand up if they’ve used a particular resource and so on. I’ll also do this in lectures – say in Citing and Referencing I’ll ask how may have done Citing and Referencing – often a lot of nos and confused faces!If you think you’re going to be met with no response try asking a ‘show of hands’ type question and then pick on someone to follow-up! e.g. How many of you have heard of the term ‘citing’. Ok, can you tell me why it’s important?
- OK, we might not have quite as many as fifty, but Cardiff University has nevertheless created its own wide-ranging Information literacy resource bank, which makes has a range of ideas and examples you can use. The materials are published under creative commons licences, which permits you to use and adapt them, as long as you acknowledge us as originators. Plenty of other institutions have done the same thing.Some of our resources are designed for incorporation in handouts and practical exercises during training sessions, but there are also some which can be incorporated into your slides for a presentation.You can view by subject or by type. View by type – diagrams and imagesShow To Google or Not to Google and Citing flowchartQuizzes and activities – creating a search queryMovies and demonstrations – Wikipedia beneath the surfaceNote that some materials are CU only because of licencing and permissions. Others are available for anyone to use, but please notify us using the comment form if you decide to use any of the resources.
- As you’ve seen, the resource bank includes a number of sound and film clips, which can be particularly when it comes to teasing your audience and keeping them guessing about what’s coming next.Sound and video can be particularly good to incorporate into your presentation because it gives you a break from speaking, takes the focus off you for a few minutes, and gives your audience the chance to hear different voices.You could create your own podcasts and videos if you have the resources, but there are many others which can be found on the web via institutions’ own website and on YouTube.
- Here’s an example of a sound clip which we created at Cardiff. It’s one of a series of 6 short episodes, designed to help reassure and advise students about how to manage the process of planning and writing an essay.[Play a clip of the Student Guide to Writing a Good Essay podcast.]As you have heard, it’s in a style that is designed to appeal to students, using a trendy professional radio presenter to interview students, from Cardiff University’s local radio station, Xpress Radio. Suffice to say, I think you’ll agree it sounded very different from me!
- Switching to a video can introduce an unexpected element. Your audience may not have expected you to play a video, and as it loads up they will not know what is coming, so there is a built-in sense of anticipation.Audiences, especially younger ones, can be particularly receptive to multimedia presentations. There seems to be a (dangerous?!) perception amongst the young that material found online is more credible than that found in a dusty old book, and this may well apply to the moving image as well. So you could take the opportunity to invigorate your audience with an enticing film clip, as a break from focusing on you as their presenter.Cardiff University has its own YouTube channel where you can find a few videos that we have made.
- I’d like to show you (an excerpt from) one of a series of movies we have made to help students with the processes involved in using the library to prepare an assignment. It’s available via the YouTube channel, and the Information Literacy Resource Bank. The film stars real Cardiff University students and was filmed by the Media Resources department. It was scripted by members of the Information Literacy Group within the library service, some of whom are here today.[Play excerpt from the film]It is indeed quite time consuming to make videos like this one. Ours, and many others on youtube, are available under creative commons if you want to use them.
- But there is an easier way to create your own free films and to illustrate this we’d now like to show you a short animation. It needs little introduction as the characters can very much speak for themselves.
- Here are some of the ways we have tried to engage you this morning. You may not have liked all of them, but hopefully our ‘selection box’ approach has included something for everyone.Humour: well, we thought we were funny; maybe you thought more ‘funny peculiar’ than ‘funny ha ha’?Anecdotes: a great way of putting your audience at ease. You can often reel them off without notes, so it’s an easy spoken element for you to incorporate.Multimedia and audio are top choices for giving yourself a break from speakingActivities likewise. You can often use the outcomes to feed into discussion and draw your audience in, as they are bound to take an interest in who else has had a sneaky read of Fifty Shades!Visuals: we’ve tried to make the slides interesting, and to create a theme on which to ‘hang’ the presentationChange of pace: this is really important to wake people up and enhance their concentration levels.Styles / accents: we’ve done our best to give you a flavour of the British Isles. I don’t know if anyone from Ireland is available to provide an impromptu cameo?
- Finally…