3 sessions in this 1 1/2 hour slot:
1. Open Communication: Working with Faculty to Integrate IL into a New Baccalaureate Program
When a BSN program was added to his university in 2010, this Florida university library saw an opportunity for the library to increase cooperation with the faculty. Cooperation involved inviting the nursing faculty in for database vendor training sessions, planning orientations using the faculty's syllabi, and even creating an IL rubric mapped onto the BSN program.
The rubric was created especially in preparation for a SACS review (accreditation) for the nursing program.
Among the IL activities incorporated into the Gen Ed curriculum:
1. Locate/summarize articles related to nursing theory from databases
2. Use evidence-based professional nursing literature to write a research paper with a description and case study analysis.
3. Use the library catalog to locate books
Interestingly, it sounds like this program is quite well funded from the beginning, including library resources. They have R2 and Springer.
2. Encouraging Faculty Buy-In to the QEP Through Incentives
This session was one of my least favorites, mainly because it was presented from a completely foreign perspective. The presenter was the director of the department that awards grants to IL programs at North GA.
He spoke about the importance of IL culture-building, and how the best way to do that was to offer money, specifically in the form of $1000 for a good idea. Some of the recent awards went to screencasting projects, undergrad research, community engagement, and co-curricular projects. Would have been interesting to know more specifics of the projects, though I know his focus was only on the initial proposal of each idea.
3. Exploring How Students, Instructors, and Professors at a Higher Education Institute Define IL
Monday, September 26, 2011
Saturday, Sept. 25, 9:45am
Library Video Creation for Chat, Reference, and Instruction
Hosted by librarians from GA Perimeter College, a 2 year college with several campuses, this session focused on Jing and Camtasia.
Before and while they began creating library videos using Jing, the presenters surveyed the literature for the "best practices." First and foremost, they found that shorter videos are more effective. Instead of showing two possible databases to search, break it up into smaller, simpler bits, focusing instead one database, or even one specific aspect or skill involving that one database. 2 minutes or less tends to be the key, to minimize the cognitive load. Also, "bells and whistles" tend to detract from the message - simpler is better, with less extra graphics and extraneous sound. While graphics should be minimized within the video, studies show that students are more at home with images than text. For instance, on the Web site that links to the videos, icons of a film strip or similar pictures are preferable to text (e.g. "video").
This team of librarians often creates Jing videos to achieve a just-in-time effect. When students ask how to log into databases through their chat reference system, the reference librarian creates a quick Jing demonstrating the log-in, and sends the link to the student. They've found that Jings save a lot of time because they can be used for frequently-asked questions. Instead of spending time sitting next to multiple students asking the same questions, they can pass along the link to a Jing. At the same time, it benefits the student because they can watch it multiple times or go back to a tricky step - less intimidating than having to ask a librarian several times.
The presenters usually upload their Jings in Camtasia, which allows surveys and quizzes (and other more advanced features). They emphasized keeping the tone of the videos casual, aiming to connect with students. Even though the tone is casual, they write scripts before recording, to ensure a focused, succinct message. They often whittle the original script several times until the content delivers what the student cares most about, the reason why they clicked on the video in the first place.
Beyond creating videos for students, they also use Jings to illustrate computer problems to tech support (brilliant!).
They recommended posting the length of the video next to it, so that students know the time commitment (short!) up front.
The equipment needed to get started with Jing: a headphone with a microphone piece (wireless is ideal). A trick: Place a Kleenex over the mouthpiece to take out the ssss sounds.
While they use JingPro, they noted that the main perk is the ability to save as mp4 files; the free version comes with 2GB of storage space on screencast.com to house videos.
They also use Audacity to smooth out the voices. Another software program that might come in handy: Voki, which talks for you, after you type in the text (especially helpful for anyone self-conscious of an accent). One of the attendees recommended the site convertfiles.com to make files compatible with the format needed; another similar program is zamzar, which allows ripping audio. (There were quite a few techies in the crowd who were already familiar with creating videos).
A similar video creator very comparable to Jing is screencastomatic, which allows longer videos. Vimeo was also mentioned (as a hosting site?).
Jing allows you to choose the size of the screen as you record, but some experienced video pros recommended 640 x 480 as the ideal video size for viewing on most types of machines.
Hosted by librarians from GA Perimeter College, a 2 year college with several campuses, this session focused on Jing and Camtasia.
Before and while they began creating library videos using Jing, the presenters surveyed the literature for the "best practices." First and foremost, they found that shorter videos are more effective. Instead of showing two possible databases to search, break it up into smaller, simpler bits, focusing instead one database, or even one specific aspect or skill involving that one database. 2 minutes or less tends to be the key, to minimize the cognitive load. Also, "bells and whistles" tend to detract from the message - simpler is better, with less extra graphics and extraneous sound. While graphics should be minimized within the video, studies show that students are more at home with images than text. For instance, on the Web site that links to the videos, icons of a film strip or similar pictures are preferable to text (e.g. "video").
This team of librarians often creates Jing videos to achieve a just-in-time effect. When students ask how to log into databases through their chat reference system, the reference librarian creates a quick Jing demonstrating the log-in, and sends the link to the student. They've found that Jings save a lot of time because they can be used for frequently-asked questions. Instead of spending time sitting next to multiple students asking the same questions, they can pass along the link to a Jing. At the same time, it benefits the student because they can watch it multiple times or go back to a tricky step - less intimidating than having to ask a librarian several times.
The presenters usually upload their Jings in Camtasia, which allows surveys and quizzes (and other more advanced features). They emphasized keeping the tone of the videos casual, aiming to connect with students. Even though the tone is casual, they write scripts before recording, to ensure a focused, succinct message. They often whittle the original script several times until the content delivers what the student cares most about, the reason why they clicked on the video in the first place.
Beyond creating videos for students, they also use Jings to illustrate computer problems to tech support (brilliant!).
They recommended posting the length of the video next to it, so that students know the time commitment (short!) up front.
The equipment needed to get started with Jing: a headphone with a microphone piece (wireless is ideal). A trick: Place a Kleenex over the mouthpiece to take out the ssss sounds.
While they use JingPro, they noted that the main perk is the ability to save as mp4 files; the free version comes with 2GB of storage space on screencast.com to house videos.
They also use Audacity to smooth out the voices. Another software program that might come in handy: Voki, which talks for you, after you type in the text (especially helpful for anyone self-conscious of an accent). One of the attendees recommended the site convertfiles.com to make files compatible with the format needed; another similar program is zamzar, which allows ripping audio. (There were quite a few techies in the crowd who were already familiar with creating videos).
A similar video creator very comparable to Jing is screencastomatic, which allows longer videos. Vimeo was also mentioned (as a hosting site?).
Jing allows you to choose the size of the screen as you record, but some experienced video pros recommended 640 x 480 as the ideal video size for viewing on most types of machines.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday 8:30 - Keynote Speaker, Mike Palmquist
Bright and early Sat. morning, Mike Palmquist delivered the keynote address, "Joining the Conversation: The Role of Information Literacy in Public and Academic Discourse." Palmquist, the Associate Vice Provost for Learning and Teaching at Colorado State University, was one of the most engaging speakers - extremely sharp and well-informed on his topic, yet very down to earth and funny.His topic intertwined several issues: new and emerging technologies; the role of metaphor in learning; and value of applying the conversation metaphor to teaching IL pedagogy.
(image from http://thrustbearingss.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Lion-King-Coloring-Pages.jpg)
He began by arguing that some of us have been so true to the ideas that technology should not drive the design of our courses that we've overlooked the impact of new technologies of learning, teaching, and literacy. Certainly, it is one thing to shy away from using Facebook with classes, but it is undeniable that everyday access to the Internet has shaped how our students (and how we) look at information. Technology has fundamentally changed the way we do everything, esp. in the field of writing. Evidence of technology supporting/shaping our teaching:
- expanded repertoire for meeting teaching goals
-context where new goals arise and old goals become less central.
Too often, we treat technology as an "add on," rather than recognizing and embracing it.
The conversation metaphor can be used to describe the more aware use of technology. Heavily influenced by the Lion King, it is a familiar context that is easily accessible to students and conveys the situations they find themselves in as writers/learners. It stresses the important of using sources and following research ethics.
Too bad you can't draw in blog posts, but try to envision the conversation metaphor: a circle connecting 4 boxes of text: Listen --> Reflect --> Decide to share --> Contribute. Now, replace those words with the following to draw a parallel between the (spoken) conversation metaphor and the academic conversation (research): Find, read sources --> Reflect --> Decide to share --> Write
(The Lion King tie-in is the "Circle of Life" idea - seemed a bit of a reach, but interesting that academics would have looked to this pop culture reference!)
Mapping the conversation metaphor onto IL: students locate conversations when they explore topics, then choose conversations when they focus their topic and sources. They begin to search by understanding the range of available technologies and search strategies, then engage in critical, active reading. They work with the information they've found, using databases, creating bibliographies, and managing print and digital information. They understand research ethics and avoid plagiarism, and the contribute to the conversation by using technological tools (Word processing, presentation software, etc.). Finally, they integrate their information into documents, understanding the reasons for using that particular information, as well as conventions for in-text citations and bibliographies.
Using the conversation metaphor continues the shift away from a skills-based approach to IL; allows us to deepen the partnerships outside of the library; and allows us to develop/repurpose tools and applications that support aspects of curricula beyond those initially intended.
A couple of tools that Palmquist mentioned to help embrace technology in the pursuit of IL are electronic-based concept mapping tools - Inspiration is one that we looked at last week with Jan; other similar programs: ithoughthd and cmap.
The presentation was very interesting, though more abstract and academic-focused, rather than practical idea-oriented like most of the presentations given by librarians. Definitely good food for thought.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Friday, Sept. 23 - 4:00 pm
Required reading of credit-bearing information literacy undergraduate classes [4:00]
In preparation to create a credit-bearing IL course, the presenters analyzed course syllabi of 100 current credit-bearing IL courses at other universities. They generated a list of the articles most commonly included on the reading lists. The handout for this one pretty much sums it up, so I'm going to defer to that, rather than list all of the citations here.
They also mentioned the five most commonly-used IL textbooks, and I'm very curious as to whether the one this institution (the Citadel) chose is the one used for Amy's online IL workshop?
Another interesting observation is that most of the books only touched on ~35% of the ACRL IL standards (the book they chose included ~65%, but that was significantly more than the others). So the question is whether the ACRL standards are adequate, if textbook authors are having difficulty including them in classroom exercises. One of the presenters mentioned that these standards have recently been revised - I was not aware of that, so want to pursue that further to consider the updates.
AND
Critical thinking as information literacy: a model for the core curriculum? [4:30] - presenters from GA Southern
The recent revision of Georgia Southern's core curriculum provided the impetus for this session. During the process, the committee wanted to include critical thinking skills into the new core curriculum. The authors drew parallels between IL and critical thinking. The critical thinking outcome, acc. to Georgia Southern, is described as "student will interpret, analyze, and evaluate information and ideas using logical and ethical framework" (very similar to the crux of ACRL's IL definition). They analyzed the IL/critical thinking outcomes of other institutions in the University of Georgia System, and found very similar parallels between the definitions of critical thinking and IL. (As a side note, I have a handout with a table showing critical thinking/IL definitions and outcomes - thought this may be helpful in including IL in VC's goals/mission, the component missing for our ARL survey).
A couple of questions generated in the discussion:
Can a one-course assessment plan adequately capture students' knowledge of critical thinking (IL)? Can a multiple choice test? (These are currently the methods for assessment.)
Also, why is it so difficult to find the definition of IL in the state's college? I commented that the ARL survey asked about whether IL is included in the institution's mission statement, and perhaps this will bring to the fore that many institutions do not explicitly mention IL.
In preparation to create a credit-bearing IL course, the presenters analyzed course syllabi of 100 current credit-bearing IL courses at other universities. They generated a list of the articles most commonly included on the reading lists. The handout for this one pretty much sums it up, so I'm going to defer to that, rather than list all of the citations here.
They also mentioned the five most commonly-used IL textbooks, and I'm very curious as to whether the one this institution (the Citadel) chose is the one used for Amy's online IL workshop?
Another interesting observation is that most of the books only touched on ~35% of the ACRL IL standards (the book they chose included ~65%, but that was significantly more than the others). So the question is whether the ACRL standards are adequate, if textbook authors are having difficulty including them in classroom exercises. One of the presenters mentioned that these standards have recently been revised - I was not aware of that, so want to pursue that further to consider the updates.
AND
Critical thinking as information literacy: a model for the core curriculum? [4:30] - presenters from GA Southern
The recent revision of Georgia Southern's core curriculum provided the impetus for this session. During the process, the committee wanted to include critical thinking skills into the new core curriculum. The authors drew parallels between IL and critical thinking. The critical thinking outcome, acc. to Georgia Southern, is described as "student will interpret, analyze, and evaluate information and ideas using logical and ethical framework" (very similar to the crux of ACRL's IL definition). They analyzed the IL/critical thinking outcomes of other institutions in the University of Georgia System, and found very similar parallels between the definitions of critical thinking and IL. (As a side note, I have a handout with a table showing critical thinking/IL definitions and outcomes - thought this may be helpful in including IL in VC's goals/mission, the component missing for our ARL survey).
A couple of questions generated in the discussion:
Can a one-course assessment plan adequately capture students' knowledge of critical thinking (IL)? Can a multiple choice test? (These are currently the methods for assessment.)
Also, why is it so difficult to find the definition of IL in the state's college? I commented that the ARL survey asked about whether IL is included in the institution's mission statement, and perhaps this will bring to the fore that many institutions do not explicitly mention IL.
Friday, Sept. 23 - 2:00 pm
Cross-disciplinary collaborative for teaching research writing in the 21st century [Panel]
The premise of this session was that a research paper should be a conversation between sources. The team of presenters offered the perspectives of a rhetoric/writing program director, librarian who helped with the class, and one of the professors. The first perspective, I must say, was a bit theory-heavy for me, and I was relieved when the language shifted to library-type lingo.
In this collaborative, students read one book, then analyze the rhetorical situation (= how the author frames a series of questions), and finally, branch into disciple-specific inquiries to form their research paper, for instance focused on economic, nutritional, or political interests, depending on their major. The director stressed that the one of the greatest challenges is to reshape students' understanding of the research process from high school, namely forcing them to slow the inquiry process down. They must first analyze their sources, and delay their position-taking argument until closer to the end of the semester, rather than vice versa. Instead of simply summarizing each of their sources, they are expected to discuss how the texts they find in their research converse with each other, generating intellectual control of the debate.
The faculty member guides students in the theory & analysis part; the librarian contributes to the information literacy and research segments. After the faculty member realized that she did not feel well-equipped to show her students how to research, the collaborate began, and since, has evolved into 2-3 75-min. instruction sessions in the library. During the library instruction, students learn how to integrate sources into the research process, how to use the catalog to locate materials, use Boolean operators, use databases, distinguish between scholarly and popular magazines, and critically evaluate info (all of these closely follow the ACRL IL competencies).
LibGuides have been most useful to outline the material to be covered and direct students to the most useful information specific to the assignment.
One of the presenters used the analogy of pushing students a little, but with the librarian as their bungy cord and the instructor as the net below them.
As a result of the collaborative, the students have become more engaged in the assignment; they recognize the transferability of the research skills; enter the conversation with authority; and even though the instructors worried that library instruction would take too much time away from their classroom time, having a librarian presenting how to research effectively in fact opened up time.
The premise of this session was that a research paper should be a conversation between sources. The team of presenters offered the perspectives of a rhetoric/writing program director, librarian who helped with the class, and one of the professors. The first perspective, I must say, was a bit theory-heavy for me, and I was relieved when the language shifted to library-type lingo.
In this collaborative, students read one book, then analyze the rhetorical situation (= how the author frames a series of questions), and finally, branch into disciple-specific inquiries to form their research paper, for instance focused on economic, nutritional, or political interests, depending on their major. The director stressed that the one of the greatest challenges is to reshape students' understanding of the research process from high school, namely forcing them to slow the inquiry process down. They must first analyze their sources, and delay their position-taking argument until closer to the end of the semester, rather than vice versa. Instead of simply summarizing each of their sources, they are expected to discuss how the texts they find in their research converse with each other, generating intellectual control of the debate.
The faculty member guides students in the theory & analysis part; the librarian contributes to the information literacy and research segments. After the faculty member realized that she did not feel well-equipped to show her students how to research, the collaborate began, and since, has evolved into 2-3 75-min. instruction sessions in the library. During the library instruction, students learn how to integrate sources into the research process, how to use the catalog to locate materials, use Boolean operators, use databases, distinguish between scholarly and popular magazines, and critically evaluate info (all of these closely follow the ACRL IL competencies).
LibGuides have been most useful to outline the material to be covered and direct students to the most useful information specific to the assignment.
One of the presenters used the analogy of pushing students a little, but with the librarian as their bungy cord and the instructor as the net below them.
As a result of the collaborative, the students have become more engaged in the assignment; they recognize the transferability of the research skills; enter the conversation with authority; and even though the instructors worried that library instruction would take too much time away from their classroom time, having a librarian presenting how to research effectively in fact opened up time.
Friday, Sept. 23 - Poster Sessions (1 - 5:30pm)
The poster session had 5 presenters set up in the lobby - several must have cancelled because the initial program listed many more. I talked with one from USC-Aiken, with the poster titled "Three Minutes to Save the World: Preventing Plagiarism Through Screen Casting."
We discussed the mechanics of creating the screencasts more than the issue of plagiarism. She used Prezi to create a powerpoint-like presentation - the difference is that Prezi, as we've learned before, allows you to zoom in and out (more spacial moving around than PP). Then, she used Screencast-o-matic to record the video. This program is another open source program, very very similar to Jing that was mentioned in other sessions. We might want to look into it because it allows longer videos (if that's an issue).
Also stopped by the booth for the poster "Information Literacy Online: The Case of Freshman Seminar," presented by a Univ. of South Alabama (Mobile) librarian. Was interested but focused on online instruction, so not so relevant to our set-up.
We discussed the mechanics of creating the screencasts more than the issue of plagiarism. She used Prezi to create a powerpoint-like presentation - the difference is that Prezi, as we've learned before, allows you to zoom in and out (more spacial moving around than PP). Then, she used Screencast-o-matic to record the video. This program is another open source program, very very similar to Jing that was mentioned in other sessions. We might want to look into it because it allows longer videos (if that's an issue).
Also stopped by the booth for the poster "Information Literacy Online: The Case of Freshman Seminar," presented by a Univ. of South Alabama (Mobile) librarian. Was interested but focused on online instruction, so not so relevant to our set-up.
Friday, Sept. 23 - 12:45pm
Library instruction lite: when is 10-15 minutes enough? [12:45]
The test case covered in this presentation involved a history course with a research project. The librarian from a small college (Barnard) in Greensboro, NC, contacted a professor who had never used the library, largely because the assignment from this class that students asked about in the library was unclear, and not surprisingly, turns out the professor was frustrated with the final papers he'd received (e.g. last minute research, no citations, rampant plagiarism, poor use of source, the typical culprits...).
The original assignment, described by the presenter as a "cut and paste encyclopedia assignment," asked students to discuss the major events of a Civil Rights hero's life. Based on the librarian's suggestions, the assignment was revised as a multiple-state portfolio project, with students turning in pieces along the way (very similar to one of our success stories in the Networking program!). The professor and librarian systematically mapped the assignment out among 8 weeks, so that the week following when the assignment was given out, the librarian delivered a 10-15 minute instruction session.
During the instruction session, the librarian would remind students of the assignment requirements, creating a "perception of crisis" - not sure if I like it described this way, but I guess I see the line of reasoning here... Then, he presented a timeline and the librarian's role as research helper. He showed them how to search Credo, find an article, point out hyperlinks, citation, and additional keywords, and finally, encourage students to visit the library for personalized help. Again, the brevity of the instruction session was intentional, to cover the basics but leave some questions so that the students would ask the librarian for help outside of class.
The instructor was pleased with positive results, namely improved resource quality, resource use, and formatting/bibliography (the bibliographies were marked and graded several times by the librarian before the final papers were turned in), and less plagiarism. Even though the bibliographies were better, in-text citations remained dicey, revealing a flaw in the assignment design: so much focus was placed on turning in multiple bibliography pages that turning in a draft of the paper (where missing in-text citations could be fixed) was not one of the stages of the assignment.
This case study seemed particularly relevant to us because Barnard's library staff is very small, too, and limiting the instruction to one 10-15 minute session greatly relieved the librarians to handle other responsibilities. They were able to improve students' information literacy skills in a way that maximized their effectiveness in the least amount of time and even engaged a faculty member who was difficult to reach. In effect, the librarian was "embedded" in the course but with much less of a time commitment than typical embedded librarian cases.
Stressing the importance of considering the relationship between the specific assignment and instruction to maximize effectiveness, the presenter described good candidates for this type of librarian-aided course as lower-division courses with a research component taught by new, skeptical or time-pressed faculty.
*I have a handout with the assignment.
Friday, Sept. 23 - 10:15am
Using Google like a librarian: a model workshop for teaching faculty [Panel]
This session was so popular that the original room was packed with people waiting outside, and we ended up moving to a fairly large auditorium. The presenter, from Grand Valley St. University, as well as a co-presenter from UT-Austin who recorded a video since she not able to attend the conference, had several interesting tips. She described a workshop that she held for her university's faculty and staff, teaching how to "Google like a librarian."
Admitting that Google and libraries are usually mutually exclusive, the presenter argued that we are better off taking advantage of Google, rather than trying to ignore its existence:
1. At the core, "Your students are using it. Your faculty are using it. You are using it. But how do we all use it?" The reality is that Googling has become a fundamental skill and many students/faculty are not using it to its potential or are using it incorrectly. Acc. to a recent study, 83% of college students start their search with a search engine. Better to help them use it smartly than to fruitlessly try to convince them not to use it at all.
2. Take advantage of this as an opportunity to use a widely-known, widely-available tool to teach the basics of IL. Show that it's possible to come up with credible information, so long as the results are evaluated effectively. Point out that Google's relevancy rankings are driven by advertising dollars and thus, must be evaluated for potential bias. Might also use Google to show how easily instructors can detect plagiarism.
3. Remind people that librarians are search experts. Turn the misconception that we hate Google on it's head. We can show them the best ways to use the tools, so that their research starts with tips that they learned from the library; also breaks down the barrier between librarians and students. Google is common ground for us all.
The workshop with faculty covered advanced Google searches; Google Scholar; Google Books; and Google Translate. Some of the tips:
- Google shows several key stats on the main search page (without having to link to other sites), if you follow a certain vocab. Ex:
- Population Savannah
- Sunrise Birmingham
- Time London
- To find Web sites similar to a given site, key in: related: www.cnn.com (or www.macy's.com for shopping sites; scad.edu for art colleges
- Google handles Conversions - ex: tablespoons in 2 cups; feet in 10 kilometers
- To make sure flight is on time, enter airline and flight # (e.g. delta 2113)
- unemployment rate [state]
- To find images similar to a given image: option to either paste url with image or upload image (kinda scary...)
- For Google Scholar, option to see which results are available in a local library (I don't think this works for our lib?)
- Google Books: can be used to quickly search public domain books for specific words. Greatly simplifies textual analysis.
(The demo for this point was very interesting; searched On the Origin of Species, which everyone associates with evolution, for the words evolution, evolving, or evolve. The results: the book only mentions "evolve" and only as the very final world. Weird.)
- Google Books also allows highlighting textual material and clipping and/or translating passages.
- Google Translate: use for passages or entire Web sites
The presenter made a very strong argument for teaching Google strategies, though I still feel uneasy about it, esp. when we try so hard to convince students and faculty to use our databases. Certainly, it is helpful to learn more about how Google works, adding to our bag of tricks for performing more effective Reference searches when our Virtual Library falls short, but not sure that, allo I'd spend time teaching faculty how to bypass our databases. Tricky line.
This session ended a little early, so I raced over to a room with a block of 3 30-minute sessions, and the last one (on Jing!) was just starting. The title:
Libtube Team: Creating Tutorials Together, On a Dime, and In No Time
Jing, as we discovered last Wednesday, is an open source program from Technsmith (also the creators of Camtasia) used to create screen capture videos. The N. Georgia College library uses Jing videos to answer common library questions, allowing students access to them 24/7. They subscribe to Jing Pro ($14.99/year) because the free version has some limitations (more about this later - the free version could be ok for us).
To start the process of creating Jings ,they write scripts so that the narrative behind each video is more or less consistent. They keep the dialogue fairly informal, aiming for a student's perspective, but spelling out the dialogue, along with pause points and reminders to click in the screen (offset in < >brackets), keeps the recording end smooth. Their "actors" are student workers and recent grades (we might consider some of our frequent student visitors and/or select mentors). As a rule of thumb, 1 page of script generally equals 1 minute of recording.
While Jing does not allow inserted pictures or pre-recorded video, you can switch between screens. So, you can put the images in a Powerpoint presentation and then pause the Jing recording and switch from a web browser page to the PP. We probably won't worry about this trick for our first attempt, but nice to know a way around it.
NGCSU posts their videos directly to YouTube, but they can also be saved or posted to Screencast (supplies a link - more about this later).
Using the free version, videos are limited to a max length of 2 minutes. While presenters in this session and others all used the Pro paid subscription that allows 5 minutes, they said 2 minutes is really an ideal length for this type of video, to keep students' attention. The Pro version also allows saving the video as an mp4 file (possibly other file types) that can be stored on an FTP server, rather than the Screencast streaming site that requires viewers to have Shockwave.
The presenter, a very nice guy, offered to help out with any technical issues, and I have his email addy.
This session was so popular that the original room was packed with people waiting outside, and we ended up moving to a fairly large auditorium. The presenter, from Grand Valley St. University, as well as a co-presenter from UT-Austin who recorded a video since she not able to attend the conference, had several interesting tips. She described a workshop that she held for her university's faculty and staff, teaching how to "Google like a librarian."
Admitting that Google and libraries are usually mutually exclusive, the presenter argued that we are better off taking advantage of Google, rather than trying to ignore its existence:
1. At the core, "Your students are using it. Your faculty are using it. You are using it. But how do we all use it?" The reality is that Googling has become a fundamental skill and many students/faculty are not using it to its potential or are using it incorrectly. Acc. to a recent study, 83% of college students start their search with a search engine. Better to help them use it smartly than to fruitlessly try to convince them not to use it at all.
2. Take advantage of this as an opportunity to use a widely-known, widely-available tool to teach the basics of IL. Show that it's possible to come up with credible information, so long as the results are evaluated effectively. Point out that Google's relevancy rankings are driven by advertising dollars and thus, must be evaluated for potential bias. Might also use Google to show how easily instructors can detect plagiarism.
3. Remind people that librarians are search experts. Turn the misconception that we hate Google on it's head. We can show them the best ways to use the tools, so that their research starts with tips that they learned from the library; also breaks down the barrier between librarians and students. Google is common ground for us all.
The workshop with faculty covered advanced Google searches; Google Scholar; Google Books; and Google Translate. Some of the tips:
- Google shows several key stats on the main search page (without having to link to other sites), if you follow a certain vocab. Ex:
- Population Savannah
- Sunrise Birmingham
- Time London
- To find Web sites similar to a given site, key in: related: www.cnn.com (or www.macy's.com for shopping sites; scad.edu for art colleges
- Google handles Conversions - ex: tablespoons in 2 cups; feet in 10 kilometers
- To make sure flight is on time, enter airline and flight # (e.g. delta 2113)
- unemployment rate [state]
- To find images similar to a given image: option to either paste url with image or upload image (kinda scary...)
- For Google Scholar, option to see which results are available in a local library (I don't think this works for our lib?)
- Google Books: can be used to quickly search public domain books for specific words. Greatly simplifies textual analysis.
(The demo for this point was very interesting; searched On the Origin of Species, which everyone associates with evolution, for the words evolution, evolving, or evolve. The results: the book only mentions "evolve" and only as the very final world. Weird.)
- Google Books also allows highlighting textual material and clipping and/or translating passages.
- Google Translate: use for passages or entire Web sites
The presenter made a very strong argument for teaching Google strategies, though I still feel uneasy about it, esp. when we try so hard to convince students and faculty to use our databases. Certainly, it is helpful to learn more about how Google works, adding to our bag of tricks for performing more effective Reference searches when our Virtual Library falls short, but not sure that, allo I'd spend time teaching faculty how to bypass our databases. Tricky line.
This session ended a little early, so I raced over to a room with a block of 3 30-minute sessions, and the last one (on Jing!) was just starting. The title:
Libtube Team: Creating Tutorials Together, On a Dime, and In No Time
Jing, as we discovered last Wednesday, is an open source program from Technsmith (also the creators of Camtasia) used to create screen capture videos. The N. Georgia College library uses Jing videos to answer common library questions, allowing students access to them 24/7. They subscribe to Jing Pro ($14.99/year) because the free version has some limitations (more about this later - the free version could be ok for us).
To start the process of creating Jings ,they write scripts so that the narrative behind each video is more or less consistent. They keep the dialogue fairly informal, aiming for a student's perspective, but spelling out the dialogue, along with pause points and reminders to click in the screen (offset in < >brackets), keeps the recording end smooth. Their "actors" are student workers and recent grades (we might consider some of our frequent student visitors and/or select mentors). As a rule of thumb, 1 page of script generally equals 1 minute of recording.
While Jing does not allow inserted pictures or pre-recorded video, you can switch between screens. So, you can put the images in a Powerpoint presentation and then pause the Jing recording and switch from a web browser page to the PP. We probably won't worry about this trick for our first attempt, but nice to know a way around it.
NGCSU posts their videos directly to YouTube, but they can also be saved or posted to Screencast (supplies a link - more about this later).
Using the free version, videos are limited to a max length of 2 minutes. While presenters in this session and others all used the Pro paid subscription that allows 5 minutes, they said 2 minutes is really an ideal length for this type of video, to keep students' attention. The Pro version also allows saving the video as an mp4 file (possibly other file types) that can be stored on an FTP server, rather than the Screencast streaming site that requires viewers to have Shockwave.
The presenter, a very nice guy, offered to help out with any technical issues, and I have his email addy.
Friday, Sept. 23 - 8:30am
Steal this idea: how we redesigned our instruction program by adapting others' ideas [Panel]
Started off the day with this session sharing tips from conferences that the presenters, all from the Univ. of West Georgia, attended within the past year. Conferences included Educause Learning Initiatives, LOEX, and the Library Assessment conference, among others.
Some of the ideas that we might consider:
1. Start instruction sessions with an icebreaker related to the topic at hand, encouraging them to work together to find answers. (The grab-bag addition to our EDU1010 orientation is right on track with this.)
2. Parking Lot Test - a theory proposed by Tom Angelo (Educause) that students will forget material covered in class as soon as they set foot into the parking lot because they are not being "shut down" properly. One way to ease this issue is to solidify the most important points in the last 60-90 seconds of class. Ask students two questions at the end of class:
- One thing you learned?
- How will you use something you learned today in another class?
Then, have them either turn to their neighbor to share, or to the whole class, and each person must have a different response. The presenters added the second q because they found while students seemingly understood the material presented (answered the first q easily) but asked for help with the same topic applied to another assignment.
We tested out this practice at the end of the conference session, forming groups to discuss one thing we would take away from the presentation and apply to our library, and then present it to the rest of the attendees. And, it really did work - I remember several ideas that were covered much better than without this interactive, personalizing component.
3. Problem-based/challenge-based learning: a concept that is increasingly gaining ground lately in the IL literature, defined as helping students build on what they already know. The goal is to focus students on an area relevant to them. See http://www.challengebasedlearning.org for more.
I found this point to be very relevant to us in discussing the research process with students (and the step that I discussed with my group in #2 above). We can have them start with a big idea (e.g. climate change or homelessness) and the narrow it down to a challenge question, something that really interests them. Even if they are not allowed to choose their topic, they can hone it into something that they really care about - some question that really needs to be asked or some problem that they see. In effect, they are more invested in the issue and want to research to fill in the missing pieces.
4. In the area of assessment, the presenters recently put together a 1-page "visual identity" with key stats from their longer annual report (e.g. how many students they serve weekly or monthly, number of instruction sessions per year). They've found it esp. useful to have on hand when their dean asks to documentation to show the administration how the library contributes to campus learning outcomes and justify funding/new positions.
The idea of a 1-page visually-appealing summary struck a chord with me as a way to show off our stats beyond our lovely 1 1/2" binders. I don't have an exact purpose in mind (would the deans be interested in it?) but Chef Osborne asked for a similar one-page "what the library does for the culinard program) recently and would be nice to present as "updates" to the library committee. I'd imagine that if we had something like this on hand, opportunities where we could put it to use would present themselves and perhaps save us from turning away from other projects to come up with a sudden request. I wish that the presenters had shown their "visual identity" to help us generate ideas for our own.
5. One of the attendees proposed an interesting idea to drive home the idea of plagiarism: have students write down their greatest accomplishment on an index card; then collect the index cards, redistribute them randomly, and have the students present the accomplishment as their own. Definitely gets the point across, but maybe too heavy-handed. Think this would work for us?
Started off the day with this session sharing tips from conferences that the presenters, all from the Univ. of West Georgia, attended within the past year. Conferences included Educause Learning Initiatives, LOEX, and the Library Assessment conference, among others.
Some of the ideas that we might consider:
1. Start instruction sessions with an icebreaker related to the topic at hand, encouraging them to work together to find answers. (The grab-bag addition to our EDU1010 orientation is right on track with this.)
2. Parking Lot Test - a theory proposed by Tom Angelo (Educause) that students will forget material covered in class as soon as they set foot into the parking lot because they are not being "shut down" properly. One way to ease this issue is to solidify the most important points in the last 60-90 seconds of class. Ask students two questions at the end of class:
- One thing you learned?
- How will you use something you learned today in another class?
Then, have them either turn to their neighbor to share, or to the whole class, and each person must have a different response. The presenters added the second q because they found while students seemingly understood the material presented (answered the first q easily) but asked for help with the same topic applied to another assignment.
We tested out this practice at the end of the conference session, forming groups to discuss one thing we would take away from the presentation and apply to our library, and then present it to the rest of the attendees. And, it really did work - I remember several ideas that were covered much better than without this interactive, personalizing component.
3. Problem-based/challenge-based learning: a concept that is increasingly gaining ground lately in the IL literature, defined as helping students build on what they already know. The goal is to focus students on an area relevant to them. See http://www.challengebasedlearning.org for more.
I found this point to be very relevant to us in discussing the research process with students (and the step that I discussed with my group in #2 above). We can have them start with a big idea (e.g. climate change or homelessness) and the narrow it down to a challenge question, something that really interests them. Even if they are not allowed to choose their topic, they can hone it into something that they really care about - some question that really needs to be asked or some problem that they see. In effect, they are more invested in the issue and want to research to fill in the missing pieces.
4. In the area of assessment, the presenters recently put together a 1-page "visual identity" with key stats from their longer annual report (e.g. how many students they serve weekly or monthly, number of instruction sessions per year). They've found it esp. useful to have on hand when their dean asks to documentation to show the administration how the library contributes to campus learning outcomes and justify funding/new positions.
The idea of a 1-page visually-appealing summary struck a chord with me as a way to show off our stats beyond our lovely 1 1/2" binders. I don't have an exact purpose in mind (would the deans be interested in it?) but Chef Osborne asked for a similar one-page "what the library does for the culinard program) recently and would be nice to present as "updates" to the library committee. I'd imagine that if we had something like this on hand, opportunities where we could put it to use would present themselves and perhaps save us from turning away from other projects to come up with a sudden request. I wish that the presenters had shown their "visual identity" to help us generate ideas for our own.
5. One of the attendees proposed an interesting idea to drive home the idea of plagiarism: have students write down their greatest accomplishment on an index card; then collect the index cards, redistribute them randomly, and have the students present the accomplishment as their own. Definitely gets the point across, but maybe too heavy-handed. Think this would work for us?
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Thursday, Sept. 22 - First Day
I'm officially in Savannah!My flights went smoothly, and even the shuttle service that I booked on a whim worked out perfectly. The driver warned me about protests across the city today, in response to the Troy Davis story (close to home for Savannah), but I haven't seen anything beyond charming historic homes, Spanish moss, and cobble-stone streets.
My hotel is located in the middle of downtown, a fair distance from the Coastal Georgia Center, where the conference is being held, but could not ask for a more scenic walk. Pulling into the driveway of the hotel, I spotted Paula Dean's restaurant less than a block away! =)
After settling into my room, the rain that began shortly after landing miraculously subsided. I changed into tennis shoes and went for quite a walk around the downtown area on route to registration at the Coastal Center. I crossed through Market Square - strange to recognize several shops and restaurants from my once-a-year All-State Orchestra weekends in Savannah - and walked through several squares (mini-parks).
I ended up looping around a bit (definitely took the scene route), but it helped to map out the layout of the city in my mind, rather than blindly following a GPS. Not that I would have turned down a GPS, but stumbling on a Froyo shop made the extra steps worthwhile... =) At the end of my walk, I crossed the campus of SCAD (Savannah Art of College & Design), and found the conference building at the far end of it. I was relieved to spot the registration table and fellow info specialists walking inside, though it was a treat to see SCAD.
I registered and talked with the volunteers, learned that they're experimenting with QR codes to allow attendees to view the program via smartphones and may not have printed programs at all next year. Then dropped in on the reception (free dinner!). It was more low-key and fewer people than I'd expected, but maybe the majority of attendees are planning to register in the morning. Was still nice to get a better sense of the city and find out exactly where I'm headed tomorrow morning. On my walk back, I stopped by Paula Dean's restaurant and gift shop - desperately in need of a disclaimer warning that the intoxicatingly buttery fried chicken and mac cheese may lead to a food coma.
Long, though very good day - looking forward to really getting into the conference tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that the rain holds out, at least in the morning and evening!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Preconference intro
Less than a week to go!
I'm thrilled to be attending the GA International Information Literacy Conference in Savannah in just a few short days. In between sessions, I'll post here aboutideas gleaned from presenters and other attendees, thoughts about putting the new ideas into practice in our library, and tidbits about the overall experience in this gorgeous city. More coming soon!
I'm thrilled to be attending the GA International Information Literacy Conference in Savannah in just a few short days. In between sessions, I'll post here aboutideas gleaned from presenters and other attendees, thoughts about putting the new ideas into practice in our library, and tidbits about the overall experience in this gorgeous city. More coming soon!
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