DO Get Technical! Using Technology in Library Instruction

Abstract

Today's post-secondary students are digital natives. Much has been said and written about how to reach this generation, and the consensus seems to be that we need to meet them on their turf. In this session, presented at WILU 2011 in Regina, SK, two librarians from the University of Lethbridge shared their experiences with using technology to engage students in library instruction. The hands-on session introduced some simple tools librarians can learn quickly and apply to spice up their instruction with technology. These include creating online animated videos using Xtranormal, a lowcost way to create polished and humorous videos to introduce or summarize key information literacy concepts; and adding interactive polling to PowerPoint presentations using a tool called Poll Everywhere, which is an effective way to instantly engage students in instruction using the web or web-enabled devices. Interactive polling eliminates many of the challenges of using clickers which are prevalent in many postsecondary library instruction environments. The presenters also discussed how they have experimented with wikis to encourage active learning and student collaboration in a series of library instruction sessions. Wikis allow for free and paperless student participation in knowledge creation in an online forum. Finally, they demonstrated how they have used Skype to deliver library instruction at a distance, including the use of the screen sharing feature. The presenters stressed the ease of use of these free or lowcost tools to improve classroom engagement and add interest to sessions.

Yabancılara Türkçe Öğretiminde Yazma Becerisine Yönelik Web 2.0 Araçları: Poll Everywhere Örneği

“…Öğrenci görüşlerine göre Poll Everywhere Web 2.0 aracı interaktif/etkileşimli bir sınıf ortamı oluşturmaktadır. Bir çok ilgili çalışmada, ulaşılan bu sonucu destekler şekilde Poll Everywhere Web 2.0 aracının derse katılımı arttırdığı, öğrenciler arası iletişimi olumlu şekilde etkilediği, grup çalışmaları açısından verimli olduğuna değinilmektedir (Achen ve Lumpkin, 2015;Eva ve Nicholson;Kappers ve Cutler, 2015;Noel, Stover ve McNutt;Shon ve Smith, 2011;Sikarwar, 2015). Öğrencilerin yazılı ürünlerinin herkese açık bir şekilde sergilenmesi ve bu yolla öğrencilerin birbirlerinin fikirlerinden ve yazılı ürünlerinden faydalanması Poll Everywhere'in interaktif/etkileşimli bir sınıf ortamı oluşturduğunun iki önemli göstergesidir.…”

Student responses to an animated character in information literacy instruction

“…Recognizing animation’s capacity to engage viewers (Ekart, 2012; Martin and Martin, 2015), some librarians have experimented with animation generators such as PowToon, Articulate Storyline, Xtranormal, and GoAnimate to create promotional and educational materials (Ahmed et al , 2015; Eva and Nicholson, 2011; Neltner, 2015), to train library staff (See and Teetor, 2014), and to enhance a semester-long, zombie-themed course on information literacy (Stahura and Milanese, 2013). Depending on the software, these animation generators may provide stock characters, often with gestures and facial expressions, as well as backgrounds, props, and templates that users can select and manipulate for their animated videos.…”

“…On the one hand, this is not surprising considering the high costs and time investment traditionally associated with the medium. On the other hand, librarians in schools and universities have continuously striven to expand and adapt their online instructional methods, most recently responding to the demands of the so-called Millennial Generation (Harris, 2010; Eva and Nicholson, 2011; Sachs et al , 2013). Librarians have sought to engage this generation with popular visual media such as comics and graphic novels (Upson and Hall, 2011; Hoover, 2012; Poggiali and Farrell, 2014), as well as with online games and tutorials (Thistlethwaite, 2001; Armstrong and Georgas, 2006; Markey et al , 2008) with generally positive results.…”

Library instruction in a cloud: perspectives from the trenches

“…Pre‐ and post‐tests can find out what students already know or what they learned in class. Besides, they can add an element of fun (Eva and Nicholson, 2011). Google Forms have been used for gathering instruction‐related feedback, including instruction evaluations.…”