ALPS December Meeting: Lightning Talk Notes

This year’s meeting’s theme is “Technology and the academic librarian: emerging, merging, and changing the game”. I didn’t take notes on everything, but all the presentations will be recorded and available with slides (if applicable) later on.

Online Instruction: Keeping it Personal

Ania Dymarz, Life Sciences Librarian (SFU)

  • Context: library going through renovation, using Canvas LMS
  • keeping it personal: informal tone, picture, all the avenues of contact
  • the library: providing map of 3rd floor and what’s going on
  • students: had to take picture and post citation to book
  • take aways: consider ‘broader’ context, add sign-up drop-in session, work for distance ed?

Teaching via Skype: The Rashomon Effect

Holly Hendrigan, Liaison Librarian for Education and Arts & Social Sciences (SFU)

  • wanted to offer same opportunities to class in another city e.g. guest lectures
  • explained Zotero
  • students used to watching people on screen
  • had some issues with bandwidth
  • more questions than answers
  • impression not the same as feedback from instructor and number of students that came to ask questions later

To Use or Not To Use: Should Academic Libraries be Using Web 2.0 Tool to Engage Students and Faculty?

Laura Thorne, Learning Services Librarian (UBC-O)

  • study from Dec 2012 to April 2013
  • mid-size research based institution in Eastern Canada
  • survey:
    • student use? mostly social media websites, wikis, IM
    • engage with library? 9%
    • worthwhile to? 74% yes
    • why? quickly to share updates, convenient, already using tools, instant access to help, improves engagement
  • difference in values: due to awareness, need to market more
  • tools seen as convenient and access
  • still need to have purpose, want relevant information, engaging and dynamic, conversation and feedback
  • need to be customizable and mobile
  • tools aren’t replacement for in-person contact, or website
  • faculty & students interested in learning more, especially to integrate into LMS
  • trying too much throwing out general information
  • using skype because requested by instructor and going through LMS transition

Web Literacy Standard and Open Badges

Cynthia Ng, Accessibility Librarian (CILS @ Langara)

Experimenting with Shifting Sands: UBC Library’s Localized Open Online Course (LOOC) Partnership

Erin Fields, Teaching & Learning Librarian (UBC)

  • flexible learning: flipped classrooms, inverted, reduced class time, online, MOOCs
  • UBC MOOC
  • course + digital literacy units = LOOC (like MOOC, but only UBC community)
  • each unit is interactive, but in different ways e.g. forums, creating something
  • UBC-endorsed Open Badge Accreditation
  • M101 – collectively created, continually revised based on feedback and content, variety of ways to interact with content
  • user experience guides changes to units
  • behind barriers because copyright
  • potential area of growth
  • open education and what the library needs to address to remain relevant
  • badges system: difficult to implement because how to ensure fulfilled criteria, how to evaluate
  • political end = biggest quagmire
  • great for professional development, because meant for faculty and staff as well
  • library contributes content and units as part of the library’s service

Flexible Learning Support for a First Year Business Course

Lindsay Ure, Business Liaison Librarian (UBC)

  • “information sources” tutorial for students
  • framework for promotion online learning objects in new ways, and to push for funding to create more
  • opportunity for high impact
  • how to make content relevant to students: focused on course readings, no research assignment
  • catered to learning objectives: understand why high quality sources are important
  • development: storyboarding & scripts, videos, quizzes
  • focused on credit sources, types of information sources, finding information, evaluating information sources
  • highlight specific course readings used in the course
  • quizzes: pre and post-test questions, 12 graded questions
  • embedded content in LMS
  • successes: filled out even if forgot to make mandatory, integrated in short time frame, instructor agreed to do again
  • challenges: analysis of results was time consuming, uploading videos affected quality, quiz questions not adjusted to reflect content in videos, how much students’ applying what they learned?
  • next steps: revise quizzes, reorg video content, user testing with students, pilot
  • long term: include in every section, integrate with blended learning model, integrate into other courses

Qualitative Data Analysis Support for Researchers

Nicole White, Head, Research Commons (SFU)

  • has support for quantitative, but not qualitative
  • did environmental scan, looked at what software: Nvivo (sp?), atlasTI
  • what staffing to support program
  • can analyze data including social media
  • graduate student access to software
  • hired 2 power users (graduate students) to do 1-on-1 consultations, email support, workshops
  • marketing: relied on liaison librarians, email, posting on social media, graduate studies’ communication
  • faculty starting to use software in own courses
  • next steps: assessment: who is downloading, using; different interests and skill level
  • money: ~$25k/year for software including webinars, hourly wage to graduate support