9.17.2008
MyStudiyo
I decided I needed a break from talking about my info lit wiki, so instead I want to talk about a new tool I just discovered. MyStudiyo is a quiz-making website that allows you to create interactive online quizzes and then embed them into your website. I love this tool! You can view your responses and statistics for each quiz you create. I can think of a thousand uses, too. For example, if you want to test students' prior knowledge, give them a quiz at the start of class, then have them retake it at the end to see if they've learned anything. You can also have fun quizzes to provide a little extra entertainment for your website. For example, a quiz on "how well do you know your librarian?" This is a great tool, still in its beta form. It's free for 3 basic versions of the quiz. If you want to know how an individual scored on a quiz, they must register with mystudiyo in order to track that information. This tool is probably not ready for use as a part of student grading, but it is a great tool for instructors to quickly gauge students' knowledge with little prep time involved. Anyone else used this tool? I'd be interested to hear how others are using it?
9.16.2008
Thinking about my Information Literacy Wiki in terms of ADDIE continued - Discussion of Design
In the design phase, I first identified the objectives I wanted the system to serve. As a result of using this wiki:
• Students will identify available library services.
• Students will identify sources of extra help and information within the LRC.
• Students will locate and determine the contents of the LRC Collection.
• Students will evaluate their knowledge of information literacy skills and the research process.
• Students will use research guides available on the site to successfully recognize when information is needed, formulate search statements, evaluate information critically, and avoid plagiarism.
• Students will participate in self-directed learning and recognize when additional information is needed.
After determining the above objectives, I created a mock-up version of the wiki on paper. I sketched my ideal homepage, complete with what I believed were the most important pages and links. I also decided I would prepare an information literacy quiz to help students assess their own prior knowledge about information literacy and the research process.
I knew I wanted to keep the site as simple as possible, so I tried to keep text to a minimum. To organize research guides for the time being, I put them all into a folder. In the future, the guides will be placed into an ordered table describing each step in the research process. I also designed photographs into the site where possible, to give users the feeling that they were familiar with the LRC location and setup.
The most crucial elements I needed to integrate into the design included:
I've already described how I came to decide to use pbwiki as my tool of choice, but I found that each of these required sections fit fairly nicely into the wiki format. The wiki is also convenient because if we ever grow in the size of our library staff, I will easily be able to share what I've done with other staff members and allow them to become administrators or editors of the wiki as well.
In my next post I'll talk about how I developed and implemented the wiki, and the beginnings of its evaluation...
• Students will identify available library services.
• Students will identify sources of extra help and information within the LRC.
• Students will locate and determine the contents of the LRC Collection.
• Students will evaluate their knowledge of information literacy skills and the research process.
• Students will use research guides available on the site to successfully recognize when information is needed, formulate search statements, evaluate information critically, and avoid plagiarism.
• Students will participate in self-directed learning and recognize when additional information is needed.
After determining the above objectives, I created a mock-up version of the wiki on paper. I sketched my ideal homepage, complete with what I believed were the most important pages and links. I also decided I would prepare an information literacy quiz to help students assess their own prior knowledge about information literacy and the research process.
I knew I wanted to keep the site as simple as possible, so I tried to keep text to a minimum. To organize research guides for the time being, I put them all into a folder. In the future, the guides will be placed into an ordered table describing each step in the research process. I also designed photographs into the site where possible, to give users the feeling that they were familiar with the LRC location and setup.
The most crucial elements I needed to integrate into the design included:
- Library Session Course Pages
- Research Guides
- Information Literacy Education/Quiz
- LRC Catalog (although it is not searchable, various pdf formats are available)
- Printing Instructions
- Services
- Synchronous Communication – Meebo Chat
I've already described how I came to decide to use pbwiki as my tool of choice, but I found that each of these required sections fit fairly nicely into the wiki format. The wiki is also convenient because if we ever grow in the size of our library staff, I will easily be able to share what I've done with other staff members and allow them to become administrators or editors of the wiki as well.
In my next post I'll talk about how I developed and implemented the wiki, and the beginnings of its evaluation...
9.11.2008
Thinking about my Information Literacy Wiki in terms of ADDIE
ADDIE - Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation
ADDIE is learning model often used by those who design instruction or instructional materials. Prior to creating my Information Literacy Wiki, I first thought about my criteria for and objectives in building an online "learning resource center." I am currently in the development, implementation and evaluation stages of this project, however, I find it helpful to go back to what I did in those first few phases and re-evaluate my work. I'm sure that as I continue with this project I will find things that I could have done better or things that I will do differently next time. But for now...this is what I've got. I think for today I'll just start out with the Analysis part of this project...
Analysis:
The primary learning problem I faced was in finding a way to make my learning materials available to all of the students at my institution, without necessarily visiting each class or every individual student. During my time here as the librarian, it has become very clear that information literacy instruction is desperately needed. Students by and large do not know how to search online databases, or even a library catalog. When asked to write a brief (1 page) paper about the discovery of a famous mathematician or scientist, many had no idea where to even begin, despite the fact that they had already been introduced to our Virtual Library system several times. They are also mostly clueless when it comes to evaluating the information they are reading. Some instructors are far more receptive to my taking time out of their class to do library instruction than others, leaving some students a bit behind on the information literacy track.
In thinking about what my goals should be for this project, the first thing that came to mind was simply making my instruction available to students who could not necessarily see me in a classroom environment. My second goal was to aim toward producing students who were information literate. My objectives in reaching those goals are
1. Provide information literacy instruction based on the Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education developed by ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries).
2. Create a Web presence for our Learning Resource Center in which students will have Internet access to information literacy instruction that relates directly to what they’re doing in class.
3. Create course-specific instructional pages for students, especially those working on course projects.
4. Market the new Web site to students across campus.
Knowing that most of the students I’m dealing with are going back to school for the first time in years, or have had little experience with writing and “research” in a post-secondary environment, I knew I needed to create a learning environment that was simple to use and at a low enough level to help students across the board. I also needed to include enough information for students who may not have had the opportunity to attend one of my in-class “library” sessions.
Immediately several different solutions came to mind that I knew could help me fulfill my goals. I thought about learning management systems such as Moodle and simple, free Web pages available from Google. I also thought of Wikis and Blogs. Ultimately, I wanted a space that could provide me with the ability to display a wealth of information in a neat and organized way, along with the ability to add interactive elements.
In determining the best way to go about developing my library’s online presence I ran in to several constraints. First, as I mentioned in a previous post, my institution does not provide any sort of Web space for its employees. In addition, because of its corporate nature, it is very important to not misrepresent my employer or their goals in any way. If I were to create my own Web space, I’d need to carefully monitor the content and keep any student information and curriculum information confidential.
Fortunately, time was not a key concern in my development of this new resource. This type of project is something that I knew I could build over time as I created new instructional materials. I had no deadline or pressure hanging over my head to create this resource right away; however I knew it would be to my benefit to get started sooner, rather than later. Being the solo librarian, I know that as the size of our institution grows, I will have less time to devote to this type of work.
...Coming up next... A discussion of the Design of my Learning Resource Center Wiki
ADDIE is learning model often used by those who design instruction or instructional materials. Prior to creating my Information Literacy Wiki, I first thought about my criteria for and objectives in building an online "learning resource center." I am currently in the development, implementation and evaluation stages of this project, however, I find it helpful to go back to what I did in those first few phases and re-evaluate my work. I'm sure that as I continue with this project I will find things that I could have done better or things that I will do differently next time. But for now...this is what I've got. I think for today I'll just start out with the Analysis part of this project...
Analysis:
The primary learning problem I faced was in finding a way to make my learning materials available to all of the students at my institution, without necessarily visiting each class or every individual student. During my time here as the librarian, it has become very clear that information literacy instruction is desperately needed. Students by and large do not know how to search online databases, or even a library catalog. When asked to write a brief (1 page) paper about the discovery of a famous mathematician or scientist, many had no idea where to even begin, despite the fact that they had already been introduced to our Virtual Library system several times. They are also mostly clueless when it comes to evaluating the information they are reading. Some instructors are far more receptive to my taking time out of their class to do library instruction than others, leaving some students a bit behind on the information literacy track.
In thinking about what my goals should be for this project, the first thing that came to mind was simply making my instruction available to students who could not necessarily see me in a classroom environment. My second goal was to aim toward producing students who were information literate. My objectives in reaching those goals are
1. Provide information literacy instruction based on the Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education developed by ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries).
2. Create a Web presence for our Learning Resource Center in which students will have Internet access to information literacy instruction that relates directly to what they’re doing in class.
3. Create course-specific instructional pages for students, especially those working on course projects.
4. Market the new Web site to students across campus.
Knowing that most of the students I’m dealing with are going back to school for the first time in years, or have had little experience with writing and “research” in a post-secondary environment, I knew I needed to create a learning environment that was simple to use and at a low enough level to help students across the board. I also needed to include enough information for students who may not have had the opportunity to attend one of my in-class “library” sessions.
Immediately several different solutions came to mind that I knew could help me fulfill my goals. I thought about learning management systems such as Moodle and simple, free Web pages available from Google. I also thought of Wikis and Blogs. Ultimately, I wanted a space that could provide me with the ability to display a wealth of information in a neat and organized way, along with the ability to add interactive elements.
In determining the best way to go about developing my library’s online presence I ran in to several constraints. First, as I mentioned in a previous post, my institution does not provide any sort of Web space for its employees. In addition, because of its corporate nature, it is very important to not misrepresent my employer or their goals in any way. If I were to create my own Web space, I’d need to carefully monitor the content and keep any student information and curriculum information confidential.
Fortunately, time was not a key concern in my development of this new resource. This type of project is something that I knew I could build over time as I created new instructional materials. I had no deadline or pressure hanging over my head to create this resource right away; however I knew it would be to my benefit to get started sooner, rather than later. Being the solo librarian, I know that as the size of our institution grows, I will have less time to devote to this type of work.
...Coming up next... A discussion of the Design of my Learning Resource Center Wiki
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