Scaling Up Library Information Literacy Instruction by Developing Learning Management Systems Ready Asynchronous Modules

Type of Presentation

Individual paper/presentation

Target Audience

Higher Education

Location

Session Six Breakouts

Proposal

The recent trend in U.S. higher education has been one of financial challenges. To troubleshoot, universities have experimented with a variety of revenue-generating methods, including increasing their online course offerings to broaden geographic outreach and enhance enrollments. Academic libraries have been impacted by these trends, often trying to meet the information literacy needs of the changing learner demographic while facing budgetary shortfalls and reduced staffing. This presentation discusses the possibility of libraries’ addressing these combined challenges by scaling up their instructional efforts through offering Learning Management Systems (LMS) ready video tutorials compiled into course-tailored asynchronous modules.

More specifically, the modestly staffed Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS) Library responded to the School’s impressive growth and enhanced online presence by creating a carefully planned suite of video tutorials targeting Library-identified high-stakes information literacy concepts. Specific steps included the drafting of a Best Practices document for the planning, creation, and storage of the tutorials, followed by relevant staff training and the preparation of a hierarchical list of needed video lectures with an accompanying timeframe. For the purposes of reusability and reach, both interdisciplinary and discipline-specific tutorials were created, with SCS librarians proceeding to combine them into custom-made modules embedded in Georgetown’s LMS, Canvas. Most asynchronous modules have been coupled with brief synchronous sessions for a flipped instructional experience that encourages online student active engagement, yet requires less staff time than a traditional fully synchronous lecture. The SCS Library is currently in the process of collecting assessment data on these highly scalable modules.

Short Description

Using Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies Library as a case example, this presentation discusses the specific steps involved in academic libraries’ addressing their budgetary and staffing challenges by creating customized information literacy focused video lecture modules that can be easily embedded in Learning Management Systems and revised/ reused as needed. As such, the modules not only allow librarians to scale up their instructional efforts, but also help them adequately respond to the needs of the increasing number of online learners.

Keywords

Academic libraries, information literacy instruction, video tutorials, online instruction, asynchronous learning

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

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Mar 26th, 3:00 PM Mar 26th, 3:30 PM

Scaling Up Library Information Literacy Instruction by Developing Learning Management Systems Ready Asynchronous Modules

Session Six Breakouts

The recent trend in U.S. higher education has been one of financial challenges. To troubleshoot, universities have experimented with a variety of revenue-generating methods, including increasing their online course offerings to broaden geographic outreach and enhance enrollments. Academic libraries have been impacted by these trends, often trying to meet the information literacy needs of the changing learner demographic while facing budgetary shortfalls and reduced staffing. This presentation discusses the possibility of libraries’ addressing these combined challenges by scaling up their instructional efforts through offering Learning Management Systems (LMS) ready video tutorials compiled into course-tailored asynchronous modules.

More specifically, the modestly staffed Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS) Library responded to the School’s impressive growth and enhanced online presence by creating a carefully planned suite of video tutorials targeting Library-identified high-stakes information literacy concepts. Specific steps included the drafting of a Best Practices document for the planning, creation, and storage of the tutorials, followed by relevant staff training and the preparation of a hierarchical list of needed video lectures with an accompanying timeframe. For the purposes of reusability and reach, both interdisciplinary and discipline-specific tutorials were created, with SCS librarians proceeding to combine them into custom-made modules embedded in Georgetown’s LMS, Canvas. Most asynchronous modules have been coupled with brief synchronous sessions for a flipped instructional experience that encourages online student active engagement, yet requires less staff time than a traditional fully synchronous lecture. The SCS Library is currently in the process of collecting assessment data on these highly scalable modules.