Fostering Presence and Connection When Providing Library & Writing Support in the Online-Only Learning Environment.
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation
Conference Strand
Diversity and Inclusion
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Session 1 Workshops/Panels
Relevance
Effective teaching strategies are enhanced by the instructor’s ability to connect with students. Effective librarianship in the academic environment requires the librarian’s ability to become a trusted source of information. The presentation will address how to overcome obstacles to connection and presence in the online-only environment and increase student use of asynchronous information literacy instruction and writing services.
Proposal
Creating connection and presence in the asynchronous online learning environment presents a unique set of challenges. Working with diverse age groups, along with a majority student population over the age of 50 presents additional challenges. What constitutes effective social, cognitive, and/or teaching presence for a matriculating high school student differs from what resonates with students over the age of 50. Younger students are more likely to be unwilling to admit they need help with research and writing, while older students do not want to admit their struggles with learning technology. Both age groups struggle to overcome their biases when conducting research.
No single approach works best for all age groups. Liberal use of communication tools is required to guide, mentor, and challenge students. The goal for this presentation is to share best practices for creating a social, cognitive, and teaching presence that increases student use of online library resources and virtual writing support. This presentation will focus on the struggles faced by small libraries for whom staffing and budgets are particularly challenging. Attendees will take away low-cost no cost approaches for creating presence and tips for embedding library and writing services into the institution’s LMS. Audience engagement will include polls, brainstorming, and a digital goodie bag of resources.
Presentation Description
Online distance education is not going away. Library instruction and writing support in the virtual learning environment are moving from ad hoc to standard practices. Come learn how one librarian uses multiple communication tools and instruction methods to create connection and presence with a diverse demographic age range of online-only students in the asynchronous learning environment.
Keywords
social presence, cognitive presence, online instruction, info lit, writing support
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Garrett, Stephanie, "Fostering Presence and Connection When Providing Library & Writing Support in the Online-Only Learning Environment." (2023). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 2.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2023/2023/2
Fostering Presence and Connection When Providing Library & Writing Support in the Online-Only Learning Environment.
Session 1 Workshops/Panels
Creating connection and presence in the asynchronous online learning environment presents a unique set of challenges. Working with diverse age groups, along with a majority student population over the age of 50 presents additional challenges. What constitutes effective social, cognitive, and/or teaching presence for a matriculating high school student differs from what resonates with students over the age of 50. Younger students are more likely to be unwilling to admit they need help with research and writing, while older students do not want to admit their struggles with learning technology. Both age groups struggle to overcome their biases when conducting research.
No single approach works best for all age groups. Liberal use of communication tools is required to guide, mentor, and challenge students. The goal for this presentation is to share best practices for creating a social, cognitive, and teaching presence that increases student use of online library resources and virtual writing support. This presentation will focus on the struggles faced by small libraries for whom staffing and budgets are particularly challenging. Attendees will take away low-cost no cost approaches for creating presence and tips for embedding library and writing services into the institution’s LMS. Audience engagement will include polls, brainstorming, and a digital goodie bag of resources.
