How People Learn Chapter 7; Montgomery; Matos, Motley, Mayer; Webinar

How People Learn, Chapter 7 - Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, and Science

It was useful to read this chapter about effective teaching across disciplines (plus I just love this book!).  Digging back into How People Learn and being reminded of  that good learning is dependent on pedagogical and well organized knowledge is always a helpful framework when thinking about teaching and learning.  I also love how the authors incessantly remind us that solid learning begins with what student's already know and their questions about the material.

At first I wondered why we were reading this chapter - why do I need to know how to teach history, math and science?  And, well, I probably won't need to know how to teach each of these individually, but I do need to know what helps people learn in different disciplines and different ways.  What I took from this chapter was that different ways of teaching, connecting students to previous knowledge, activities that promote real knowledge growth, and creating communities of learning and practice are cross disciplinary techniques that depend on an expert instructor.  It's not that any teacher couldn't use these with practice and expert knowledge of subjects, but more that most instructors don't use these methods continuously.  I thought that the discussion of history dates and facts vs. research and evidence was particularly interesting.  The idea that "the history" is really just "a history" and that the dates and facts are just a basis (as is computation in math) for the larger picture.  Remembering that people learn differently was also a major point in all of the disciplines.

Keeping these things in mind is helpful when thinking about library instruction because all of those broader concepts apply - prior knowledge, different types of learners, being an expert, and creating community are things that librarians can and should consider while they plan their instructional sessions.


Montgomery 2010 - Online Webinars! Interactive Learning Where Our Users Are: The Future
of Embedded Librarianship

This article was interesting because it simply makes sense.  Librarians can and must become embedded in instruction (be it an academic library with academic departments, a public library with information about public school curricula, or a school librarian with individual class material).  The points made in here that librarians can be active in students learning through technology, can connect directly with faculty, and can have a way to connect beyond a "one-shot workshop" are critical to making embedded librarianship work.  Librarians can prove, once again, that they are integral parts of deep learning and can become embedded beyond the library into departments, courses, and assignments.  Interactive webinars are one way of doing this and they reach far beyond even virtual reference.  They provide a space for people to interact via technology and help the face-to-face happen without needing to be in the same place.  I see this as a potential area where librarians can really excel and be engaged.  A librarian could do a webinar for a course before it starts - "here is what will be helpful to you as you work through this class," "I'll be holding office hours via chat every week at this time," "look for my short webinar before you do this assignment, I'll be online when it's over so you can ask any questions."  Ideas like that are completely doable and exciting to consider :)


Matos, Motley, Mayer 2010 - The Embedded Librarian Online or Face-to-Face: American University's
Experiences

This article provided concrete examples of how embedded and hybrid librarianship works.  It seems interesting that the question remains - "would virtual embedded librarians remain relevant if they still had office space" because to me, the answer is clearly "yes."  I see librarians needed in EVERY space: online for those who don't want to or can't talk face-to-face, via webinar for those who can't make it to a session, in person for those who want to sit down and talk with someone one-on-one.   If a problem is coordination of this, a library could appoint a coordinator for these or develop policy on how to manage time, space, and technologies.  I appreciated this article because it gave me other ways to consider librarianship and best practices for engaging with users.


View a Webinar from a list to be provided - Webinar page on wiki, including link to Webinar Strategies page
I viewed a webinar sponsored by Library Journal and EBSCO/NoveList called "Libraries are Essential: Connecting to Youth in Your Community."  I must warn readers... I spent over an hour trying to download RealPlayer and figuring out how to make this thing work, (also the reason this is posted just at 9pm), so I might be a bit bitter in my overall evaluation.  I have to say that this webinar exemplifies the reason I am not a fan of webinars.  I used to watch them ALL THE TIME in one of my previous jobs, and never felt connected to the presenters.  I have to say, participating in class a couple of weeks ago with Bobbi was the best webinar I'd seen even though we couldn't see anything.  The slides during this webinar were not engaging, I couldn't find a chat transcript so I couldn't see questions or comments (not sure if they were submitted anonymously during the webinar) and I wasn't sure how to contact the presenters to get the materials they discussed during their webinar.  Plus, the presenters didn't seem quite as energetic or prepared as I would have thought.  The first woman who spoke seemed very nervous (maybe she was?) but then maybe webinars are not her best option for presenting information.  I get the point of webinars, I've just yet to see one that's really been engaging and interesting (outside of our time with Bobbi).  Otherwise, it's hard to sit for an hour and not be distracted... 

I must say, though, that this excites me to see my classmates and my own webinars.  Hopefully they (and my group) can change my slightly negative attitude toward this awesome tool.