Welp, I'm not even sure we're supposed to write this week, but it kind of feels wrong not to. So, I'll do a brief reflection of the webinar experience up til this point. I've tagged one-shot workshop here too because I realized that a webinar really is a type of one-shot workshop, perhaps even more challenging due to the lack of face-to-face time. Anyway...
Can't believe that was our last "assignment!" I have to put assignment in quotation marks because again, it's a really practical thing that I am so glad to have had the opportunity to do. Because we worked in groups of 4 this time (instead of partners for the book club and workshop), the task was different and more complicated. Further, being able to speak on a topic for 20-30 minutes instead of being able to have full on discussions and activities as one would in a workshop made doing a webinar definitely a new experience.
Two things I'll say with authority:
1) it was so nice to have time to work on this in class. Even though my group didn't actually do a lot of our research there, we did create our work plan AND got to know one another better during that time. It was really helpful to have a chance to talk with people with whom I would be interacting in a professional space.
2) I was so glad to have watched another webinar before my group did ours. I added some slides about the webinar basics, take-aways, and saw some of the technical issues that could and did arise for other groups. This helped me know solutions to some of these and also helped me see what to avoid.
Overall, I think our webinar went very well. We got good feedback, with the trends showing that people thought we did a good job and were very prepared. They also seemed to learn a lot about a topic about which they didn't originally know very much. Our participants would have liked to see more images in our slides (I agree) and they also had trouble with the sound (apparently we sounded like chipmunks at times). These would both be things I would fix in the future (adding more images to the slides and investigating sound issues prior to the webinar). Our group worked very well together and it seems the webinar was a success.
It's also been great watching other webinars! People have overall done a great job and I've learned a lot about interesting topics. I saw the webinar on teens in the library on Friday morning and learned about a group I'd never thought to include in libraries- young professionals. The Saturday morning webinar on visually impaired patrons was also very interesting. Today's webinar on limited English speaking patrons was a great topic too! People have done a swell job of being prepared and knowledgeable about their topics which has made the webinars go smoothly. It seems that the only real negative has been the technical stuff, even getting into some of the webinars. Unfortunately this is a large barrier because it is a big part of the webinar experience. The content can be great but if people can't access it, hear the presenters, etc., they can't get the content. Luckily, I've been able to see and hear all of the webinars I've attended which is great. It's been wonderful to hear my peers be so professional and have knowledge on such interesting and important topics. Yay to everyone!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
T...T...T....Twitter
So, Twitter. I actually can't wait to read people's reactions to this "assignment" (rather, to this professional development opportunity). The tweets thus far have been interesting, informative, and some of them, kind of funny.
I joined Twitter circa 2009, started tweeting a bit about ed tech, and then stopped once my job didn't require me to read article after article after article on education. Before class on Monday, I rejoined the Twitter world and started following some professional library people but also news and tech sites, really trying to get a feel for Twitter before this week's assignment (rather, this week's professional development opportunity). I tried using TweetDeck and then found that HootSuite might be a better fit for making "streams" and fully utilizing Twitter. I actually tweeted and retweeted my five #si643 hash tags all week (instead of once an hour on Sunday) so I've been engaging with this social media tool now for a couple of weeks. I must say, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Its SO MUCH INFORMATION (talk about info overload, fellow si500-ers) so short it almost makes my head hurt. I also got the HootSuite app for my android phone, so I'm fully plugged in. It's been fun seeing what others have posted with the si643 hashtag and I must admit it is fun when someone starts following me and when I get a RT. I'm even thinking (kinda sorta not really) about changing my name on twitter because it has nothing to do with libraries. But, we'll wait and see cuz I'm getting a follower-base and don't want to lose that.
As for the part about starting to follow professional people based on the blogger's we followed followers (say that 10 times fast)... I couldn't find two of them on Twitter (Librarian is In, Information Wants to be free - though her blog is down right now and has been for the last 2 hours), one must approve my request (Not so Distant Future), and the other doesn't follow many professional folk (Gypsy Librarian). I searched the two I couldn't find by name, by blog name, and searched their blogs if I could. Not so Distant Future actually listed her witter name on her blog (what a concept! ;), and Gypsy Librarian took a minute to find because his twitter name is gyplib and doesn't come up when I searched Gypsy Librarian or his name. So, needless to say, I had to step outside of the box to find my network of 25 (I can't see Not so Distant Future's followers yet because she hadn't approved me). So, I defaulted to Bobbi Newman and Buffy J Hamilton - tweeters I know are big time in the Twitter world. They both have HUNDREDS of followers and follow many tweeters, so I was able to build a solid network of professionals. One thing that was slightly annoying was that I had to scroll through all of their followers and browse instead of searching for terms within the followers (like library). I could have used ctrl+F but didn't, so I did a lot of scrolling. It was interesting to build the network; I tried to find a variety of academic librarians, organizations like ACRL and ALA, and those interested in ed tech.
I think I'll continue to use Twitter, to get my name out there, and get information, but I might have to spend sometime setting up my HootSuite so I'm not feeling so overwhelmed. It makes me wonder though, do people always see everything on Twitter? Do people enjoy getting this much info all the time? There is always something to miss on Twitter, so how can I keep up with it all? Another question is, on Hoot Suite, is there a way to remove tweeters from the Home Feed once I put them into a list? That would be more helpful...
Again, interested to read other's Twitter reactions and maybe get some feedback on my experiences. I must say though, ultimately, this assignment is great. If you couldn't tell already, I'm really viewing this as a professional development opportunity - a chance to build a professional network AND get credit for it. Pretty awesome...
I joined Twitter circa 2009, started tweeting a bit about ed tech, and then stopped once my job didn't require me to read article after article after article on education. Before class on Monday, I rejoined the Twitter world and started following some professional library people but also news and tech sites, really trying to get a feel for Twitter before this week's assignment (rather, this week's professional development opportunity). I tried using TweetDeck and then found that HootSuite might be a better fit for making "streams" and fully utilizing Twitter. I actually tweeted and retweeted my five #si643 hash tags all week (instead of once an hour on Sunday) so I've been engaging with this social media tool now for a couple of weeks. I must say, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Its SO MUCH INFORMATION (talk about info overload, fellow si500-ers) so short it almost makes my head hurt. I also got the HootSuite app for my android phone, so I'm fully plugged in. It's been fun seeing what others have posted with the si643 hashtag and I must admit it is fun when someone starts following me and when I get a RT. I'm even thinking (kinda sorta not really) about changing my name on twitter because it has nothing to do with libraries. But, we'll wait and see cuz I'm getting a follower-base and don't want to lose that.
As for the part about starting to follow professional people based on the blogger's we followed followers (say that 10 times fast)... I couldn't find two of them on Twitter (Librarian is In, Information Wants to be free - though her blog is down right now and has been for the last 2 hours), one must approve my request (Not so Distant Future), and the other doesn't follow many professional folk (Gypsy Librarian). I searched the two I couldn't find by name, by blog name, and searched their blogs if I could. Not so Distant Future actually listed her witter name on her blog (what a concept! ;), and Gypsy Librarian took a minute to find because his twitter name is gyplib and doesn't come up when I searched Gypsy Librarian or his name. So, needless to say, I had to step outside of the box to find my network of 25 (I can't see Not so Distant Future's followers yet because she hadn't approved me). So, I defaulted to Bobbi Newman and Buffy J Hamilton - tweeters I know are big time in the Twitter world. They both have HUNDREDS of followers and follow many tweeters, so I was able to build a solid network of professionals. One thing that was slightly annoying was that I had to scroll through all of their followers and browse instead of searching for terms within the followers (like library). I could have used ctrl+F but didn't, so I did a lot of scrolling. It was interesting to build the network; I tried to find a variety of academic librarians, organizations like ACRL and ALA, and those interested in ed tech.
I think I'll continue to use Twitter, to get my name out there, and get information, but I might have to spend sometime setting up my HootSuite so I'm not feeling so overwhelmed. It makes me wonder though, do people always see everything on Twitter? Do people enjoy getting this much info all the time? There is always something to miss on Twitter, so how can I keep up with it all? Another question is, on Hoot Suite, is there a way to remove tweeters from the Home Feed once I put them into a list? That would be more helpful...
Again, interested to read other's Twitter reactions and maybe get some feedback on my experiences. I must say though, ultimately, this assignment is great. If you couldn't tell already, I'm really viewing this as a professional development opportunity - a chance to build a professional network AND get credit for it. Pretty awesome...
Reflection of March 28, 2011 Class
Class last week was kind of a whirlwind - lots of topics, engagement, and interesting discussion.
First, what a treat to have Paul Courant in class. It was too bad I was totally and utterly swamped the previous weekend through last Wednesday and sat in the back of the class for the first time all semester. I'm just going to go on the record and say that I think that Dr. Courant is the person to look to for issues in the future of libraries. I think his economic background, connections across UM and the world, and his realistic and optimistic views of what's happening today and what needs to happen are pretty spot on. Not that I agree with absolutely everything, but most of it - and most of all, I respect his progressiveness. It makes me want to be him one day! (Look for me, circa 2035 Dean of Libraries? :) I truly appreciated that he took time out of his incredibly busy schedule to engage with us. However, what I took away most from his talk was his suggestion to be optimistic and don't list the reasons something is hard to accomplish. I've actually been struggling with this idea this semester. I've got some big, wild ideas for libraries (school, public, and academic, and communities) but every time I mention them to someone inside the institution, I'm brushed off. People will say "well we tried that, people weren't interested," or "too many logistics involved..." stuff to that effect. I will take his advice and keep it with me as I move around the library world and not let those things stop me! Anything can be done if it's done right with the right people. So, there. :)
After Dr. Courant's informative talk (which I did enjoy - learned a lot about the Google Settlement and DPLA, and more), we discussed embedded librarianship. This was a pretty interesting discussion, many ideas thrown around and it became clear, once again, that we all have different views of what this means. Maybe its a good thing! I think embedded librarianship gives people a chance to define their roles in libraries - something that is continually happening more and more and is needed for us to "stay relevant" (boy I'm getting sick of that terminology :) Our discussion showed that the embedded librarian term can mean so many things and really opens lots of possibilities. What's to say people won't be come entrepreneurs in this field? Create this field? Work from home and become consultants to people who've never thought that librarians could be useful to them (we even discussed an embedded librarian in the mall...). Pretty exciting stuff... and lots of opportunity here.
Finally, we talked webinars and found our groups. I'm pretty excited for this... we've got a diverse group and chose to focus on institutional repositories. Should be fun and challenging. As I wrote last week, I've not been a huge fan of webinars in the past, so I'm excited to make a good one. :)
In short, a busy week (filled with sorrow for Prof Frost, overloaded grad students, and interesting topics) that is leading up to the end of my first year of grad school. Already can't believe it and am excited to move into continuing to use the skills I've learned in this class in my professional practice.
First, what a treat to have Paul Courant in class. It was too bad I was totally and utterly swamped the previous weekend through last Wednesday and sat in the back of the class for the first time all semester. I'm just going to go on the record and say that I think that Dr. Courant is the person to look to for issues in the future of libraries. I think his economic background, connections across UM and the world, and his realistic and optimistic views of what's happening today and what needs to happen are pretty spot on. Not that I agree with absolutely everything, but most of it - and most of all, I respect his progressiveness. It makes me want to be him one day! (Look for me, circa 2035 Dean of Libraries? :) I truly appreciated that he took time out of his incredibly busy schedule to engage with us. However, what I took away most from his talk was his suggestion to be optimistic and don't list the reasons something is hard to accomplish. I've actually been struggling with this idea this semester. I've got some big, wild ideas for libraries (school, public, and academic, and communities) but every time I mention them to someone inside the institution, I'm brushed off. People will say "well we tried that, people weren't interested," or "too many logistics involved..." stuff to that effect. I will take his advice and keep it with me as I move around the library world and not let those things stop me! Anything can be done if it's done right with the right people. So, there. :)
After Dr. Courant's informative talk (which I did enjoy - learned a lot about the Google Settlement and DPLA, and more), we discussed embedded librarianship. This was a pretty interesting discussion, many ideas thrown around and it became clear, once again, that we all have different views of what this means. Maybe its a good thing! I think embedded librarianship gives people a chance to define their roles in libraries - something that is continually happening more and more and is needed for us to "stay relevant" (boy I'm getting sick of that terminology :) Our discussion showed that the embedded librarian term can mean so many things and really opens lots of possibilities. What's to say people won't be come entrepreneurs in this field? Create this field? Work from home and become consultants to people who've never thought that librarians could be useful to them (we even discussed an embedded librarian in the mall...). Pretty exciting stuff... and lots of opportunity here.
Finally, we talked webinars and found our groups. I'm pretty excited for this... we've got a diverse group and chose to focus on institutional repositories. Should be fun and challenging. As I wrote last week, I've not been a huge fan of webinars in the past, so I'm excited to make a good one. :)
In short, a busy week (filled with sorrow for Prof Frost, overloaded grad students, and interesting topics) that is leading up to the end of my first year of grad school. Already can't believe it and am excited to move into continuing to use the skills I've learned in this class in my professional practice.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
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.
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.
Reflection of March 21, 2011 Class
During class last Monday we each had the opportunity to present a workshop with a partner (the same partner as for the Book Club assignment two weeks prior). This was an invaluable activity that - again - brought in professional practice that I know I will use in the near future. We each had to choose a library ethics topic and present for 20-25 minutes. It was first interesting to choose an ethics issue - my partner and I looked at the ALA Code of Ethics and chose to present on usefully using library resources. This may not seem like an ethics topic up front, but effectively providing access to users is actually a major ethical issue. If users cannot find what they need, they cannot use the material. Plain and simple.
One of the major challenges was time. I know that it was pretty logistical that we only had 20-25 minutes but it was also a good way to learn how to manage time in a workshop. We outlined our timeline for the session (which was extremely helpful) and made sure to stay on time, but to have to do this reminded me that in the real world, if a session runs over, you've got to be the President, or something, or else people will lose focus and or leave. So, keeping on time was important and this was a great way to practice this.
It was great to be able to see what others considered important ethical issues - cataloging correctly, use of new technologies, and ebooks/e-subscriptions were the topics in the Diamonds group. I not only learned "stuff" but I also got to observe other's teaching styles and what they considered to be effective learning. Most groups had a handout and did some sort of brainstorming or activity which made it clear that people thought those were effective learning methods, and I agree.
It was great to not only plan and present but also observe. This practical activity was fun and useful; I will be instructing this summer at the library and will most definitely use what I learned during this course and during this assignment.
One of the major challenges was time. I know that it was pretty logistical that we only had 20-25 minutes but it was also a good way to learn how to manage time in a workshop. We outlined our timeline for the session (which was extremely helpful) and made sure to stay on time, but to have to do this reminded me that in the real world, if a session runs over, you've got to be the President, or something, or else people will lose focus and or leave. So, keeping on time was important and this was a great way to practice this.
It was great to be able to see what others considered important ethical issues - cataloging correctly, use of new technologies, and ebooks/e-subscriptions were the topics in the Diamonds group. I not only learned "stuff" but I also got to observe other's teaching styles and what they considered to be effective learning. Most groups had a handout and did some sort of brainstorming or activity which made it clear that people thought those were effective learning methods, and I agree.
It was great to not only plan and present but also observe. This practical activity was fun and useful; I will be instructing this summer at the library and will most definitely use what I learned during this course and during this assignment.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Reflection of March 14, 2011 Class
Class last week was a blast and so helpful to think about issues which will be upcoming (presentations) and that are current (HCOD). It was extremely useful to discuss the presentations (one-shot workshops) both in the sense of what we could do long-term (icebreaker-type activities) and what we could do with our classmates. I learned a lot about what to do when it really is a one-shot workshop and that is the only time that I would have with participants such as the basics (bathrooms!), activities to help folks get acquainted, different ways to help people learn material (connecting it to prior knowledge, activities that will help them process what they've learned, and wrapping up/evaluations.
What I kind of walked away with, was that the content is actually a fairly small piece of the puzzle. That's not to say the content isn't important, but it seems like what is more important is how I choose to present the material - not just an hour or 20 minutes of information, but the ways that I intend for participants to be introduced to, and process material. To me, this means MORE planning, stronger objectives, and more intentional learning. When Kara and I were planning, we kind of said, well, we know we can talk about this, so how do we want people to learn it? Anyone who is at at workshop could probably talk about the content for as long as needed (especially with Q and A time) so I learned on Monday that we really need to think hard about the focus of the workshop and what we want our participants to truly walk away with (probably 2 or 3 things that they can actually use!)
Then, onto our HarperCollins discussion with Bobbi Newman. WOW. What an incredible experience. To have such an expert talk with us in such a professional way was pretty amazing. I am not sure I could have learned everything I did in another way, without reading incessantly for weeks. Her opinions, facts, and relatively neutral point of view were extremely valuable for me to learn about the issue and hear how professionals discuss such issues. To be able to ask questions to Bobbi, and really discuss with her this topic was incredible and I appreciate very much the opportunity to do so. It was also really cool to see our class on the twitter feeds of other well-known folks in the field. Yay!
As I saw on the syllabus, there were no readings? So I think I'm good on this part of blogging for the week... :)
What I kind of walked away with, was that the content is actually a fairly small piece of the puzzle. That's not to say the content isn't important, but it seems like what is more important is how I choose to present the material - not just an hour or 20 minutes of information, but the ways that I intend for participants to be introduced to, and process material. To me, this means MORE planning, stronger objectives, and more intentional learning. When Kara and I were planning, we kind of said, well, we know we can talk about this, so how do we want people to learn it? Anyone who is at at workshop could probably talk about the content for as long as needed (especially with Q and A time) so I learned on Monday that we really need to think hard about the focus of the workshop and what we want our participants to truly walk away with (probably 2 or 3 things that they can actually use!)
Then, onto our HarperCollins discussion with Bobbi Newman. WOW. What an incredible experience. To have such an expert talk with us in such a professional way was pretty amazing. I am not sure I could have learned everything I did in another way, without reading incessantly for weeks. Her opinions, facts, and relatively neutral point of view were extremely valuable for me to learn about the issue and hear how professionals discuss such issues. To be able to ask questions to Bobbi, and really discuss with her this topic was incredible and I appreciate very much the opportunity to do so. It was also really cool to see our class on the twitter feeds of other well-known folks in the field. Yay!
As I saw on the syllabus, there were no readings? So I think I'm good on this part of blogging for the week... :)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Just had to write... a great professional trip to Chicago!
So I went to Chicago yesterday - train left at 7:30am, and I took the train back, returning into Ann Arbor at 12:00am. A long, long day. But a good one; my time there couldn't have been better spent.
I had the opportunity to present at the Educause Midwest Regional Conference, held at the InterContinental Hotel right down town. My supervisor at the library and I participated in a poster session, where we displayed a poster we'd created and talked to people about it's contents. Our poster was on assessment of handouts that we provide at the Knowledge Navigation Center, Faculty Exploratory and Tech Deck. We complete four focus groups earlier in the term to evaluate how people learn new technology and what they like and dislike about the handouts we currently provide. Of course, the like the longer handout, but want a shorter handout, videos, an interactive handout, and activities. Needless to say, this was the first phase of our research.
It was interesting, because during the hour-long poster session I learned several things. First, I learned more about our project, just by talking about it and answering questions. I was able to better synthesize what we'd actually done and what we could do in the future. Second, I learned that not a lot of others have done this sort of assessment of their materials. To me, it seemed a fairly small task - a few focus groups and analyzing a fairly small amount of data, but it's just something that people haven't done. Finally, I learned what it was like to be at a conference. I was a bit nervous at first, but found the whole experience to be great professional development.
After our session, I traveled down to the Harold Washington Library YouMedia Center I had a chance to see not only a big, beautiful, old public library (which, ahem, needs to do research on how it uses it's huge amount of space), but also a youth media center in action. And wow, what a place. The walls are a bright green, there are flat screens on every wall, a young librarian (a 2008 SI grad) was working with some boys on redesigning and creating their youth center blog while another set of kids practiced their spoken word and recorded music. IN THE LIBRARY. This reconfirmed my beliefs that public libraries not only have to redefine themselves, but can and should. The YouMedia Center was one of the most lively places I've ever seen and kids actually want to be there. In my mind, this should be a model for other public libraries who are "fighting to survive." This place isn't just surviving, it's thriving. And your library can do this too... the MacArthur Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are scaling this up, and offering an RFP that will end up funding 30 libraries nationwide. They see the value in sustainable, progressive public libraries, and they're showing it can be done.
It was so inspiring to see this and it gave me a lot of hope for our profession if we are willing to be creative, step outside the box, help people think about libraries differently, and make this change happen.
I had the opportunity to present at the Educause Midwest Regional Conference, held at the InterContinental Hotel right down town. My supervisor at the library and I participated in a poster session, where we displayed a poster we'd created and talked to people about it's contents. Our poster was on assessment of handouts that we provide at the Knowledge Navigation Center, Faculty Exploratory and Tech Deck. We complete four focus groups earlier in the term to evaluate how people learn new technology and what they like and dislike about the handouts we currently provide. Of course, the like the longer handout, but want a shorter handout, videos, an interactive handout, and activities. Needless to say, this was the first phase of our research.
It was interesting, because during the hour-long poster session I learned several things. First, I learned more about our project, just by talking about it and answering questions. I was able to better synthesize what we'd actually done and what we could do in the future. Second, I learned that not a lot of others have done this sort of assessment of their materials. To me, it seemed a fairly small task - a few focus groups and analyzing a fairly small amount of data, but it's just something that people haven't done. Finally, I learned what it was like to be at a conference. I was a bit nervous at first, but found the whole experience to be great professional development.
After our session, I traveled down to the Harold Washington Library YouMedia Center I had a chance to see not only a big, beautiful, old public library (which, ahem, needs to do research on how it uses it's huge amount of space), but also a youth media center in action. And wow, what a place. The walls are a bright green, there are flat screens on every wall, a young librarian (a 2008 SI grad) was working with some boys on redesigning and creating their youth center blog while another set of kids practiced their spoken word and recorded music. IN THE LIBRARY. This reconfirmed my beliefs that public libraries not only have to redefine themselves, but can and should. The YouMedia Center was one of the most lively places I've ever seen and kids actually want to be there. In my mind, this should be a model for other public libraries who are "fighting to survive." This place isn't just surviving, it's thriving. And your library can do this too... the MacArthur Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are scaling this up, and offering an RFP that will end up funding 30 libraries nationwide. They see the value in sustainable, progressive public libraries, and they're showing it can be done.
It was so inspiring to see this and it gave me a lot of hope for our profession if we are willing to be creative, step outside the box, help people think about libraries differently, and make this change happen.
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