TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY IN OFF-CAMPUS CLASSROOMS

1. TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY IN OFF-CAMPUS CLASSROOMS Jacob Hill, Reference/Instruction Librarian, the A.C. Buehler Library at Elmhurst College What’s the Issue? Distance Learners vs. “Distributed Learners” As defined by ACRL’s “Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services” (http://www.ala.org, June 29, 2004), Distance learning library services refers to “those library services in support of college, university, or other post-secondary courses and programs offered away from a main campus, or in the absence of a traditional campus, and regardless of where credit is given.” Distance learners are traditionally users who perform their studies in a location far from a sponsoring institution. Libraries tend to support such users with online information literacy tools such as web-based instruction tutorials and synchronous and asynchronous support. However, this definition does not fit all types of off-campus students. For the purposes of this presentation, I would like to advance the term “distributed learner.” A “distributed learner” follows from its defined use in the article “The Library’s Role in Distance Education; Survey Results from ACRL;s 2000 Academic Library Trends and Statistics” by Hugh Thompson (College & Research Libraries News, May 2002). Distributed learning refers to learning situations where “…students may not be in a traditional classroom, but neither are they at such a large distance from the institution that they are unable to physically have access to its services” (39). In a distributed-learner classroom, the student may live close enough to the parent institution to make occasional use of the facilities. In these situations, it may be more feasible for a librarian to visit remote classroom sites and provide information literacy instruction in person, rather than treating the students as faceless remote users. However, the “traveling” academic librarian faces new problems when delivering corporeal instruction off-campus; resources vary from location to location, and librarians must adapt instruction to fit these resources and student needs. Step 1) Determine the instructor’s desired student outcomes. • Step 2) Determine the available resources at the remote site classroom (either from instructor or by contacting the remote site directly). • Questions to ask: • Are there computer resources in the classroom? If not, is there an accessible computer lab to use for teaching purposes, or can resources be made available for a class session? Will it be necessary to bring my own laptop and/or projector? • Does the lab have the ability to display the instructor’s computer screen, either by projector, wall-mounted display, or screen “slaving.”? • Is there internet access? What type (Ethernet or WiFi)? • Possible classroom resource scenarios (see A through E below) Step 3) Choose your instruction tools based on the available resources and student outcomes to provide effective instruction. First determine the technology and resources you’ll require to properly achieve student outcomes, then choose from the following “toolkit” responses to fit Step 2 classroom scenarios. • Step 4) Prepare a Remote Site Package • Be aware that you will be on your own, away from technical support, so plan accordingly. You must be prepared to teach the class without computer support if necessary. Also recognize that you are the only representative of the library that a distributed-learning student might have contact with. Things to include: • Search simulations and examples: • Screen-shot printouts of applicable sites (course page, library OPAC). • Sample search Print-outs and search results from applicable resources. • PowerPoint slides, additional technological how-to handouts. • Lists of applicable or useful links, bibliographies. • 2) General information about the parent library and its services; • Information about library databases, (location, directions, available resources). • Details about remote access and instructions for authentication. • Contact numbers/emails (e.g. a flyer from the library), hours, including reference desk availability. • Checkout policies (especially concerning your library’s reciprocal borrowing agreements with other libraries). • Student group workshop materials (e.g., handing out articles to groups, having them differentiate between scholarly and non-scholarly sources. • Print resources you may need. • Step 5)Prepare for the additional demands of distributed-learning students and the off-campus environment. • Common distributed-learner questions: • Best methods for remote access to campus databases • Answers to Frequently Asked Technical Questions (i.e. firewall issues, student authentication, possible workarounds). • Access to items at the library; the interlibrary book loan process, article photocopy requests, reference desk service hours. • Access policies concerning other libraries; what libraries are near to the area, what resources do they have, how to access their OPACS. • Are there alternate means for printing articles? Many remote classrooms lack printers, so students will be looking for ways to access articles electronically (persistent URLs, emailing articles to an email account) • Technical issues • Prepare for the unfamiliar computer layout- if possible, arrange for technical support, or budget extra time to acquaint yourself with unfamiliar equipment. • Your Information Resource: Working with Off-Campus Faculty • Communication is the most essential ingredient when planning off-campus information literacy instruction. Remote-site faculty instructors may work entirely off-campus, so librarians must do their utmost to foster adequate points-of-contact. General questions to ask a remote classroom instructor about the class: • What resources do you believe students need to complete their assignments? Some classes require different depths of instruction. • Are you aware if students have access to a computer lab, orinternet access at home (distance-learners are assumed to have a computer, but distributed learners may not have one)? • Is this class in an accelerated time format? Often, remote-site learners take classes that are condensed for time in order to fit with work hours. This may affect the amount of time you have to provide instruction. • Is there a particular issue or items that students have consistently had questions about (e.g. available resources, remote database access, librarian availability, borrowing reciprocity)? • Are there any classroom constraints that affect instruction? Some remote-site classrooms are of irregular shape, size, or function, and/or differ from the traditional concept of “classroom.” No special instruction tools needed The classroom has adequate resources to support regular instruction, unless student outcomes demand additional resources. Prepare a Remote Site Package (proceed to Step 4) • A) Multiple-station computer lab with: • Internet access~ • Students can follow your • demonstration, • or perform tasks • on their own • stations. Use Cached (saved) Webpages to show library resources- demonstrate the workflow. Use a cached sample search to illustrate the process. This sample search can easily be inserted into a PowerPoint narrative, or the search process can be simulated as it would appear in an actual search • B) Instructor computer station with.. • Computer video projector or some other display method • Internet access Sources Association of College & Research Libraries. Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services. 8 March 2005. American Library Association. 19 March 2005. <http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandartds/guidelines.htm> DeWald, Nancy et al. “Information Literacy at a Distance: Instructional Design Issues.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 26.1 (2000): 33-45. WilsonSelectPlus. Elmhurst College Library, Elmhurst. 28 Feb 2005 <http://www.oclc.org>. Miller, Kathryn. “Beyond the Campus: Libraries Serving Distance Education Students.“ March 2005 Information Literacy Summit, Moraine Valley Community College, Moraine Valley, 30 March 2005. Stern, Caroline. “Information Literacy ‘Unplugged’: Teaching Information Literacy Without Technology.” Presented July 2002 at the U.S. National Commission on Library and Information Science (UNESCO). 4 March 2005. <http://www.nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/papers/stern-fullpaper.pdf> Thompson, Hugh. “The Library’s Role in Distance Education; Survey Results from ARCL’s 2000 Academic Library Trends and Statistics." College & Research Libraries News 63.5 (2002):338-340. WilsonSelectPlus. Elmhurst College Library, Elmhurst. 28 Feb 2005 <http://www.oclc.org>. • The Need: Elmhurst College’s Off-Campus Cohort Program • Elmhurst College, a small liberal arts college located in Elmhurst, Illinois, recently expanded its undergraduate Nursing Department by developing a “cohort” teaching program in conjunction with four local area hospitals. The cohort program is designed specifically for nurses who already work in the profession, and are taking night classes for their baccalaureate degree. Classes are taught by Elmhurst College Nursing faculty, and all four hospitals are located within a 30 mile radius of the parent institution. • Area hospitals: • Advocate Lutheran General • Advocate Good Samaritan • Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center • Advocate Bethany • The versions of these classes taught at Elmhurst College have an established comprehensive 4-year information literacy program, so the remote sites needed to include a similar instruction program. Since the remote sites were close to the library, it was feasible and logistically possible to have a librarian visit the remote classrooms in person to provide in-person instruction. These off-campus literacy sessions had to be modified from versions of on-campus sessions, and adjusted for content, available resources, and time available at the sites.. The remote site instruction program was initiatedin January of 2004. C) Classroom computer station(s) without Internet service Photo courtesy of "http://philip.greenspun.com/">Philip Greenspun Librarian-Authored Course Web pages A Librarian-authored course/subject page is especially useful for off-campus instruction. Users can be directed to their specific course page for primary database selection. These pages are also useful for inserting links to information commonly needed by remote-site students; online interlibrary loan request forms, contact information, and access instructions. D) No computers in remote classroom • Results of Implementing the 5-Step Off-campus Information Literacy Program • Flexibility~ the model can be applied to teaching information literacy in classrooms on-campus as well as off-campus. • Students were able to meet a second point-of-contact for the parent institution, which broadened the involvement of the parent institutional in the student’s educational process. • Efficient time usage- with backup materials already prepared (Remote Site Package), less time was spent adapting to remote site resources; if off-site technology resources proved confusing or too difficult to utilize, then backup materials were substituted to save time. • Off-site instructors were made more aware of information resource limitations facing off-campus students, and were consequently able to adapt their student expectations and assignments as needed. • Students were exposed to the library website and electronic databases even if the remote classroom site contained no computer resources. • Students were able to see visual demonstrations of the search process and participate in the search process, either in workshop form (via handouts) or by direct participation (if computer access was available). The Solution : A 5-Step Off-Campus Information Literacy Instruction Model for “Distributed Learners” Off-campus information literacy instruction presents a unique challenge to the academic librarian, who is used to facilitating most instruction backed by a sizable "toolbox," such as computers, Internet access, video projectors and a controlled, familiar physical environment. The unpredictability inherent in this type of instruction requires flexible responses, new techniques, and additional class preparation, as well as adequate communication with off-site instructors. A replicable model had to developed that would allow librarians to formulate an instruction plan depending on the types of scenarios encountered. • Bring a laptop computer and computer video projector, or… • If available, make arrangements for a computer and projector in the classroom. YES Were you able to arrange for computer resources? E) Unknown status of remote classroom (unable to reach instructor, classroom change, et. cetera) NO Go to Step 4 (prepare a Remote Site Package)