Starting from (sort of) Scratch: Strategies for Developing a Long-term and Sustainable Online Library Instruction Plan.
Session Format
In-person Full Paper Presentation
Conference Tracks
Library Instruction and Instruction Design
Short Description
As the sole creator of online instruction, I encounter challenges and opportunities in developing a program almost from scratch. This case study will examine how I took a dormant online instruction program and developed tools to conduct an environmental scan of content and construct a long-term forward-thinking plan to addresses the information literacy and instructional needs of our diverse student population. This session explores systems I built to encourage proactive strategic planning and evaluation of an online instruction program, thus avoiding many of the consequences of piecemeal instruction that lacks a unifying vision or plan for maintenance and sustainability.
Long Description
As the sole creator of online instruction at an institution where online instructional content had been neglected I encountered many challenges and opportunities that come with developing a program almost from scratch. One major challenge is that the instruction’s need is great and our online instructional materials are very limited. Where do you start, and how can you create material that can be updated easily and efficiently?
This case study will examine how I took a dormant online instruction program and developed a strategy that addresses the information literacy and instructional needs of our diverse student population. The two main objectives for this project were to assess the state of online instruction and develop a long-term plan to meet the online instructional needs unique to our students. To meet both these objectives, I developed a system to track the current state of online instruction for our institution and map out the future of the online instruction program. This system is designed to store the information needed to help library and non-library faculty select the resources that will most effectively support their learning objectives and allow for easy maintenance of the instructional materials by myself and others as needed. To prioritize how to address the scope of this large plan, and provide a roadmap for where to start, informal discussions were conducted with both library and non-library faculty and student focus groups were conducted.
The session will present the process for this multi-part project and the tools utilized to plan a dynamic, nimble, and sustainable instruction program that can easily adjust to changes in technology and pedagogy. I will share systems I built to encourage proactive strategic planning, prioritization, and evaluation of an online instruction program, to create a program with a unifying vision and plan for maintenance and sustainability.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will investigate the challenges of creating a future-proof and sustainable online instruction program
- Participants will be able to determine the utility of demonstrated tools for long term instruction planning within their local environment.
- Participants will be able to construct their own instruction plan based on the framework that is presented.
Starting from (sort of) Scratch: Strategies for Developing a Long-term and Sustainable Online Library Instruction Plan.
As the sole creator of online instruction at an institution where online instructional content had been neglected I encountered many challenges and opportunities that come with developing a program almost from scratch. One major challenge is that the instruction’s need is great and our online instructional materials are very limited. Where do you start, and how can you create material that can be updated easily and efficiently?
This case study will examine how I took a dormant online instruction program and developed a strategy that addresses the information literacy and instructional needs of our diverse student population. The two main objectives for this project were to assess the state of online instruction and develop a long-term plan to meet the online instructional needs unique to our students. To meet both these objectives, I developed a system to track the current state of online instruction for our institution and map out the future of the online instruction program. This system is designed to store the information needed to help library and non-library faculty select the resources that will most effectively support their learning objectives and allow for easy maintenance of the instructional materials by myself and others as needed. To prioritize how to address the scope of this large plan, and provide a roadmap for where to start, informal discussions were conducted with both library and non-library faculty and student focus groups were conducted.
The session will present the process for this multi-part project and the tools utilized to plan a dynamic, nimble, and sustainable instruction program that can easily adjust to changes in technology and pedagogy. I will share systems I built to encourage proactive strategic planning, prioritization, and evaluation of an online instruction program, to create a program with a unifying vision and plan for maintenance and sustainability.
Comments
Interaction Strategies:
This paper presentation will integrate brainstorming and sharing of participants systems and tools used for instructional planning. Kahoot, Poll Everywhere, and a discussion period for collaboration will be integrated throughout the presentation.
Intended Audience:
New and established online instruction or distance education librarians
Librarians looking to formalize or update their instruction program
Keywords:
Instructional Design, Instruction, Technology & Tools, Assessment,Strategies, Best Practices