Truly, madly, deeply embedded: becoming a student in your liaison area
Session Format
In-person Full Paper Presentation
Conference Tracks
Library Instruction and Instruction Design
Short Description
Have you ever wondered what your online students think of the library? Do you know what goes on in the black box that is your campus Learning Management System? This presentation will feature lessons a liaison librarian to an online graduate school of education learned from enrolling as a student, including implications for library instruction, content, and engagement.
Long Description
As a librarian supporting online or distance programs, it can often be difficult to develop effective instruction for learners who you may never see, at the request of faculty you may never meet. If the library lacks access to the campus learning management system, it can only compound the difficulties. In my first few semesters as the liaison to an online graduate school of education, I largely relied on faculty suggestions and advice about what types of instruction their students needed, with mixed results.
That began to change when I enrolled as a student in the online master’s instructional design program within that graduate school of education. As a student, I had new insight that was lacking from my librarian role and gave me a unique perspective on the tools and resources students wanted and needed. Armed with newly acquired instructional design skills, I also had an idea of how I might provide them.
This session will discuss the top five lessons I learned from classes in the master’s program and interactions with its students and faculty. I will describe how I used these lessons to improve my instruction and outreach to the graduate-level education classes and how attendees could adapt these takeaways at their own institutions.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, attendees will be able to
-Identify research-related pain points or problem areas experienced by online students
-Recognize areas in which library instruction can help to alleviate pain points for online learners
-Evaluate their own tutorials and modules through the lens of instructional design practices
Truly, madly, deeply embedded: becoming a student in your liaison area
As a librarian supporting online or distance programs, it can often be difficult to develop effective instruction for learners who you may never see, at the request of faculty you may never meet. If the library lacks access to the campus learning management system, it can only compound the difficulties. In my first few semesters as the liaison to an online graduate school of education, I largely relied on faculty suggestions and advice about what types of instruction their students needed, with mixed results.
That began to change when I enrolled as a student in the online master’s instructional design program within that graduate school of education. As a student, I had new insight that was lacking from my librarian role and gave me a unique perspective on the tools and resources students wanted and needed. Armed with newly acquired instructional design skills, I also had an idea of how I might provide them.
This session will discuss the top five lessons I learned from classes in the master’s program and interactions with its students and faculty. I will describe how I used these lessons to improve my instruction and outreach to the graduate-level education classes and how attendees could adapt these takeaways at their own institutions.