e-Learning Stuff

These are the slides from the keynote presentation I gave at the Mobile Technologies Information Sharing Event in Birmingham.

The aim of the keynote was to remind those attending where we had come from, where we are and where we might be going. It was important to ask the question with all the mobile technologies that are currently available, why aren’t they already embedded into the provision of library services?

One of the features of the libraries at Gloucestershire College (well the Gloucester and Royal Forest of Dean campuses) is that we have sofas in the library.

I have been asked a few times why do I have sofas in the library when the library is a learning environment?

I would ask then, where is it written down that learning has to be uncomfortable? Where is the rulebook that states learners should sit at desks on hard chairs? Is it not possible for a learner to learn whilst sitting on a sofa? Why can’t a learning environment be enticing, comfortable and even a little bit social?

What myself and the Learning Resources team have created in the Library space is a learning environment that will encourage a range of learning activities, from group work, individual activity on a computer, individual study and importantly places for reflection and for reading. The sofas are part of the environment that recognises that individuals do different things for their learning, they learn in different ways at different times, and as a result we need to provide an environment that meets these different needs.

Sofas in the library is not about turning the library into a social area, it’s about creating an environment for learning that meets the diverse needs of our learners who will want to learn in different ways at different times; the end result is learners who achieve their qualificational goal.

Virtual History, Roma & Firenze – iPad Apps of the Week

This is a regular feature of the blog looking at various Apps available. Some of the apps will be useful for those involved in learning technologies, others will be useful in improving the way in which you work, whilst a few will be just plain fun! Some will be free, others will cost a little and one or two will be what some will think is quite expensive.

This week’s Apps are Virtual History, Roma & Virtual History, Firenze

Firenze – Virtual History, a three-dimensional journey using your iPad through the city that invented the Renaissance. Enter this epicenter of art, invention and history and even explore in detail masterpieces like those of Dante, Leonardo and Michelangelo.

Mondadori presents a fantastic voyage to Ancient Rome, the capital of the largest empire in the ancient world, which has been reconstructed in virtual form and which you can explore in a “full-immersion” panoramic experience.

£6.99 each

I was discussing with my team the other day on whether we should be placing iPads into the libraries at the college to provide additional resources and content for learners. There have been quite a few projects and trials that have shown the value of library users having access to the iPad for research and reading. The iPads would not replace existing paper resources or online content, but would supplement and enhance. I hope to expand on these ideas in a later blog post.

As a result I have started to look at the type of content we could put on the iPad, the DK Human Body (that I covered in a previous post in this series) was an obvious one for biology or anatomy.

For arts, history and travel & tourism I found these two apps (from the same publisher) that I feel would be useful for learners on those courses. Both the apps have an “immersive” experience that allows the users to explore both these famous cities using the touch interface of the iPad.

These apps would introduce the learner to these great cities and would be a starting point before moving onto for example for travel & tourism students we might also have on the iPad, the Rough Guide to Rome. We would also place e-books onto the iPads for additional detailed and indepth content, as well as content and links from practitioners.

So what do I mean by an e-Library?

Well maybe by starting off describing what it isn’t might give you a better idea.

Some people’s idea of an e-library is a website (or a section on the VLE) with information about the library, the services it offers with links to online resources. Some people take this a little further and have a link to enable users to search the online catalogue.

For me though an e-library should be an online environment that learners go and visit for the same reasons that they visit a physical library. I don’t think I have ever had a visitors to our libraries from any learners to find out what services we offer and how much the photocopying costs. Okay we might have had one person coming in to find out vacation opening times…

Most of the learners who come into the physical library are going there as they need some support, help to support their learning to achieve their qualificational goal. This support at a basic level might be a quiet environment or access to a computer. However a library is much more than just a place to study, there are resources: books, journals and online resources. There is access to collections and catalogues. Also a key part of the library are the library staff, the information professionals who are there to support and help the learners.

An e-Library should have those within it and should be seen as a support tool that is used by learners to support them on their learning journey.

The VLE is a an ideal location for such an e-Library.

Of course all that information on photocopying costs and opening times can be placed there and as the VLE can be searched (usually) then this allows learners to find that information if they need to.

Another obvious thing is to put in a link or search box to allow learners to search the library catalogue. Key question once the learner has searched and found a book, can they reserve it? Can they access their record on the library system and renew stuff?
So as well as the things that are obvious what about other stuff for an e-library?

Well the VLE can act as a portal to any e-books the library holds. With the addition of guides on how to use the e-book platform, this will enable learners to access e-books through the VLE. You can do something similar with e-journals.

The VLE is also the obvious portal to signpost ay digital and online collections that the library subscribes to. As well as providing the link, it could include additional information and details about any of the collections.

Tools within the VLE also allow for discussions and FAQs, using the forum functionality, learners would be able to post questions and importantly get answers about learning resources needs. You do need to manage expectations, so learners posting at two in the morning realise they may not actually get an answer from the library until it opens at 8.30am! You may want to post any questions you get from learners on a regular basis actually in the library to the FAQ (with the answers) so that learners can find it themselves, or useful for signposting when answering e-mail queries.

You may want to use forums (or other tools) as a method of eliciting feedback from learners. Listening to the learner voice and getting feedback is an important part of our self-assessment and review of how we work.

Immediate support on a learning resources issue is generally quite easy within the physical confines of a library, on an e-library, might be more challenging. You could for example use the live online chat facility to enable learners immediate access to an information professional who could provide support and help as well as links and advice, just as they do in the physical library.

One thing I expect my team to do, is to support learners through a reader development programme. A series of events and offers of training that helps learners build up their study skills. The VLE in conjunction with a virtual delivery system (such as Elluminate or Adobe Connect) would allow for both the delivery of live and recorded study skill sessions. This would help learners improve and enhance their information skills.

An e-library should be a place that supports and develops learners in their learning journey in the same way that the physical library does. The VLE is an ideal location for an e-library as it sits alongside the virtual courses they are already using. A familiar environment that they already know how to use.

At UKSG’s 34th Annual Conference in Harrogate I ran a couple of breakout workshop sessions on the use of mobile devices in the library.

Is there a role for mobile devices in the modern library? What are the issues, challenges and opportunities of using mobile devices to support learning and resource discovery in the library? Is it time to stop telling people to turn off their mobile phones? From communication, collaboration, storage, notes, books, journals and more, mobile technologies are changing the way in which users can and are using libraries.

The presentation first looked at the importance of changing cultures and resistance to change, before we discussed in small groups the potential of mobile devices in the library.

Here are my slides from my presentation.

This is a recording of the workshop.

Download the recording (in mp3 format).

Nicole Harris wrote a very nice review of the session.