Reading, Week Two

This week's reading assignment included:

• The introduction and first chapter of Creating the One-shot Library Workshop: A Step-by-step Guide by Jerilyn R. Veldof
• "Best Practices for Online Video Tutorials in Academic Libraries: A Study of Student Preferences and Understanding" by Melissa Bowles-Terry, et. al.
• "Building Pathfinders with Free Screen Capture Tools" by Patrick Griffis

The excerpt from Creating the One-shot Library Workshop concerned a process for creating workshops that Veldof refers to as "ADDIE" (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). The ADDIE system, like a lot of similar methods, is interesting because it formalizes an already-intuitive process. Or maybe it just seems intuitive to me because I took SI501. In any case, the steps are simple enough: analyze the need that the course will fulfill, figure out the material that will be taught, create the class itself, teach the class, and see how well it worked.

The "Best Practices" article, which outlined a survey of students who were asked to view how-to videos through a library's website, did not seem to reflect the ADDIE system. That's not to say that ADDIE or a similar system was not used when the video tutorials were being made, but this particular study would be an example of only the "evaluate" part of the process. Even then, the students who watched the videos were participating for the purpose of facilitating the evaluation of the videos, not because they had a particular need for which they sought out the tutorials.

The "Building Pathfinders" article, though, fits well into the ADDIE model, specifically in the design or development phases. After analyzing the audience for and purpose of an online course, a librarian would have to choose a particular platform, and this article provided several good suggestions.

We were also asked this week to consider what skills would or would not be well-suited for an online tutorial and whether the methods discussed in the readings were problematic from an accessibility standpoint. I think that online tutorials work best for straightforward skills - reading call numbers, for example, or using the online catalog to find a book by author or title. Skills that require more time, interaction with the teacher, or which are likely to require a teacher to answer questions from students may be better suited for in-person courses. This might include classes on preparing for an interview, classes focusing on literacy, or classes directed at students who are uncomfortable with technology.

As far as accessibility is concerned, I have to admit that I don't know very much about assistive technology and its limitations. Videos that rely on visual elements (titles that aren't read aloud or demonstrations in which the teacher does not narrate what she is doing, etc) could be problematic. And of course, assuming that those who would benefit from the course have access to the necessary technology would also be a problem. Accessibility is something I look forward to learning more about.