13th Off-Campus Library Services Conference, April 2008

Visual Tutorials for Point-of-Need Instruction in Online Courses

Debra Kimok and Holly Heller-Ross

• Overview of Screencasting Software• Project History• Uses for Point-of-Need Tutorials• Examples of Uses in Online Courses• Examples of Uses in Face-to-Face Courses• Experiments With These Tutorials in Chat Reference and Other Library Services• Future Directions• Assessment of the Tutorials• Design Guidelines• Collaborative Tutorial Projects

Presentation Outline

Formatting MLA Citation Indentation and Spacing Using

Microsoft Word 2003

Visual Tutorial

• Adobe Captivate

• CamStudio

• Qarbon Viewlet Builder

• Mac, Linux, Freeware: “Software We Like,” LibrarySuccess.org wiki

Screencasting Software (PC):

•Feinberg Library Instruction Unit Online Initiative—Course-Related (one-shot) sessions

• Course Tutorials

• Reference Services

Project History

• To foster independent learning• To appeal to various skill levels• To increase the visual component, addressing learning styles and active learning• Hands-on alternative to office visits• To address point-of-need questions and problems

Why Tutorials for Online Courses?

• To answer student questions

• Class announcements and e-mail

• Feedback on assignments

Point-of-Need Uses in Online Courses

Student Question

Student Question: “How can I see what my grades are so far?”

My response: Angel Grades Tutorialhttp://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/debra.kimok/Tutorials/AngelGrades.htm

Student Question: “How can I see what my grades are so far?”

My response: Angel Grades Tutorialhttp://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/debra.kimok/Tutorials/AngelGrades.htm

Class Announcement and E-Mail

• Angel Grades Tutorial

• Checking Spelling in Discussion Forums Tutorial

Assignment Question:

“What method/s did you use to look for the full-text of your article in the library databases?”

Student Answer: “The full text version was found in the search.”

Feedback: “When you don’t have this access in the database you’re searching, you can look for your journal title in Journals AtoZ to see what other Feinberg databases include your journal. This tutorial shows how to do this:” http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/debra.kimok/Tutorials/JournalsAtoZ.htm

Assignment Feedback

• Tutorial linked in an assignment

• Tutorial within a lecture

• Tutorial preparation for a group activity

Tutorial Sharing with other Librarians

Visual Tutorials for Point-of-Need Instruction in Online Courses

Debra Kimok and Holly Heller-Ross

13th Off-Campus Library Services Conference April 2008

Visual Tutorials for Point-of-Need Instruction in Online Courses

Debra Kimok and Holly Heller-Ross

13th Off-Campus Library Services Conference April 2008

Visual Tutorials for Point-of-Need Instruction in Online Courses

Debra Kimok and Holly Heller-Ross

13th Off-Campus Library Services Conference April 2008

• Reference Services

• Subject Research Guide for Nursing

Experiments With Other Library Services

• 2003/04 Academic Year: 245 questions

• 2006/2007 Academic Year: 513 questions

Plattsburgh Online Chat Reference (IREF)

Chat Reference Conversation

dragOnKing38: hi

dragOnKing38: can you tell me how to access the e-reserve?

psuiref: I can. It’s at http://eres.plattsburgh.nnyln.net/eres/default.aspx

psuiref: You can also see how to use the system with a very brief tutorial: http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/debra.kimok/Tutorials/CourseReadings.htm

dragOnKing38: thanks

psuiref: You’re very welcome.

379 chat transactions reviewed and categorized

More than half could benefit by tutorials

Chat Reference Analysis

Chat AnalysisCategory # of Questions % of Questions Improvement

Approach

Help locating books or media in the online catalog

50 13.2% Create new tutorials or…add books and media searching to the catalog tutorial on finding periodicals

Unique Questions

47 12.4% Continue reference service

Help locating full-text of articles/documents

36 9.5% Create tutorial for the A-Z database

Help locating electronic course reserves

17 4.5%Use existing tutorial

Embedded in Research Guides

Future Directions

• Increased interactivityExample

• Narrated tutorial alternatives

• Class comments

• Survey responses

Initial Assessment

Survey Questions

Basic Searching in PlattCat Survey

• Required Slides

• Consistent Design

• Set Demonstration Defaults

Design Guidelines for Feinberg Library Tutorials

• Title• Objectives• Instructions• Review• More Help• Survey

Required Slides

• Recording Size

• Backgrounds

• Caption and Button Font Styles, Sizes, Colors

• Click Box Highlight Colors

• Hyperlinks

Consistent Design

• Review assessment instruments and analyze the results

• Create more tutorials

• Survey faculty for desired tutorials

• Review software options

Next Steps

• Animated Tutorial Sharing Project (A.N.T.S.)

• Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online Database (ACRL Primo)

• Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT)

• TeacherTube

Collaborative Tutorial Projects

http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/debra.kimok/LIBTutorials.htm

Tutorials List

Presentation Handout