Geography Online Tutorial and the Needs of Online Library Tutorials in General

            Having recently created an online module myself for information literacy, I have a firsthand appreciation of the work that goes into the preparation, roll out, instruction and assessment of the online tutorial.  Of course, these are challenges also are in play within the traditional instructional setting; but by nature, it seems that the instructional design seems more imperative in the online environment.  With an asynchronous learning environment, it is not possible for the instructor to adjust to the nuances and immediate needs of the students.  To provide an environment that allows asynchronous, self-directed learning, the library instructor must be extremely prepared.

A common problem, as described by Salmon (2003), is that resources are largely reading and writing based.  For an online tutorial to succeed in developing student skills, it must incorporate a combination of activities and information to encourage learning by doing – promoting student interaction and engagement (Hutchings et al. 2007; Race and Pickford, 2007; Roberts and Levy 2005; Biggs 2003). Incorporating audio, video, animation, and interactive exercises along with text-based instruction can be used to better meet the needs of students with a range of different learning styles –especially those who are more visual thinkers (Cornelius and Gordon 2009; Lo and McCraw Dale 2009; Greener 2008; Silver and Nickel 2007; Peacock 2005).  (Thornes, 2012,  84). 

            In the initial preparation the library instructor must understand the learning needs of the students in order to determine the proper learning outcomes for the tutorial. As she gathers materials for the online tutorial or module, she must keep in mind that students learn in different ways. She must work to provided material in a variety of media that are relevant and current.   Thornes indicates that the library instructors creating the geography tutorials consulted the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for the recommended benchmarks for students studying geography. (2012, 85).  As librarians, they likely married the QAA benchmarks with the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Standards for Information Literacy Competency when the tutorials were developed. 

            Creating an online instruction module or tutorial requires collaboration between the departmental faculty but also with instructional designers.   The images provided by Thornes showing the before and after PowerPoint slides were great examples of successful results when librarians and instructional designers work together (89).  Online instruction also requires interaction with the students; this can be hard to manage in an online environment.  Thornes indicates the troubles that the librarians had in obtaining student feedback and usage statistics. In my recent module, I found that I did not receive one question from students, even when I reached out to them.  However, in reviewing my students’ comments, each of them had questions about my module and were unsure of the assignments.  This tells me that even with careful preparation and development, a concept that seems clear to the instructor may not be clear to the students.  The lack of questions does not indicate that there is a lack of confusion.  I am not sure how to balance this within the online instructional module.  It seems that it is an open point for many librarians working within the online learning environment.

            It would be helpful if LIS programs would address the aspect of teaching and instruction within its programs. For students who plan to work in higher education, not just those students studying geography or other social sciences, having a background and training in instructional technology, online teaching and basic principles of pedagogy will go a long way in developing programs as librarians transform from the keepers of information to facilitators of information and instructors of information literacy.

References

American Library Association. (2006, September 1) Information literacy competency standards for higher education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.

Thornes, S.L. (2021).  Creating an online tutorial to support information literacy and academic skills development.  Journal of Information Literacy, 6(1), pp. 82-95.  Retrieved from http://lis60621-09f.iwiki.kent.edu/file/view/geography module IL and distance students.pdf/368446070/geography module IL and distance students.pdf.