Julie Hannaford, OISE LibraryCristina Sewerin, Engineering &

Computer Science LibraryUniversity of Toronto

Five learning modules:Each module has three levels of learning

Allows for easy content development ◦ Each level has its own pre-determined template

Content can be tailored to particular assignments and courses

First step toward creating learning objects that are responsive and more robust

Modules are collaborative ◦ Librarians can work in partnership with faculty to

develop content for courses/assignments

Demo. of Re:search: http://webapps-beta.utsc.utoronto.ca/itcdf/start.php

Good library instruction “is best received when it is course-related, and specifically assignment-related” – Dewald, 1999

Effective e-learning content needs to be integrated into course components – Kumar & Kush, 2006

Key features of effective online learning: flexible, active, constructive, collaborative, contextual – Bridgland & Blanchard, 2001

Need for teaching concepts, not just “mechanics” – Dewald, 1999

PRIMO: Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online Database: http://www.ala.org/apps/primo/public/search.cfm

ANTS: Animated Tutorial Sharing Project: http://ants.wetpaint.com/

TILT: Texas Information Literacy Tutorial: http://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/ ◦ No longer available effective August 14, 2009

Go for the Gold, James Madison University: http://www.lib.jmu.edu/gold/default.aspx

Colorado State Universities: http://lib.colostate.edu/tutorials/ ◦ See Boolean Searching example

For the content developer, we recognized the need for:◦ Easily adaptable and modifiable learning objects

Need to support a range of subject/course specific content

◦ Need for low cost and no need for programming when building and adapting content

◦ Need for system that would be scalable

For the learner/student, we found that existing online tutorials were often:

◦ Static, generic, or focused on a single subject area

◦ Did not offer a flexible learning environment Did not offer varying levels of complexity

◦ Did not offer a responsive learning environment Students could not choose the level they wanted to

start at, move to or skip

Identify and address critical stages in the process of research and writing/foundational skills related to information literacy – where do students most need support?

Support need for flexibility/promote learner autonomy: learners have varying levels of experience, therefore modules need to accommodate this range

Facilitate transferability to course assignment tasks: modules need to directly support students in their course-related efforts

Ensure disciplinary relevance: support the wide range of disciplines with their varying sets of rules, values and traditions◦ PICO versus the 5Ws

Create pedagogically sound modules with appropriate feedback mechanisms

Avoid redundancy

grant award: Information Technology Courseware Development Fund (ITCDF), University of Toronto

collaborative: tri-campus library initiative

Instructional goalsStoryboardingPedagogical ReviewProgrammingGraphic DesignUsability Testing

Hardware: Apache Tomcat – JSP Java PHP – version 5+ MySQL database Flash PluginSoftware: PHP or JSP Flash application Flash video

mySQL relational combined with PHP programming

each module has own set of dedicated tables

keeps data separate

allows for easy retrieval when using SQL statements

Author Mode content is developed exercises created records selected for use in a course

End User Mode records that were

selected by the author are displayed for anyone using the modules

After logging in and selecting their course, authors may create, edit and save data to the db

This is where the bulk of the work is done

Authors select records to be used in a course

can select any record developed by other authors in other courses

This is a powerful feature in the RE:search modules - authors don’t necessarily have to create content

They can simply select whatever records they need for their course

Records that were selected by the author are displayed

e.g.,authors have created a total of 29 records for this module and level

…this author has created and/or selected 4 records to be used for this particular course

AUTHOR selects a record to be used in a course

END USER selectsa courseand module

data is written to the course content table, which acts like an index page

record is retrievedfrom the correspondingtables and displayed to end user

application looks incourse contenttable to findwhich records to use

Users speak their thoughts as they perform a task

focus on how effectively a user performs the required tasks

verbalizations useful: ◦ understand mistakes ◦ Identify possible causes ◦ Identify possible improvements

five student subjects from range of disciplinestested end user view only

students used words such as “plain, straightforward, neat, and organized” “would not expect a library website to be very attractive!”

appreciated task specific feedback, disliked ‘generic’ feedback

appreciated modulated or amusing feedback

drag & drop functionality: “cool, fun”

appreciated interactivity, ability to ‘play’

comment positively on the use of external websites: practical, ‘more real’ : one subject said that it opened her mind to valid online resources

Students responded positively to the feedback display that allowed them to directly compare their response with the ideal response

“really really loved this level [in one of the modules] “it tells you what to look for”

“useful if the student were highly motivated to learn about research skills, otherwise it is unlikely [they] would complete it with close attention”

one student found it an inefficient tool with too many unnecessary steps. If he had to complete this he would be stressed out and frustrated

“a good and useful tool: even as a 4th year student, there is still info that is helpful and engaging”

Limited # of courses - fall 2009, winter 2010:OISE (education faculty)Engineering at St. George campusScarborough campusMississauga campus

Assessment using focus groups

Meet accessibility requirements and re-testUTORid authenticationTraining for UofT librariansSCORM compliancy

we welcome sharing and co-development opportunities with other institutions contact project leader Sheril Hook, sheril.hook@utoronto.,ca, if you want to work with us

we do have special areas we'd like to see developed, though: accessibility, SCORM compliancy

Project Manager: Sheril Hook

Storyboarders & Content Developers:◦ Sarah Fedko◦ Julie Hannaford◦ Sheril Hook◦ Cristina Sewerin◦ Jeff Newman

Pedagogical Reviewer: Dr. Debbie Donsky

Instructional Multimedia Designer Michael Murphy-Boyer

Graphic Designer: Amanda Wagner Usability Coordination: Cristina Sewerin

Usability Assistant: Monica Rettig

Questions, comments?