ALA Learning – Social Learning

Initiating Inquiry: Mindmapping and Fishbowl Discussions for Connecting and Building Background Knowledge

January 23, 2012 By Buffy Hamilton

Susan Lester’s 10th Honors World Literature/Composition students recently began a novel study of All Quiet on the Western Front. Since students knew little about World War I, we gave students the opportunity to choose a World War I topic of interest to them ( a menu was provided but students could come up with their own topics, too) to research. Susan and I decided to help students dwell in the connecting stage of inquiry by having students mindmap their research and then share those findings in a Fishbowl discussion group. Using mindmaps that Howard Rheingold’s students created and published as our models, we gave students the choice for the tools and mediums they wanted to use to mindmap the key ideas and findings of their research on their topic. Most preferred creating their mindmaps with concrete materials like paper and ink, but others like using Word or Bubbl.us.

After our Fishbowl meeting and having time to share our mindmaps last Tuesday, students shared their reflections on the effectiveness of mindmaps as a medium for sharing key ideas and information.

Students were generally quite positive about the process and indicated it was helpful in better discerning important information and big ideas as well as organizing that information; this feedback was encouraging since these were challenges students identified in our research project last semester.
Other students shared they felt they were able to initiate and sustain a richer level of participation and engagement as members of their Fishbowls because the mindmap helped them easily remember key ideas they wanted to share and was a quick way to prompt talking points as opposed to looking a written reflection.
Several students also indicated they felt creating the mindmap helped them better synthesize and remember the information they were finding in their research.
Some students indicated they would enjoy having the option to create a mindmap rather than always writing a narrative reflection for Fishbowl discussions about their novel/book studies.
One student shared that the mindmapping helped her feel as though her Fishbowl now had multiple experts on different topics and that the group was able to cover a broader amount of information with more depth; additionally, she thought the mindmap sharing created a different element of fun for the Fishbowl discussion. She described mindmapping as helping students to create a “3D” perspective about a topic instead of just “brushing the surface with a boring 2D” perspective.

A few students indicated they encountered difficulty in the mindmapping process and in looking at some student mindmaps, we could see others might need some help in the organization of their mindmaps. For our next mindmapping endeavor, I think I will scaffold their skills by doing a group think and do a group exercise in which we create a mindmap together to help those who are struggling and to grow the skills of those who feel comfortable with that strategy. I am also hopeful I can encourage other teachers to try this strategy in other courses and continue to grow my best practices for teaching students mindmapping.

If you are using mindmapping as a tool for building and sharing background knowledge, what strategies or approaches are you taking help students learn this skill and medium? I encourage teachers, professors, and librarians to share your ideas here in the comments.

Buffy Hamilton

Filed Under: Social Learning Tagged With: connecting, Fishbowl, Howard Rheingold, inquiry, mindmapping, mindmaps, Stripling

This IS the 21st Century

September 27, 2011 By Betha Gutsche

“If the future is not your destination, now might be a good time to disembark.”
(from Generosity by Richard Powers)

What do you think of when you hear the term “21^st century skills”? That question kicks off our Project Compass workshops, as we work with staff from public libraries around the country to augment the support they provide to a workforce struggling to recover in the current economic climate. We take a big picture look at what is different about job seeking in the 21^st century and what skills people need to succeed in the modern work world. This is inspired by the IMLS vision for the pivotal role played by libraries and museums in helping to build 21^st century skills.

Most people answer the question with technology skill responses: “it’s all about mobile devices;” “new office software;” “changes in library automation systems;” “embedded technologies;” etc. The reality is much more complex. Consider the skills shown at right, a list applicable to the workplace condensed from the IMLS publication.

What predominates is adaptability, flexibility, social and collaborative skills, and above all, the ability to learn and keep learning—knowing how to learn as shift continues to happen. While specific technical skills are certainly necessary, the key to thriving in this decade is more about attitude and the active embrace of lifelong learning.

The innovation problem

In the workshops, we hear the frequent lament that too many people coming to the library for help are stuck at a 20^th century skill level. This is true of both urban and rural communities. However, for rural libraries, the situation is compounded by the small size and isolation of their communities, especially when people stuck in antiquated attitudes are in positions of influence (board members, city managers, even library staff).

The reality is that everyone needs to embark on this journey to the future. It is no longer an option. We are in the thick of the 21^st century, a globally connected knowledge economy, and it does not indulge complacence. It is heart-wrenching to hear about a small town factory worker who performed a narrow skill set on one machine for 30 years and now is thrust abruptly into the electronic information age. We don’t want to see anyone disembark from the future. But what can we do to boost those who are sinking to the bottom of the digital skills divide?

Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From, would explain the problem as not enough density for incubating ideas, which lead to growth and progress. Small or isolated communities lack “liquid networks,” the fluid environments in which enough ideas bump into each other to spark great discoveries and innovations. Tracking the incidence of significant innovation through human history, Johnson concludes that the more diverse, populated and connected the environment, the more it works as an “engine of creativity.” As people migrated to cities, lived in close proximity and mingled their subcultures, the rate of innovation soared. The Internet and the Web have expanded this open information commons exponentially.

Incubating ideas is akin to nurturing the acquisition of crucial 21^st century skills. Increasing those 21^st century skill sets should not be a solo endeavor, as if one were studying for a math or a typing test. It is a networked effort in which community members stimulate each other to strive and achieve. The richer the idea/skill environment, the faster all members of the community will rise to the challenges.

Library as 21^st century skills incubator

If your library community needs a boost to become a more successful incubator for 21^st century skills, here are some ideas to try;

1. Get all library staff on board first. If all staff members understand why the 21^st century skill sets are so critical to patrons’ success, they will be more deliberate about embedding the skills in programs and classes and helping patrons improve on many fronts. Even a basic computer skills class can advance awareness of the online and digitized nature of our modern world and promote teamwork, accountability and flexibility.

2. Be the catalyst for creating networks in your community to approximate the “liquid networks” of cities. Bring people together at the library with the deliberate intention of mixing it up as much as possible to spark interactions between subcultures. Start an all-ages discussion group (teens to Boomers) to talk about the pros and cons of starting a small business.

3. Try to find the “edges” where the current state of things is not so satisfying. A major innovation blocker is a state of affairs in which things are so satisfying that nobody has any incentive to change. This is the “we’ve always done it this way” syndrome. Protracted high unemployment rates and economic difficulties offer an uncomfortable edge that may push people to face some 21^st century realities and open up to possibilities.

4. Focus on your community members who are most receptive to growth and change. I have lived in small villages where too many of the residents had “checked out” through alcoholism, drug addiction, or just lack of ambition. How disheartening for the community librarian who wants to have an impact. Working with the handful who are most likely to succeed starts a positive feedback loop which just may be contagious. Do what you can to expose your “champions” to outside resources and networks to add heat to a small town incubator.

Is your library succeeding in incubating new skills and awareness? Tell us what you’re doing right.

Betha Gutsche

Betha Gutsche has been a virtual librarian ever since receiving her MLIS from the University of Washington Information School. Immersed in the online community of WebJunction, she has cultivated community connections through forums, live online events, and writing stories about the library community. She has delved into e-learning design, curriculum development, needs assessment, and all things connected to social learning in the online world. Betha is the editor-in-chief of the Competency Index for the Library Field. She is now the manager of Project Compass, a program working with public libraries to augment their service to communities impacted by tough times. Underneath it all, Betha is an artist and loves to raise awareness of visual literacy and introduce people to the power of image.

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Filed Under: Feature, Social Learning Tagged With: board, change, growth, ideas, IMLS, libraries, library, spark, staff, workshops

Training? Now more than ever!

November 30, 2010 By Betha Gutsche

As trainers, we don’t question the value of staff development, even—or especially—in tough times. This month’s ALALearning blog posts attest to that. But our managers, directors, and funding agencies may not be quite so firmly in step with our thinking. In fact, as budgets get cut to the bone, the training department may look like a “nice to have” that can be dispensed with until we return to a healthier economy. Here are two reasons why training is essential and three key efforts for moving it forward.

Two reasons to sustain training

1. The pace of change doesn’t slow just because the economy does.

New technologies continue to emerge and new demands arise from patrons in spite of the economic slowdown of the last two years. As the recession intensified and more jobs were lost, libraries got busier than ever. Many of those turning to the library need new or augmented services. They need to acquire or enhance technology literacy. They need help adapting to 21st century realities of the economy and society. Only a well-trained library staff will be able to meet the demands and affirm the viability of libraries into the future.

2. Training builds staff morale.

Budget cuts, staff cuts and hours reductions have had a demoralizing impact on the people remaining on the job. Although training takes time out of the schedule, the return on investment in terms of morale is well worth it. Training is future-oriented. It communicates to staff that they are valued and that the organization intends to thrive over the long-term. Conversely, putting training in cold storage says “we’re not sure we’re going to be around in five years.”

Three key efforts

1. Identify training priorities.

Training initiatives should already be aligned with the library’s mission and goals. But lean times warrant a closer scrutiny of the organization’s priorities. The Strategic Reality Check, developed by Joan Frye Williams and George Needham, asks the question “what are you spending time on that your customers will never notice?” Apply that question to your training programs. In a white paper addressed to non-profits, Maggie Leithead asks where the organization “hurts the most” and suggests the 80/20 rule: “pick the one or two areas (20%) that promise to have the greatest impact (80%) and focus your training on them.”

2. Learn how to train a wolf.

In How to Cook a Wolf, M.F.K. Fisher faced the culinary deprivations of World War II with a philosophy that embraced simplicity and economy without sacrificing quality. She celebrated cooking and eating well by means of resourcefulness, creativity and focus. “Since we must eat to live, we might as well do it with both grace and gusto.”
When the wolf is at the training door, get inspired to make innovative use of the tools available for low cost or free. (There are lots of good ideas in this blog.) Free is great but avoid the temptation of serving it up without intention. Effective training is more than sending out links to free webinars. What is chosen, how it is delivered to and experienced by the learner, and how it is followed through are all critical. Think about the whole environment created around online learning. Look for opportunities to embed social interactions between learners, through either in-person or virtual cohorts.

3. Communicate your value

Ideally, you’ve been communicating to your directors and stakeholders all along about the effective outcomes of staff development initiatives. Don’t stop now. If you haven’t, start now. It may be difficult to calculate a quantitative ROI so make sure to record any successes and evidence of increased productiveness, demonstration of new skill sets, or better customer service. It all tells a story of how essential training is to ensuring that the library can meet the community’s needs.

What are your justifications for continuing to train in tough times?

Betha Gutsche

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Filed Under: Social Learning, The Training Life Tagged With: tough times

Join us today for T is for Training 42 at 2pm Eastern

March 26, 2010 By Maurice Coleman

Join us for our 42nd episode which will most likely include the following subjects: Keynote speeches: Giving and getting – What makes a good-great keynote speech? What tips do people have for giving a not good but great keynote? What have you liked/not liked about keynotes?

Dealing with Instructional Burnout: How do you or do you deal with training burnout?

The Training Cornucopia: Save the libraries.org ; Plans for CIL’s: The Learning Track and the Live Taping and Movers and Shakers

The full post, including participating instructions is at http://wp.me/piQy4-ay

Hope to see you then. If you cannot join us, catch all of the episodes in the handy sidebar on the right hand side of the ALA Learning Blog.

Maurice Coleman

Maurice Coleman, has been Technical Trainer at Harford County (MD) Public Library in North Eastern Maryland for the last 7 years. He has 20 years of experience training all ages how to sensibly use technology, computer hardware and software. He has also trained on effective technology planning and deployment, social media skills, nonprofit organizational development and fundraising, community organizing and presentation skills. He has presented at numerous conferences on topics such as digital personal branding, technology implementation, presentation and training skills, community development and effectively using social media. He hosts the library training podcast T is for Training and writes for the American Library Association’s LearnRT blog ALALearning. For his work he was named a 2010 Library Journal Mover and Shaker and received the Citizens for Maryland Libraries Davis McCarn Technology Award. You can find him on twitter @baldgeekinmd

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Filed Under: Cool Tools, Free Stuff, LearnRT News, Professional Development, Resources for Trainers, Social Learning, The Training Life Tagged With: ALA, ALA Learning, CIL, Learning, Learning Blog, libraries, tips, training, Training Cornucopia Save

Teaching the Teachers

February 26, 2010 By Lauren Pressley

As Paul pointed out, train the trainer programs are really useful but are not necessarily offered all that often. Since one of my most recent projects was one of these programs, I thought I’d kick off my posts on this blog with a discussion on that project.

The program? We called it Teaching Teaching. (I described it in detail on my blog the other day.) Instead of going into the specifics of planning and content, I’ll use this space to talk a little bit about the drive behind the program, what made it successful, and how we knew it had done its job.

DEFINING “TEACHING TEACHING”

Teaching Teaching was a program that I worked on with a colleague, Roz Tedford, to support teaching at our library. We’re a mid-sized academic library that teaches traditional library instruction, technology workshops, credit bearing classes, and workshops for faculty.

This program took the form of a one-credit “course.” The program took place over two semesters (and will likely be revived in future semesters as well). In each, we treated it like a one-credit course, without the assignments and testing. The goal was to make a very low barrier for participation… the only thing people had to do was save an hour in the morning to show up.

For the first semester, Roz and I led classes. We’d model good instructional practices, and stick to around 20 minutes of lecture and discussion followed by an active learning exercise. We’d try to vary the exercises so that after the class was completed, people had a toolkit of potential activities to use when teaching.

The second semester followed a different model. By the time we had the second semester course, we changed the model. I wanted people to realize that they didn’t need an “expert” at the front of the classroom telling them what to think about and that every teacher is a potential resource. I started the semester with a facilitated discussion about what people wanted to learn, and set up the semester’s schedule around that. Then, each week, I sat with everyone else in the classroom and facilitated discussion.

WHY IT TOOK OFF

People were asking for a program like this. Teaching Teaching wasn’t something that I decided everyone needed to do. It wasn’t something the administration felt the library needed, either. Teaching Teaching evolved from several discussions I had with different librarians in the building and was based on their needs and interests.

People had a drive to do more with their teaching. People were already good teachers. Some had been teaching for a very long time. But people were interested in learning more about the principles behind what they were doing, understanding the research that supported some of the techniques they were interested in trying, and improving the good teaching already taking place.

This course was an opportunity for instructors with no obligations. I firmly believe that Teaching Teaching went over well because it was presented as an opportunity that people could choose to participate in, with no expectations for preparation or outside work. Finding one hour for something you’re motivated to do is much easier than finding an hour plus extra work time. And since people chose to participate on their own, there was no resistance to the program.

WHAT MADE IT SUCCESSFUL

Classes contained useful information. People came to learn, so I made sure we were covering content that would be useful. I planned the curriculum for the first course, because I understood the issues people were interested in learning more about and I had the background to know how to structure the content. And the second course was even more student-driven, as the entire curriculum was based off the conversation from the first day of class. Since we were all using valuable time to participate, I wanted to be sure that every class had something for everyone.

Active learning was central to the design of the workshops. We knew people wanted to learn more about how to incorporate active learning techniques, and we knew it would help people learn the content more effectively. However, as most of the participants preferred learning in lecture-style settings, we were careful to construct exercises that would be non threatening, and would make good use of pair and group work. In the end, people enjoyed it and had new ideas about how to incorporate active learning into their own teaching.

The class became a community of learner/teachers. I heard over and over again that people got as much out of being part of the group as they did from the content of the courses. People said that having an hour a week to set aside for thinking about instruction helped them be more intentional and reflective of their work. Knowing that they’d have a session to share new ideas and ask questions every week meant they were able to adapt and change things more quickly. And, as we phased into the second semester, the transition to a learning community was truly illustrated as I shifted to a role where I tried to keep my mouth shut for much of the sessions.

HOW WE KNEW THE PROGRAM WAS A SUCCESS

People kept coming back. I originally had doubts about attendance for this program. An hour every week for two semesters meant people were devoting up to 30 hours of time to the program, or nearly a work week of the year. Everyone’s swamped (who isn’t these days), yet over half our teachers attended every session for the first class, and a smaller group of the same people attended every session of the second semester. Nothing says things are going well like repeat attendees!

People indicated they didn’t need a third semester. Towards the end of the second course, I started asking around about the need for another semester. I felt people had a pretty good grasp of the material, and wasn’t sure it was the best use of time at that point. And most people agreed. However, it was interesting that many asked we reserve the right to do something like this again, perhaps at a more advanced level, in future semesters.

Librarians started doing more instructional design. I noticed that librarians were doing more instructional design. Whether it was redesigning their credit course based on the Teaching Teaching information or working with faculty members to adapt their assignments based on library resources or technologies, more librarians were doing more instructional design work as part of their day-to-day jobs.

My role had changed. When I first became the Instructional Design Librarian I often worked with library staff to adapt their classes based on specific issues. By the end of the Teaching Teaching program I more often met with library staff to verify that they were on the right track and doing good work. My role as an instructional designer had shifted from a consultant role to a second set of eyes to double check the (good!!) work that had already been done.

So that’s the story of Teaching Teaching. Don’t worry, I didn’t teach myself out of a job. But as a train the trainer program, it was a successful one. With good planning, some work along the way, and constant feedback from participants, we were able to develop a program that supported the work of the library and is helping us better meet the needs of our users.

Have you done any train the trainer programs? What made them work for your community? How did you know they worked?

Image Credits:

pronouncing dictionary by Muffet
Shuttle Endeavour Blastoff by jurvetson
successful business woman on a laptop by Search Engine People Blog
New Years Eve 2006 by monkeyc.net

Lauren Pressley is the Instructional Design Librarian at Wake Forest University. She also blogs at Lauren’s Library Blogs and spends a fair amount of time at Twitter, too.

Lauren Pressley

Lauren Pressley is the Instructional Design Librarian at Wake Forest University. In this role she works with librarians and faculty to improve the design of their teaching and to share information about integrating appropriate educational technology. She also works with emerging technologies. Lauren’s passion is helping people learn about the changing information landscape and think about what that means for them as consumers and producers of information. Recently Lauren published So You Want To Be a Librarian and Wikis for Libraries. She was an ALA Emerging Leader in 2008 and was a recognized as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2009. She frequently writes and presents on education, instruction, technology, and the future of libraries. Lauren also blogs at ALA Learning, tweets as @laurenpressley, and can be reached at lauren@laurenpressley.com.

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Filed Under: Social Learning Tagged With: instructional design, Lauren Pressley, planning, role modeling, success, teaching, train-the-trainer, workshops

Inching toward social learning paradise

May 18, 2009 By Betha Gutsche

Visualize a solution that not only allows you to chat with other participants, but also enables you to view their social profiles and “friend” them. Imagine a solution that also lets you add your own links and related information, which then become part of the final archive.

-David Wilkins, Learning 2.o and Workplace Communities
T&D Magazine, April 2009

Guess what? WebJunction already has those essential elements to build a rich social learning environment. Back in March, I announced an e-learning experiment at WebJunction, in which we focused our social tools on an online course about customer service. The results are in and summarized in The Social Learning Puzzle: Putting the pieces together.

Wilkins and I share a vision of “establishing a true learning culture where all employees are actively engaged in both the teaching and learning processes.” But what the Wilkins article misses in its enthusiasm is the reality that providing nifty tools is not enough. There are barriers to the adoption of the whole notion of engaged online learning. As I said in my summary,the active participants in the cohort had an enriched learning experience, but the majority of the initial group did not engage.

I believe in the vision and I’m taking it step by step toward social learning paradise. If you have anything to share on the topic, please let me know. (info (at) webjunction.org attn: gutsche)

Betha Gutsche

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Filed Under: Social Learning Tagged With: Social Learning

The all-new networked teacher (librarian?)

December 19, 2008 By Betha Gutsche

There is a lot of talk about the new wired and networked student, but where does that leave teachers and trainers?

Alec Couros considers what it means to be a networked teacher and his ideas informed the last minute of this video on The Networked Student.

Far from being rendered obsolete, the networked teacher has a powerful set of functions in the realm of social learning. Relieved of the sage-on-the-stage burden, teachers can explore new territory.

Learning architect: helps students to build learning networks
Modeler: provides guidance when students get stuck
Learning concierge: helps students with communication etiquette and how and where to ask for information
Connected learning incubator: provides guidance on how to vet resources and identify quality information
Network sherpa: organizes the mountains of information
Synthesizer: helps students navigate beyond the course and develop real knowledge for their futures
Change agent: helps students to “creatively solve the world’s problems”

These are good roles to consider in terms of “training” (outmoded term) library staff, but don’t you think all of these roles could apply to librarians and their patrons of all ages?

Betha Gutsche

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Filed Under: Social Learning Tagged With: e-learning, learning culture, viral learning

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