ALA Learning – teaching

What Did They Learn?

December 21, 2010 By Buffy Hamilton

As the end of the year draws near, many librarians are taking pause to reflect on their professional and personal growth in 2010. However, this year, I’m more focused on what my patrons, high school students, learned through the library program at Creekview High and how their learnings reflect my own growth and insights while providing future directions for professional inquiry. Whatever your training/teaching/learning library environment, ask yourself these three sets of essential questions:

1. What did they (your patrons or those you serve) learn through your library program and the conversations for learning you facilitated? What do you hope they will learn in 2011?
2. How do we know what they learned? What tools did you use for assessment? Did the patrons engage in metacognition and self-reflection on what they learned?
3. How are you privileging and honoring what they learned? Where are their stories of learning shared in your physical and virtual library spaces?

We use tools like Google Forms, video, blogging at WordPress, PollEverywhere, information dashboards created with Netvibes, multigenre elements, wikis, Google Docs, and digital portfolios as formative and summative assessment tools. We share stories of learning through our library YouTube Channel, our student work SlideShare account, our library blog, class Wikispaces pages that we facilitated for teachers and students, and our mulitmedia monthly reports hosted at LibGuides to showcase student work and to share videos of students telling their stories of learning; in our physical space, students’ work was shared throughout the library through assorted displays and “walls” of hanging student work to showcase their learning artifacts. I found that by focusing on what my students are learning, I learn from their insights—what is working and not working with my teaching methods, emerging patterns of gaps in understanding, student strengths, and new topics for exploration.

I have also discovered that by paying more attention to what students are learning, I have a clearer insight into how I’m applying the ideas and principles I’m reading about in journals, blogs, Tweets, and books as well as concepts I’m dwelling in more deeply like participatory librarianship-learning and transliteracy, In 2011, student work, learning artifacts, and stories of learning will take a more prominent place not only in our monthly multimedia reports but also in each research guide I create in collaboration with teachers and students (more coming soon on these ideas).

So what are some of the key learnings of Creekview High School students in 2010? Here is a sampler:

How to effectively use social media tools, such as blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking to reflect, share, and collaboratively construct knowledge.
How to use cloud computing and social media tools to organize information resources, to collaborate with classmates, and to share their learning process within and outside of our school community.
How to create their own subject guides or “research pathfinders.”
How to represent key learnings through traditional texts and new media.
How to more thoughtfully and purposefully evaluate traditional and emerging authoritative information sources
How to use writing as a tool for reflection and metacognition through individual learning blogs.
How to demonstrate digital citizenship through the ethical use of information and through the use of tools like Creative Commons licensed media.
How to engage in inquiry based learning as a community of learners.
How to use ereaders and ebooks to support a love for reading
How to discover an expert on a topic, evaluate that person’s credentials, and conduct a professional interview with that expert.
How to create visually interesting presentations that are content rich and how to deliver those insights effectively to their peers.

What does this picture of learning look like in terms of the AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners?

1.1.2: Use prior and background knowledge as a context for new learning
1.1.4: Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions
1.1.6: Read, view, and listen for information in any format in order to make inferences and gather meaning
1.1.8: Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry.
1.1.9: Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding
2.1.1: Continue an inquiry based research process by applying critical thinking skills to information and knowledge in order to construct new understandings, draw conclusions, and create new knowledge.
2.1.2: Organize information so that it is useful
2.1.4: Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information
2.1.5: Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems
2.1.6: Use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that express new understandings
3.1.1: Conclude an inquiry-based research process by sharing new understandings and reflecting on the learning
3.1.2: Participate and collaborate as a member of a social and intellectual network of learners
3.1.5: Connect learning to community issues
3.1.6: Use information and technology ethically and responsibly
4..1.2: Read widely and fluently to make connections with self, the world, and previous reading
4.1.3: Respond to literature and creative expressions of ideas in various formats and genres.
4.1.6: Organize personal knowledge in a way that can be called upon easily.
4.1.7: Use social networks and network tools to gather and share information.
4.1.8: Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning.

This year, we helped our students create a learning environment larger than just our library; several students reflected, “…my learning environment is the world.” Students learned ways of connecting and transacting with information through many modes and points of access as well as strategies for organizing those resources and creating content. Students learned that the library is a place where questions and risk-taking are valued and that their contributions to conversations for learning are respected and valued.

What did your patrons learn in 2010, and how is this shaping your professional learning goals and endeavors for 2011?

Buffy Hamilton

Filed Under: The Training Life Tagged With: growth, Learning, teaching

Five Tips for Getting the Word Out

August 17, 2010 By Lauren Pressley

It seems like just yesterday that school and academic librarians were wrapping up and reflecting on the academic year. Today, schools and colleges are gearing up for the fall semester. With the start of a new year comes a need to get out there and meet the new teachers and faculty members to share the services you can offer, as well as teach a whole new batch of students.

And as tempting as it is to try and get your entire message out there, it’s sometimes easy to give so much information that the audience has a hard time remembering what exactly it was that you were saying. So here are a few tips for maximizing your message:

1. Know your audience

2. Give them something to do

The academic year kicks off with lots of listening for many people. There are orientation sessions, committee meetings, classes, and countless hours of the day are spent listening to others talk. When you know your audience has been on the receiving end of a lot of informational sessions, it’s nice to give them something to do. If you have access to clickers, even that small level of activity engages the audience and can even be used as a platform for discussion. If you don’t have clickers, you can replicate the interaction with colored sheets of paper or having people stand up or sit down based on their answers. I’ve had great luck using worksheets to guide student note taking. Even the act of reading the worksheet to know what we’ll cover, waiting for the pieces of information to fill in the blanks, and participating in small group activities to complete the worksheet has meant library instruction sessions having a higher level of engagement.

3. Give them something

Even if you pay attention to the characteristics and information needs of your audience, and even if you use good active learning techniques in your presentation, your information can still be lost. When flooded with a lot of new concepts, information, and facts it’s hard to keep everything straight. Giving out your business card or a handout means your audience will have a way to get back in touch with you. Later, when they’re going through all the things they’ve accumulated in these early days of the academic year, seeing the handout or card will trigger their memory to remind them that someone from the library came to tell them something. And sometimes that trigger is enough to get them back through the door (or into the email inbox).

4. Be virtual

Something good to put on that handout (or on your business card… think a sticker with extra information on the back of it) is a URL pointing to more information. If you have a lot for people to learn but you doubt they’ll remember it after they leave the room, giving them a place to find it later can be a good way to make sure they’ll have the information at a point of need. Creating subject guides about library services, in addition to subjects, can be a quick and easy way to put information out there where people can access it later. Make a quick web-based video introducing yourself, and you’ll help them put a face to a name. (And show them how friendly you are in the process!)

5. What’s your number one goal for them to remember?

Any my personal number-one-technique is to have one major point that I want the audience to remember. Most of the time it’s that they can always contact me for further information on the topic, whether that’s how to do women’s studies research, implement a new technology in their teaching, or think about the future of publishing. One of the first things I say in a session is that I’ll be going over a lot, so it’s okay if they forget. The one thing to focus on remembering is how to get in touch with me. When I introduce topics and can see that some people are struggling to keep it all straight in their heads, I say it again. Typically by the end of the session I’ve said it at least a dozen times. Sometimes I hear from people sometimes I don’t, but by the end of a session when I get them chanting “get in touch with you” when I ask “what should you do if you forget what I’m showing you?” I know they are remembering the one piece of information I’ve identified as most useful, and it’ll probably stick around in their heads for a while.

Do you have any tips for getting the word out?

Image Credits:

Beautyproof by larskflem

Free School Child’s Hands Choosing Colored Pencils by Pink Sherbet Photography

A Wedding Present by lechampiondumonde.com

Geocaching by William Hook

Ghetomundial Youngfolk by d_runk

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 on 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: Presentation Tips Tagged With: fall semester, new school year, teaching, tips, virtual, worksheets

The TED Commandments

May 13, 2010 By Marianne Lenox

The TED Talks promoters send this tablet as a guide for speakers prior to each event. In her TED Talk Amy Tan described the arrival of the TED Commandments as “something that creates a near-death experience; but near-death is good for creativity…”

Used in a broader sense I’m convinced that many of these rules can be applied to almost any talk or presentation, but (of course) would welcome your comments!

Image by Rives, transcribed by Tim Longhurst. Via Garr Reynolds.

Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick

Pressure yourself to keep learning about a topic. I have an Information Overload talk I gave a few years ago, and wouldn’t dream of presenting it again without catching up on the latest theories and contributions to the debate.

Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before

Don’t be afraid to experiment with what you’ve already learned. Share not only what you know, but what you’d like it to be. Look at your processes, at what you do every day. If it works for you, it’s quite possible the process is a good one and could be shared, inviting discussion to make it even better.

Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion

It’s your topic, your audience. Own them. Your talk may be at a monthly department meeting or national conference, but most likely you’ve got a keen interest in the subject. Show it!

Perhaps you actually are passionate about the topic, even better. Share your excitement as well as your progress.

Thou Shalt Tell a Story

Involve your audience by giving them someone to empathize with and to make them care. The story might be about yourself or someone else, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s a good tell.

Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy

As you catch up, read and get involved on blogs by those you admire within the topic. Commenting on posts is a great way to become engaged with those who care about the same things you do. Also explore dissenting opinions, adding your own if you have them.

Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.

No one wants to hear about how wonderful you are because you figured this out, but the different methods you used to get the conclusion. If you’ve learned from your mistakes, someone else will, too.

Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desparate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.

While I agree that I don’t usually want to hear a sales pitch, I’d take exception to this when appealing for library funding or for my job.

Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.

I’ve heard different opinions on humor during talks, but I gave this advice to a staff member just the other day: If you’re going to use humor point it towards yourself. I use self-deprecating humor quite a bit, it seems to somehow relax the audience, especially when teaching technology. Also be careful of humor that may offend someone: I thought about writing this post as if I were Moses and God Himself had delivered the tablets and burning bushes were involved. I reconsidered…probably very wisely.

Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.

Worse yet, never turn your back to your audience to read slides. Then again, don’t put so much text on a slide that you’d have to read it at all! Text is for handouts.

Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee

Make your talk worthwhile with your passion and your knowledge. Give them one big thing to remember a week later, your chance of retention is better the less you try to put in their heads. Even though some training is repetitive in nature, get them excited, fired up and ready to go use what you’ve taught them!

Marianne Lenox

As the Staff Training & Volunteer Coordinator for the Huntsville - Madison County Public Library in Alabama, Marianne is responsible for planning, directing, maintaining and implementing a comprehensive staff training and volunteer program for her library. She consistently strives to provide learning opportunities, professional information and technical training to ensure both better library service and the professional development of the Library’s staff and volunteers.

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Filed Under: Presentation Tips, The Training Life Tagged With: Information Overload, Talk Amy Tan, teaching, TED, Thou Shalt Reveal, Thou Vulnerable, Tim Longhurst, training, Usual Shtick Pressure, Via Garr Reynolds

10 Reflective Steps to Improve Training

April 9, 2010 By Lauren Pressley

On college campuses across the country, we’re wrapping up the Spring semester and getting ready for summer. It’s a busy time, whether you have assignments to grade, are working with students who are cramming to finish that last paper, are trying to spend out your book budget, or some other combination of year-end tasks.

One of the things that has always appealed to me about working on an academic schedule is the sense of rhythm of the year. There’s a clear start, and, well, the end isn’t so clear (there’s always something going on) but there is a period of time in the summer when it’s possible to accomplish some larger projects that you just can’t fit in between the student related work of the Fall and Spring semesters.

Before diving into those projects, I like to take some time to really reflect on the previous two semesters and think about what I learned as a teacher/trainer and what I can do to make the next year better. Of course, it doesn’t have to be in April, it can be whenever makes the most sense for your library and schedule. If you’re interested in taking some time annually to think through your training, here are 10 steps that have been really useful for me:

1. Reflect

It’s hard to find time to really reflect on things. Most of us have schedules that send us from one meeting or task to another. Taking a few moments to think about the sessions you taught gives you a chance to look back in retrospect and learn things that might be useful. What sessions had the highest attendance? What sessions had the most involved audiences? What active learning exercises seemed to be most effective? What would you really like to avoid doing again in the future? Some of these reflective sessions have helped me see changes that I should make, even when I wasn’t planning on making them.

2. Look at Feedback

Many of us make sure to collect feedback after teaching a group. Some of our organizations collect this feedback for us. In other cases, there might not be formal feedback, but rather follow up emails, nonverbal cues during the session, or some other source of information to help you learn about what worked and what didn’t. Sometimes this information matches what we remember, sometimes it might be different. Combining the feedback provided by the students with your own reflections can make for a powerful larger picture of what worked and didn’t.

3. Share with Others

Once you have a clear picture of what worked and didn’t for your training, it can be helpful to have conversations with other trainers. One of my favorite things to do at the end of the semester is to talk with other people teaching the same information literacy that class I teach. We can share the adaptations we made to the curriculum and our teaching methods and learn from each other. Often, we can get materials that make it possible to make changes without having to reinvent the wheel each time. Sometimes your training peers might not be within your own organization. I have a few people I chat with about technology training at my institution, but most of the sharing I participate in for that type of training is with peers on Twitter or Facebook.

4. Look at the Plan

So far, we’ve considered thinking about what has happened in our teaching. It’s also useful to think about where we need to take our training in the future. I try to take some time every year to re-familiarize myself with the university’s and library’s strategic plans. Knowing where we want to be, as an institution, can help me recenter the types of things I’m teaching to make sure people know what we (as a larger group) have agreed we need to know. It’s also a nice time to look at the mission statements of the organization/library to get a sense of how training sessions are fitting into that public statement of what the group is doing.

5. Consider Shifting Needs

Just as you might need to recenter your training to the strategic plan or mission statement of your library, it’s worth thinking about the shifting needs of the audience you train. Though many of the sessions I’ve offered training on in the past would still be useful in some library settings, hopefully our staff already are caught up on those issues. There might be topics that we haven’t offered training on that everyone else is getting. Or there might be new and emerging technologies that shift all of our needs into a new area. Thinking about these shifting needs can help you think about the topics to train on in the next year. Combining this with a good needs assessment can help for planning sessions that are really useful to your audience.

6. Get Topic Ideas

It’s never to early to be scouting for topics! Chatting with other trainers, reading blogs (like this one!), thinking about presentations you’ve seen, and participating in social media can all provide inspiration for training. I know many of us keep lists of potential topics so that we have a pool of things to choose from depending on the needs of the organization at any point in time. This is a good time of year to look at that list and clean it up a bit. What’s outdated and shouldn’t be included? What’s obviously missing?

7. Attend Training Sessions

Not only can you learn about a topic in a training session or presentation, but you can also learn about how other trainers train. I took a library instruction class in library school that was very good. But the best part of the class was the assignment to go out and observe a number of different librarians teach one-shot library instruction sessions. Seeing the variety of approaches, styles, and personality types helped me understand a lot about what I wanted to do in the classroom (and what I did and didn’t have the personality to do).

8. Plan to Stay Current

With the aid of the internet and social media, resources and groups come and go fairly quickly. It’s worth taking a little time every year or so to think through what organizations would support your training, what conferences would be nice to attend, and if there are any people you want to connect with in the training world. Even if you can’t afford to participate in the formal groups at a given time, there’s a good chance there’s an online option for following and participating in the discussions, and these groups can help you get new ideas for topics and training activities.

9. Spring Cleaning

I’m sure we’re all in a place now where it’s hard to keep up with our RSS readers. I’ve found it really useful to clean out my reader with regularity. I try to do it about once a quarter, but realistically I do it about once a year. Removing those feeds that you don’t read much anyway can save significant time and can make your reader a more productive space. Likewise, cleaning up other feeds, like your Twitter list, can make the time you spend on those sites more valuable. And once there’s less content there, you can feel better about adding new feeds for the sites that you’re just now discovering.

10. Make Notes!!

Throughout all of this, it’s helpful to document things. You might want to make notes of what worked for you this year and what didn’t. You might include new ideas for topics, training activities, groups you’d like to get involved with, or presentation ideas you come up with for conferences. I find these notes helpful because I do a lot less teaching and training in the summer, so the notes come in handy for the Fall. However, they continue to be useful throughout the year as well, so even if you don’t have a few months of a lag in your training sessions you might find yourself relying on them months into the future.

So with that, I hope you have a chance to spend a bit of time reflecting on your training sometime in the near future! I find it really rewarding and helpful, and hopefully these steps will be useful to you, too!

Image Credits:

Capture the Sky by tanjila

Planning Session by WorldIslandInfo.com

Something Different with Fowers by Balakov

What If by Libraryman

My Messy Moleskine by Adulau

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 on Twitter, too.

Lauren Pressley

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Filed Under: The Training Life Tagged With: documentation, feedback, inspiration, needs assessment, reflection, sharing, spring cleaning, staying current, teaching, training

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

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

10 Smart Phone Apps to Help You Be a Better Trainer

February 16, 2010 By Sarah Houghton-Jan

Many of us carry smart phones with us wherever we go. Whether you have an iPhone, an Android phone, or a Blackberry, you likely have access to thousands of applications that can make your life easier. As a new Droid owner, I found a number of apps that I thought could help me as a trainer in my face-to-face classes.

Below is a list of apps that can help you while you are training or teaching, making you seem super-smart, tech-savvy, and creative. I mention specific apps for the Droid and iPhone, but similar applications exist for most smart phones. The specific names are just my recommendations — but every phone, every app list, and every person is different. See what you can find in each category that works for you! All are free, unless otherwise marked. So load up your phone, and get ready to impress your next class!

Music player – I find that students always love it when I have music playing before the class starts, as well as during the breaks. I recommend installing the Pandora app, which is available for most phones. It’s amazingly easy to use, and lets you play music on the phone while you are doing other things. You can choose one of the other many music players, like iMusic, some of which come with quick downloads of legal or semi-legal MP3 tracks as well. Incidentally, there are many small portable speakers to plug into your phone if the internal speaker won’t do the trick. This would be particularly helpful when your classroom has no wi-fi, so there’s no way to access streaming music. I usually do a search for something calming, like “Meditation” and have Pandora create a nice soothing music station around that term.
Stopwatch or Timer – It’s easy to lose track of time when training, and so many of us don’t wear watches any more…instead relying on our phones. Many apps offer fairly deluxe stopwatches or multi-phase timers that can help you pace yourself and make sure you don’t run out of time. Some timers even have really nice self-selected alarms, including flashing lights and/or non-obnoxious noises. I like just plain Timer.
Chimes – It’s a good idea to have some kind of nice sound to indicate to students that you’re ready to re-start the class after a break or group exercise. Nice, soft sounds can get people’s attentions just as much as the loud teacher-yell: “We’re ready to start back up now!” I’m now a fan of White Noise Lite, which offers a number of nice nature-y sounds like windchimes, rain, etc., along with simple visuals for each. Just start the sound, hold up your phone, and watch the learners reassemble.
Tether – Tech is unreliable, and I can remember a half dozen classes where I expected an internet connection and there wasn’t any. Now with unlimited data plans on phones and tethering applications, you can connect your laptop to your phone, and use the phone’s connection to access the web. Granted, it’s slower than a typical wired or wireless connection, but if you need to use live demos in your class it’s a lifesaver. That being said, you should always bring back analog (read: print) back-ups for your class materials. As to what app to use, there are a lot out there. I’m using Android-Wifi-Tether.
Presenter Pro – Presenter Pro costs money ($1.99), but is worth every penny. This program is for presenters, teachers, and trainers. The program provides presentation tips, including video and audio examples of great presentation ideas. The program can review your specific presentations and give tips geared toward your needs. Nice! It’s like having a training coach in your pocket.
Quote Dictionary – Use one of the many quote-filled apps meant to give you something to think about, or to give you something smart to say to your class! I recommend 501 Inspirational Quotes, as most of these are applicable in a classroom environment. Provide a quote at the start of class, throw out a few more throughout to sound really smart, and your students will classify you as a bookish fountain of knowledge…just what you wanted!
Voice Recorder – My favorite voice recorder is simply named Voice Recorder. You can use it to record quick notes to yourself about things to bring up later in class, or even tasks you need to do once class is over. You can also use it to record the whole class – as long as your SD card has enough capacity, you can record your class and then save it as an audio file that you can review later to review your class’s successes or places you could have done better.
Yoga Program – Sitting at a desk or computer all day is really tiring on the shoulders, back, and arms. Use a free yoga program like Yoga Trainer to walk you through a few simple exercises to get your body back in shape. This is a great thing to do with the whole class during stretch breaks. Every time I’ve done this, students have thanked me profusely and even said they learned a new exercise for their desks!
Presentation Remote App – Apps like i-Clickr ($9.99) or Logitech Touch Mouse (free) turns your phone into a presentation remote, letting you click through your presentation slides using your phone screen. Again, one less gadget for you to carry with you when you travel to train.
Documents Program – Make sure you have a documents program on your phone that will read Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files (or their equivalents). The app that many iPhone users seem to like the best, Documents to Go, costs $11.99, the most expensive app I’ve seen so far. But the ability to sync up your documents from computer to phone is super nice, and for on-the-go presenters, it’s a huge benefit. I’m using QuickOffice, which is free and works just fine for reading documents that I’ve manually transferred to the phone. Never again worry about transferring files over to your flash drive—just plug your phone into the presentation computer and you’re good to go. One less device to carry!

So many other programs are out there that help too – time and expense trackers to keep track of what you need to bill to your clients, mobile blogging apps so you can post to the class blog/website on the fly, Twitter clients to help you create live classroom conversations, cameras and Flickr uploading tools so you can share class photos, mobile Skype to help you bring in a guest speaker for free through your phone, restaurant finding apps to help your students find good nearby dining for your lunch break, and even spy-cams (Sec-u-ret spy cam) to use the camera to auto-photograph you while you’re teaching. Look around with an eye for your life as a trainer and you’re bound to find many more ways to make yourself look like the super-awesome trainer you are!

Sarah Houghton-Jan

Filed Under: LearnRT News Tagged With: computer, free, list, program, students, teaching, tips, trainer, training, Voice Recorder

23 Questions with Lauren Pressley

January 25, 2010 By Lauren Pressley

Hi everyone! I’m very excited to be joining the ALA Learning team, and am glad to get to introduce myself in such a fun way. It’s hard to follow so many creative answers, but I liked the format, so here we go…

1. Your One Sentence Bio

I’m just another geeky librarian.

2. Do you blog? If yes, how did you come up with your blog name?

I do! I blog over at Lauren’s Library Blog. I know; it’s not really a descriptive name, is it? I started it during library school, when I wasn’t really sure what I was going to end up doing. The vague name allowed me to talk about whatever classes I was taking at the time. A year or so ago I thought about moving to something more descriptive, but apparently I’m not too creative, and just stuck with the same old name.

3. What is your professional background?

I blogged about this just the other day! I’ve been hanging out and working in libraries for most of my life, since elementary school as a volunteer. All of my full-time work has been at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. First as a microtext specialist, and now as an instructional design librarian.

4. What training do you do? staff? patrons? types of classes?

I’ll teach pretty much anything. I teach credit-based courses for undergraduates, one-shot classes for students, workshops and classes for library staff, and even classes for teaching assistants and faculty. Of course, I tend to teach different things to these different audiences; topics range from basic information literacy skills for first year students to information issues for those about to graduate to pedagogy or syllabus design for faculty.

5. What training do you think is most important to libraries right now?

All training is important. Over and over I hear from people about how hard it is to keep up with things. Trainers that keep up can help other staff members by synthesizing current trends and information and providing the most relevant information in easy to digest sessions.

6. Where do you get your training?

Three years ago I would have said, “from blogs.” Now I’d say it’s a combination of things: blogs still provide a lot of good content, Twitter points to new information fast, the library literature is full of in-depth information. I listen to a lot of technology related podcasts. I read a lot and spend a lot of time having conversations with people about trends and what they think is important. I also get a lot out of going to conferences and attending sessions. But pretty much, I take it anywhere I can get it, so I’m sure I’m leaving things out.

7. How do you keep up?

See answer six.

8. What do you think are the biggest challenges libraries are facing right now?

Time–at least in the libraries that I regularly talk with. It seems that everyone is trying to do more with the same, or less, staff as before. So it’s not very meta, or very big picture (which is very unusual for me), but it is very practical. Finding time to do everything that needs to be doing seems to be a challenge for a lot of us.

9. What are biggest challenges for trainers?

Well, to piggy-back on question eight, for me it’s planning training sessions that people can actually find time to attend! And it’s hard to know what’s going to resonate with a group. Just last semester I offered a class that several people requested, and no one signed up. I offered another on a whim and at a busier time of year, and it was the best attended workshop I’ve ever led. Figuring out what topics people will be interested in, as well as the timing that will get the most attendees, can be a bigger challenge than it seems.

10. What exciting things are you doing training wise?

I just wrapped up a program called “teaching teaching” that I worked on with another colleague. For one semester we offered a weekly hour long “class” on basic teaching principles for teaching library staff across campus. There was still demand the next semester, so I facilitated weekly hour long discussions on topics of interest to teaching library staff. We had really good turnout throughout the entire program, but all agreed that now that everyone has a baseline of understanding of teaching topics, we could offer it every few semesters. Now I’m pulling together an online resource for this same group on teaching technologies.

11. What do you wish were you doing?

I feel very lucky. I love what I’m doing and am quite happy with it!

12. What would you do with a badger?

Take photos of it and post them to Flickr.

13. What’s your favorite food?

I like most any food, as long as it’s Vegan.

14. Post it notes or the back of your hand?

My phone, or maybe Evernote. I’m not a big fan of scraps of paper around my workspace, and I don’t like writing on myself all that much. I keep a notebook for longer notes, and use my phone for short reminders.

15. Windows or Mac?

Fluent in both, but I’m also using Ubuntu. The three computers I run each have their own OS. My favorite of the three is my Mac.

16. What’s your take on handshakes?

I’m a fan. Handshakes should be firm.

17. How did you get into this line of work?

Incredible luck, supportive supervisors and administrators, and with intense enthusiasm.

18. Why is the best part of your job?

I get to do so many interesting things! No, wait… it’s that I get to think about big picture issues and do something with it! I mean… it’s that I work with really awesome people! Oh, shoot. I’ll never be able to pick the best part.

19. Why should someone else follow in your shoes?

Ummm, I picked “my shoes” out because they were a good fit for where I wanted to go. I’m guessing people with other destinations or interests might choose different ones. Others will have to judge which shoes will take them where they want to go.

20. Sushi or hamburger?

Some sort of vegetable sushi.

21. LSW or ALA?

I adore both. In very different ways.

22. What one person in the world do you want to have lunch with and why?

I’d time travel to the future (that’s not off limits, is it?) to meet baby boy Borwick. It’d be fun to get to know a little bit about who this little mystery person will be.

23. What cell phone do you have and why?

I was one of those people standing in line for an iPhone the day they came out. I have been immensely happy with it, though I’ve had to work hard to keep the technology as a tool to make my life easier, rather than a technology that drives my life (for example, by making it too easy to check email all the time). It’s a great little device, and I love how it lets me do things that a bag of gadgets used to let me do.

Lauren Pressley

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Filed Under: The Training Life Tagged With: badgers, iphone, Lauren Pressley, lauren's library blog, LSW, mac, teaching, time management, training

27 Questions with Buffy Hamilton

January 22, 2010 By Buffy Hamilton

1) Your One Sentence Bio

A modern day Southern (and shorter) version of Bunny Watson from Desk Set; also a fierce shieldmaiden of intellectual freedom and loyal friend.

2) Do you blog? If yes, how did you come up with your blog name?
Yes, I blog at The Unquiet Librarian; my library brand is The Unquiet Library, which was inspired by Matthew Battles’ book, Library: An Unquiet History. In addition, I am generally pretty talkative, so the moniker fits.

3) What is your professional background?
I have eighteen years of experience with the Cherokee County School District in north Georgia; I have worked as a high school English teacher, instructional technology specialist, elementary teacher, and school librarian. I opened The Unquiet Library at Creekview High School in July of 2006. I proudly wear the red and black of The University of Georgia (M.Ed. English Education, 2003; Ed.S., Instructional Technology and School Library Media, 2005).

4) What training do you do? staff? patrons? types of classes?
I primarily teach high school students from a wide range of backgrounds and interests in grades 9-12 who visit with teachers in various content areas. I collaborate with classroom teachers to teach a diverse range of skills and learning experiences—searching skills and strategies, information evaluation, website design, social media tools, web 2.0 tools, information management tools and strategies, digital citizenship, presentation zen, blogging skills, and basic computer skills. All of my lessons are supported with research/project pathfinders through LibGuides.

5) What training do you think is most important to libraries right now?
The most important training I am doing right now is teaching learners how to become fluent in self-filtering information —how to know when it is appropriate to use a particular resource for a particular research or information seeking task, and how to manage those information sources as they learn how to cultivate a personal learning network. Expanding our definition of information literacy and helping posit information literacy as an essential literacy is critical right now as we encounter multiple forms of information in a dizzying array of formats or “containers”. Authority is no longer black and white; emerging forms of social scholarship are changing the information landscape, so helping students take an inquiry stance on what counts as authority and when it counts is a must.

6) Where do you get your training?
I primarily learn and grow through my personal learning network via Twitter, Google Reader (an insane array of RSS feeds from many information sources), Facebook, YouTube, and free webinars. In addition, conversations via Skype and Google Talk/chat are incredibly enriching for me. In the past year, conferences have also become a significant source of learning.

7) How do you keep up?
I am blessed with the gift of efficient and effective time management, Energizer Bunny like stamina, and Google Reader.

8.) What do you think are the biggest challenges libraries are facing right now?
Reduced funding in the face of increased demand is a major challenge for all libraries. For school libraries in particular, we are fighting the negative effects of the standardized testing movement as NCLB (No Child Left Behind) marginalizes inquiry and our collaborative partnerships with teachers who are under pressure to “cover” material.

9) What are biggest challenges for trainers?
My biggest challenge is being able to meet the demand for instruction as I do all the training/teaching for nearly 1700 students and 100+ faculty. This challenge is magnified when I am engaging in more in-depth and extensive collaborative units that demand more of my time while still trying to meet the needs of other classes I have scheduled. These challenges are also intensified by the fact that I am also responsible for collection development, website development and our social media presence, library advocacy, and overall program administration. I am most fortunate to be supported by my fellow librarian, Roxanne, and library clerk, Tammy as well as Wayne and Todd, my network gods.

10) What exciting things are you doing training wise?
My Media 21 project that I have implemented during the first semester of the 2009-10 academic year has been by far the most fulfilling and exciting training I have engaged in since opening my library. I have essentially served as a co-teacher daily for two sections of 10th Literature/Composition students, teaching them a diverse range of new skills, including the evaluation of social media, blogging, the use of wikis, the development of learning portfolios with Google Sites, cloud computing tools and skills, how to develop a personal information portal, social bookmarking, and presentation zen.

11) What do you wish were you doing?
Although I sometimes wish that I was not always going in 100 directions at any given time, I am actually really doing exactly what I want to at the moment—building a library program that makes a difference in the lives of my students and faculty and changing people’s perceptions about the possibilities of a high school library. I have an amazing network of colleagues and friends who inspire me and inform my practice—I am truly blessed to do what I do.

12) What would you do with a badger?
I would warn it to be nice to me because I have four long-haired dachshunds.

13) What’s your favorite food?
Does coffee count? If not, anything with cheese.

14) If you were stranded on an island, what one thing would you want to have with you?

Good lip gloss, sunscreen, my iPhone, and a great book (yes, I know that is more than one)

15) Do you know what happens when a grasshopper kicks all the seeds out of a pickle?
It takes a nap.

16) Post it notes or the back of your hand?
Post it notes—my workstation and workspace at the circulation desk look like a rainbow of Post it notes.

17) Windows or Mac?
Windows but I’d like to explore the Mac world.

18) Talk about one training moment you’d like to forget?
In my first ever solo webinar this past fall about widgets, my laptop crashed about five minutes into the presentation. It took nearly twenty minutes to recover and get back in the Elluminate classroom. Fortunately, I was able to resume without sounding too rattled and was grateful for my fellow colleagues who picked up the baton and led a discussion about uses of widgets until I was able to get back online.

19) What’s your take on handshakes?
Shake firmly but don’t crush my hand, please.

20) Global warming: yes or no
I honestly have not reached any definitive conclusions yet.

21) How did you get into this line of work?
I realized this was the perfect career for me back in 2001 because it taps into my passions for technology, reading, research, and teaching.

22) What is the best part of your job?
Seeing a student or teacher smile with satisfaction when you have helped them in some way or have helped them realize they can do something they previously could not envision.

23) Why should someone else follow in your shoes?
They can’t because I have tiny feet and have a propensity for killer shoes with four inch heels. Find your own shoes, click your heels three times, and make your own library dreams come true!

24) Sushi or hamburger?
Hamburger from time to time (not a big meat eater) but not sushi—I have a moderate shellfish allergy.

25) LSW or ALA?
Both—I am less comfortable with binaries as I get older.

26) What one person in the world do you want to have lunch with and why?

This is probably the most difficult question for me as I could generate a list of people past and present. For now, I would choose author and illustrator Peter Sis—I had the pleasure of meeting him earlier this year and would love to hear more of his mesmerizing stories and of his passion for his art.
27) What cell phone do you have and why?
My iPhone I purchased this past July—it is like having a little computer with me all the time, and it has been invaluable in my conference travels over the last six months.

Buffy Hamilton

Filed Under: The Training Life Tagged With: Buffy Hamilton, Learning, Matthew Battles, Media 21, Peter Sis, teaching, The Unquiet Library

Under the Influencer

November 20, 2009 By Betha Gutsche

I’ve read three books this year that have made me rethink approaches to teaching and presentation: Made to Stick, Brain Rules, and now Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. Influencer is about sources and strategies of influence that effect significant change in people and communities. Teaching is influencing. The application of the ideas in this book to leading and learning is potent.

Influencer is threaded with stories that reinforce the authors’ ideas. The most powerful story is that of the Delancey Street Foundation, a “self-help organization for substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless and others who have hit bottom.” Their successes are all the more inspiring for the enormity of the challenges and intractable behaviors to be overcome. The challenge of training library staff and guiding them through change seems totally attainable by comparison.

You really need to read the book to get the full development of the processes. I’ll just highlight some key takeaways, with a few Delancey Street examples.

Outcome is good but behavior is vital

This was a light bulb revelation for me—that focusing on outcomes is not the best way to achieve them. Outcomes are certainly desirable but they’re not concrete enough. For someone who is trying to kick a drug habit, the outcome is to become drug-free. That’s a noble goal, but it so often succumbs to failure. A person needs a whole lot more than the target outcome to achieve success; he has to know exactly what to do. The individual must learn the day-to-day, minute-to-minute behaviors that need to change every step of the way between addicted and clean.

Strong influencers take the focus on behavior a step further and identify the vital behaviors that are pivotal to unlocking a flood of change. Changing just a few key behaviors can cause problems to “topple like a house of cards.”

At Delancey Street, “the hardest thing we do here is to get rid of the code of the street. It says: ‘Care only about yourself, and don’t rat on anyone.’ If you reverse those two behaviors, you can change everything else.”

When deviance is desirable

An effective method for identifying those vital behaviors is to look for “positive deviance.” Who is achieving success against the odds and what are they doing that differs from the norm? Once the unique behaviors are filtered out, test them to see if they can be replicated with other communities.

Get personal

“Personal experience is the mother of all cognitive map changers.” Great teachers and presenters can certainly be verbally persuasive, moving an audience to open their minds and think differently about a topic. But real learning involves some actual change in behavior, and that happens most readily from direct experience. At Delancey Street, any attempt at preaching values or making eloquent verbal appeals may be met with a reactive volley of profanity. Residents make progress by doing, by putting into practice new behaviors before they even understand the full intent of what they’re doing and what they’re supposed to be learning from their actions.

Eat the elephant one bite at a time

The phrase is becoming a cliché but I still love the image it conjures. When the challenge to change looks enormous, when the learning curve looks impossibly steep, just get out your fork and dig in one bite at a time. For Delancey Street residents, the bite of the elephant may be as small as learning to set a table—first get the fork in the right place, then the knife ….

You can sign up for a free account with the Influencer website and download the Influencer Worksheet to help plan your next training initiative. However, it probably won’t make enough sense until you’ve read the book. If every library trainer reads and implements Influencer ideas, will we be riding on the top of a tidal wave of positive change?

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: The Training Life Tagged With: change, Delancey Street, free, ideas, library, personal, success, teachers, teaching, training

On Demand Training for Staff

October 5, 2009 By Bobbi Newman

*CC image courtesy of misterbisson on flickr

Sometimes I think the best training is the training that doesn’t happen in the classroom, it’s the unscheduled training. The kind that happens when you’re walking down the hallway and someone stops you with a question. Or hearing someone talking about a problem in a meeting and knowing you have solution you can offer.

I’m not saying people don’t learn while sitting in a classroom, they do. But sometimes they lose what they learned before they have a time to apply it. Sometimes they haven’t used the tool or service to encounter the situation so they don’t know what questions to ask until later.

Because these impromptu, or on demand, sessions are one on one, people often feel more comfortable asking questions they may not ask in front of a group. One on one sessions have other advantages too. You move at the pace of the individual, not the group or a schedule. You can walk them through the process step by step, more than once if needed. You can see if the person doesn’t understand right away and explain it again or in a different way.

I also find that providing on demand training can make staff more interested in attending your training classes, give you new ideas for training sessions and even get you invited to department meetings for training!

How do you make these on demand sessions happen?

Leave your office

Or cubicle or desk. Get out, walk around, talk with people, ask them questions, don’t wait for them to come to you. There is a psychological barrier to approaching a desk, it is the same barrier that stops patrons from approaching the reference desk. When approaching a desk staff may feel that they are interrupting or be embarrassed to be asking for help. It also requires them to make a conscious decision and seek you out. If you are out walking around they might remember they have a question or a problem and, since you are there anyway, ask. They don’t feel like they are interrupting you or standing in a spotlight.

Speak the language

Or at least don’t make them speak yours. Don’t make staff know the correct terms for everything before they can ask you a question. Don’t make them feel dumb for not know the proper names of tools or processes. It is your job as the trainer to listen to what they are asking and translate it to your terms. It is ok to provide the correct terminology but don’t do it in a way that makes the other person feel dumb. When answering do it terms they can understand.

Show them.

Don’t just tell them, show them and by show them I mean have them do the hands on part, not watch you do it. Go through the instructions slowly enough the person can do them and take notes. People learn by doing, they can watch you and take all the notes they want, but doing it themselves will stick with them much later. Plus it helps improve their confidence using the computer, which can be a problem for many staff.

Show them again.

If they didn’t get it the first time, show them again. For some staff it will take several times through the same instructions before something sticks, that’s ok. For others you may need to show them in a different way. You may need to structure it in a way they understand or that they can apply. People learn differently, be prepared to modify your instructions to help the individual you are helping better understand them.

Be approachable.

This may seem obvious, but it is worth repeating. Even if you are out walking around and possess the most amazing training style if no one feels they can ask you a question it does no good. Smile, make eye contact, say hi, ask how things are going. These may seem simple but we all know it can be easy to let your attention stray to that big project you are working on or that you need to pick up milk on the way home.

Bobbi Newman

Filed Under: LearnRT News Tagged With: on demand, one on one, staff, staff training, teaching, training

What Did They Learn?

Buffy Hamilton

Five Tips for Getting the Word Out

Lauren Pressley

The TED Commandments

Marianne Lenox

23 Questions with Lauren Pressley

Lauren Pressley

27 Questions with Buffy Hamilton

Buffy Hamilton

Under the Influencer

Betha Gutsche

On Demand Training for Staff

Bobbi Newman

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