Tutorial for Students to use Overdrive on School Laptops

I created this video tutorial to show students in our school district how to use their new public library card to check out a digital book on Overdrive through the Washington Anytime library. As the public services manager, my job is to make sure our services are not only meeting the public’s needs, but that the public knows about the services that are available to them, and one way to do that is to have tutorials on our website. A tutorial allows me to seemingly visit every classroom and show students how to checkout books, without my actually having to find time in my schedule to visit each one. Tutorials are simple to create using Quicktime, which is how I created the video, walking through the steps of how to login to an account, save a password, and even reminding them they can contact the library any time with additional questions, or to find out what their PIN is if they forget it. This is also a nice simple way to remind them that we’re happy to help when they need us, and that they’re always welcome to visit the library in person, not just online. I also like the added benefit that at tutorial implements the flipped classroom model, so students can try first on their own with help, and maybe get basics down, before them come to me with more specific questions. This way the library information is always easy to find, and the teachers don’t have to take as much class time showing them something I’ve already done for them. Tutorials can allow for more class time to be spent on what teachers want to teach, if students know where to look for them and how to watch them (Obradovich, Canual & Duffy, 2015).

Teen Tech Learning Lab Proposal

Tutorial for Students to use Overdrive on School Laptops

This proposal for a Teen Tech Learning Lab was designed for the library I work at currently, which has a very small teen department, with no technology. My goals were stated at the beginning of the presentation, to fulfill strategic goals the library had recently identified, as well as to provide a learning space that focused on a participatory learning culture, with peer-to-peer learning opportunity, and a space for both informal and formal learning as library staffing was able.

The objective of the lab is:

By providing a space for teens to work together collaboratively, to explore technology together, the creation of a Teen Tech Learning Lab would:

• Provide a safe, creative space for teens to have free access to computers, the Internet, and emerging technologies, including tablets, green screen, and editing and filmmaking tools.
• Create an interest-driven creative space for participatory learning.
• Provide an informal learning space that facilitates teens’ social learning experiences, and promotes emerging technologies skills.
• Provide a central learning hub just for teens, where they can learn 21st century skills, using traditional and digital media.

I’ve included this proposal because it is a representation of how I hope to use my knowledge of learning theories, combined with current demands of information professionals, to provide hybrid learning spaces that promote collaborative learning. In this way, librarians can utilize speciality skills to do some small programs and instructional teaching, but also hopefully provide the space for learners to work together organically, and fulfill the information profession’s goal of being learning spaces for everyone.