Mentimeter

CILN 2020 – Jane Secker ‘Moving online for Information Literacy teaching in the future’

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Dr Jane Secker is Learning Technology Librarian at the Centre for Learning Technology, based at the London School of Economics.

Jane was instrumental in the creation of the Information Literacy Group  

Information Literacy Skills enable us to engage in the world around us , to make informed decisions and develop informed views.

The five contexts of information literacy are:

We inhabit a world overloaded with information, how easy is it to identify what is real v fake news, how reliable is the source?, what about bias?  Currently within the COVID-19 pandemic there is confusion and mis-information  e.g. 2 metre rule is reduced to 1 metre but, where possible 2 metre social distancing is the preference.  Newspapers take the same piece of information and have different interpretations e.g. The Daily Mail – recent story reducing social distancing to 1 metre cuts risk of COVID-19 by 80%, The Guardian – cutting the distance from 2 metres to 1 metre might double the risk of catching COVID-19.

The 30th June is World Social Media day.  The UN is marking this date by launching a new campaign to tackle misinformation and fake news.  Pause – Take care before you share.  For more information follow this link.

So information literacy skills training is important – how do you deliver it online?  Timely obviously as library services have moved from the physical and face to face service deliver to online.  In order for the transition to work there needs to be access to online resources, technology can be challenging and frustrating, everyone has a different level of digital confidence and knowledge, engagement can be harder and as trainer you can not gauge your audiences enthusiasm or understanding.  As the lead you need to ensure you are familiar with the different online tools that are available and be confident in using them.

In order to deliver successful online training schedule more time for a 45 minute session allow an hour fro example.  This extra time allows for any problems in joining a session.  Think about ice-breakers for the group to get to know one another, quizzes to test knowledge.  If the session is a lengthy one build in breaks.  You could ask attendees to watch a video during a scheduled break as another activity.  Use interactive tools such as Mentimeter for polling/surveys, Jamboard or Padlet to capture thoughts and promote discussion.

For more information on the move to online training and points to consider go to https://fragmentsofamber.wordpress.com/2020/06/07/home-cooking-a-metaphor/

As Jane states -“Everyone should be taught to be information literate – it’s a fundamental of life”.

 

Constructing effective surveys

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I recently attended a short course on survey construction.  It is a tool used significantly in the library world and I am sure we have all completed poorly designed surveys.  The course created and delivered by Claire Sewell (@ces43) was a practical and interactive session.  We looked at examples of poorly designed surveys, survey tools and started to design our own survey.

Reasons why surveys are used so extensively include

  • they are relatively low cost,
  • reach a large number of people,
  • the same questions are asked of all participants
  • consistent questioning

Of course where there are pro there are also cons, these include;

  • generally low response rates
  • possibility of ‘survey fatigue’
  • no opportunity to clarify questions
  • can be ignored

A good survey will have an introduction so participants know why their views are being sought. Contact information should be supplied and respondents should have the option to withdraw from the survey if they choose to.  Applicants should be thanked for the time.  The survey should follow a logical pattern rather than taking the respondent on a haphazard journey.  Time needs to be built into the survey process for the testing of the survey before it is released.

Feedback antique box

Think carefully of what type of questions to use when creating your survey.  A few types to consider are;

Open Questions – allow participants to tell you their thoughts with no limits applied.  E.G “Why have visited the library today?”

Closed Questions – allow for comparable responses, guide the respondent and are simple to analyse. E.G “How many times in the past 30 days have you visited your public library?

(a) 1-5 (b) 6-10 (c) 11-15 (d) 15 or more

Multiple Choice – allows preferences to be measured and can pre-empt common responses. E.G “What library services have you used today, please select all that apply”.

Demographic – E.G. age, gender.  This type of question needs to be considered carefully.  Often part of a survey, not always used well and not always necessary.

Likert Scale – useful for capturing feelings on a subject.  E.G “How satisfied are you with the library service”

Faces feedback

This list is adapted from “Doing real research: a practical guide to social research” by Eric Allen Jensen, Charles Laurie.  Sage Publications 2016

In addition to designing a survey by hand there are a number of online tools you can utilise;

Qualtrics, Survey Monkey, Kahoot, Google Forms, Mentimeter and Answer Garden are such examples.

Consideration needs to given to the collection and storage of an individual’s personal details.  It may also be necessary to contact an ethics committee before the survey is released.

From this session I learnt the good and the bad of survey creation.  When to use a particular type of question.  Allow time to test and amend and test your survey again and that each question should ‘earn its place’.

I am looking to create some short surveys to glean information on a new library service, user expectations of an established service and general feedback on the library where I work and the services offered.  I now feel more confident in constructing surveys and am aware of some of the common pitfalls which I should now be able to avoid.

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