REAL TIME WITH THE LIBRARIAN: USING WEB CONFERENCING SOFTWARE TO CONNECT TO DISTANCE STUDENTS Tom Riedel, Paul Betty Regis University Fifteenth Distance Library Services Conference Memphis, Tennessee April 18-20, 2012

The librarys Distance Services Department (composed of Tom and Paul) is the primary instruction liaison to nearly10,000 students enrolled in accelerated online and ground-based undergraduate and graduate degree programs. A dynamic duo

We travel many miles to provide face-to-face library instruction sessions to students taking courses at six extended campuses (five in Colorado and one in Las Vegas, NV) Truckin on down the line…

A targeted approach to instruction ACTIONS: Identify courses that include a research component Solicit instructors via Clearly defined areas of service between library departments

A targeted approach to instruction RESULTS: Strong relationships with some affiliate faculty; continued collaboration Establish a norm among affiliate faculty Librarians become collaborators in course development and (re)design.

The Distance Services department has a long tradition of providing asynchronous library instruction to students via discussion threads in the Learning Management System. All asynchronous, all the time.

Asynchronous time savers We make use of copy and paste tools as much as we can to save time for one-to- one interaction in forums. Templates / scripts Handouts Tutorials

The number of library instruction sessions provided by the department has increased 300% in the past ten yearsboth a measure of our success as well as an indicator of how close to the breaking point we are. Hitting the target means greater demand for services

Move towards synchronous Previously had used chat feature in course management systems University licenses Adobe Connect software Librarians receive training and request own meeting rooms Provide webcasts on request Formalize practice

Adobe Connect

Keepin it real (time)… MOTIVES for providing SYNCHRONOUS library instruction at Regis University Direct requests from faculty members Universitys acquisition of software with flexible license Learning styles ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Potential time saver?

Keepin it real (time)… BARRIERS to providing SYNCHRONOUS library instruction at Regis University Asynchronous interaction the de facto standard in online instruction Geographic dispersion of online student population Webcasts compete with on-the-ground instruction for scheduling

Offering an increasing array of real time library webcasts is time intensive. Best practices for conducting web conferences suggest a two person approach: moderator and presenter. This is not feasible in our two person department. It takes two to make things go right?

Flying solo: being THE presenter Our practices include the following: Logging in 15 minutes early for troubleshooting Only use video feed from web cam at the start, then it is paused to clear more bandwidth Share desktop and/or application Use descriptive language that matches what is being demonstrated Monitors: 2 > 1 Provide recording afterward

Pilot and Co-pilot

Flying solo: interaction Our practices include the following: Only the librarian has audio privileges Attendees use chat to communicate Levels the playing field Allows librarian to push the agenda Poll students Share desktop or applications for live examples.

Flying solo: know the score Our practices include the following: Session are minutes… …but less likely to cover as much as in a face to face setting Push content asynchronously before the webcast to maximize time spent in the online meeting room. Software has its quirks; understand what it looks like from the attendees side

Real time impressions Starting with the second eight week session in October, 2011, students in online classes were surveyed about the library webcasts afterward. Two versions of the survey were administered Group1 (Fall 8wk2) : 49 students completed the survey Group 2 (Spring 8wk1) : 42 students completed the survey 50% of respondents attended in real time; 28% watched recording afterward

Real time impressions Research guides Database searching Database selection Research assistance (reference desk, virtual reference) Interlibrary loan 79% 78% 73% 51% 35% Which of the following aspects of the presentation did you find beneficial?

Real time impressions very goodgoodOKbadvery bad not applicable Signing in 66%24%4%0% 6% Visibility 70%25%5%0% Audio 43% 12%2%0% Chat 55%25%7%0% 13% If you attended or watched the webcast, please rate the following features of the online "meeting room."

Real time impressions Desktop Computer 22% Laptop Computer 72% iPad or similar tablet computer 1% Mobile phone or other handheld device 0% What kind of device did you use to participate in the webcast?

Real time impressions very good good OK bad very bad 75% 20% 5% - Overall, how would you rate the usefulness of the library webcast?

The next time: recommendations What could we do better during our library instruction webcasts? Provide further documentation about the online meeting room (screenshots, video captures, etc.) Incorporate more interaction via breakout sessions Students still comment on attendance and availability of recording

Real time conclusions + _ Student and faculty feedback has been overwhelmingly positive Utilizing webcast software for other services (orientations, office hours, ground based courses, etc.) Practice makes perfect (um, kind of!) Scalability Hard to appease everyone (time, technical issues, etc.)

TIME IS UP! QUESTIONS? Tom Riedel, Paul Betty Regis University Fifteenth Distance Library Services Conference Memphis, Tennessee April 18-20, 2012