Doing it Right: Collaboration, Shared Workspaces, Syndication and Broadcasting at the ANimated Tutorial Sharing Project

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane and Paul Betty LOEX Annual ConferenceMay 1, 2009

What is ANimated Tutorial Sharing Project (ANTS)?

Inter-Institutional Collaborative

ProjectFlash Tutorials

ANTS Goals

Goal #1

“To create a critical mass of Open Source Tutorials for online resources used by libraries everywhere”

ANTS Goals

Goal #2

Rationalize Development of Learning Objects and thereby “Eliminate Duplication of Effort across Institutions”

ANTS Goals

Goal #3

Make library related Learning Objects “Ubiquitously available” to online learners and thereby enhance librarians ability to reach out end educate online users where they are online.

ANTS Goals

Goal #4

Provide Screencasters with guidance so as to build up the number of potential contributors to the project.

HOW ANTS WORKS

DSPACE

GUIDELINES FOR ANIMATED ONLINE TUTORIALS USED IN DATABASE INSTRUCTION

Primary sites for ANTS

Communicate:

Share:

Syndicate:

Getting started…

Share your work…

Behind the scenes magic…

ANTS team members

transfer .swf files to

Screencast.com

ANTS team members convert .swf to digital video and upload to

LION TV

Both sites offer RSS feeds and

embedding code!

Stay in touch…

Wiki includes discussion forums covering software,

production tips and techniques, assessment,

and more…

RSS feeds for all sites means never missing a

new tutorial!

Why Participate?

#1 Create LOs that better Serve the Needs of Today’s Library Users

DE, Nontraditional, Millenial Students Number of Nontraditional students are

expect to increase in number due to the recession.1

Limited access to the library2 Lesser % have family who attended college Danger of not completing their degrees Libraries need to do their part by providing 2/7 assistance.3

1. ACRL. 2009. ACRL Strategic Thinking Guide for Acadmemic Libraries in the New Economy. P.6. 2. Susan Choy. Nontraditional Undergraduates: Findings From the Condition of Education 2002. NCES: Washington,

D.C.: 2002 Chos;s study found 30-50% of nontraditional students indicated that they had limited access to the library.

3. 3. NSSE. 2004 National Survey of Student Engagement: Pathways to Collegiate Success. P, 6. Study for Student Engagement reported that Schools which “channel student time and energy towards effective educational activies [did] two things very well [1] they teach students early on how to take advantage of institutional resources for their learning [and 2] they make available to students what they need, when they need it.

#1 Serve the Needs of Today’s Library Users (cont)

Collaborative ScreencastingEffective Teaching ToolsIf done collaboratively in a coordinated fashion,

large numbers can be createdIdentify content for developmentUtilize large number of developersCommunicate work occurring in each institutionsMake it easier to locate files

Saves all of us time!

#1 Serve the Needs of Today’s Library Users (cont)

ANTS not only enables this, it makes participation easy!Free Accounts to any librarianModular content development, Clearly defined tasks and rolesA lot of Help (Team, Wiki, Tutorials on Uploading

Content, Guidelines)

2. Address needs of individuals with different Learning Styles

3. Increase the Visibility of LOs

Push Technology (Facebook, Internet Archive)

Syndicate (RSS, iTunes, LION TV’s syndicate all content)

Embed (Libguides, Blogs, Websites, Course Sites, Wikis)

Libguides

4. Help Others without depleting local resources

Altruism: Help your Collegues!

“[L]ibraries must have a ‘bias for action and collaboration’” and not “turn inward and focus on protecting local resources [as] they could [then] pull back from essential cooperative work.”4

ANTS = No strain on local resources (staff and servers).

4. ARL. February 2009. Transformational Times: An Environmental Scan Prepared for the ARL Strategic Plan Review Task Force. P. 5-6

5. Derive Personal Benefits Work receives Attribution – even when

syndicated! (as per CC License)

Open Source = greater impact. measurable via data at ANTS sites.

Get help with Screencasting Discussion Forum Best Practices in Screencasting

http://ants.wetpaint.com/page/Best+Practices+in+Screencasting

6. Better Serve your own users

Embed Tutorials anywhere you think students will look for them.

Use to reinforce live info lit sessions

Know your students can more easily find Learning Objects because of ANTS syndication.

7. Community

Get to know other screencasters

Both contribute to “the Hive” and learn from it. Become a screencaster faster.

8. Sustainability of ANTS

What is an OER?

Technical, licensing, funding and content requirements which make OERs useful

Authoritative, Modular, Adaptable, Interoperable, Easy to Use, Discoverable, Accessible, Convenient, Affordable and Available to anyone who wants to use if for Free

5. Downes, Stephen. 2007. Models for Sustainable Open Educational Resources. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects. v 3, p. 41. Available Online: http://ijklo.org/Volume3/IJKLOv3p029-044Downes.pdf Retrieved: December 2008.

8. Sustainability of ANTS

"[T]he sustainability of OERs - in a fashion that renders them at once both affordable and usable - requires that we think of OERs as ... part of a larger picture, one that includes volunteers and incentives, community and partnerships, co-production and sharing, distributed management and control.“ 5

5. Downes, Stephen. 2007. Models for Sustainable Open Educational Resources. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects. v 3, p. 41. Available Online: http://ijklo.org/Volume3/IJKLOv3p029-044Downes.pdf Retrieved: December 2008.

8. Sustainability of ANTS

Affordability = Volunteers + Community for Dev

Costs minimal / projects affordable

Offer excellent incentives to volunteers

Easy to contribute: no roadblocks; no hesitancy

Goals that people support = attracts volunteers.

End products are Authoritative Learning Objects = Radical Trust

Summary

Economy Shrinking

Libraries Struggling

More Nontradional students = Difficult Transition toHigher Education

Sustainable OER Dev’t via ANTS

The future of ANTS

Promoting the merits of collaborative library work

Soliciting new team members for the “hive”

Handheld and other mobile devices

The future of ANTS

High Definition digital video on the Web

Increased visibility on high traffic sites: Youtube, iTunes, Facebook, etc.

Soliciting funding, sponsorship, and institutional support

http://ants.wetpaint.com http://liontv.blip.tv DSpace http://www.screencast.com/users/ANTS Facebook Internet Archive

ANTS Links

Looking for answers…

ACRL 2009 Strategic Thinking Guide for Academic Librarians in the New Economy

Report delineates series of strategic questions for libraries that include:

Looking for answers…

“What new organizational structures are necessary to support emerging client demands given new fiscal constraints? How can libraries creatively redesign functions and services to realize cost savings…? How will the work of librarians change?”

How will libraries create Web-based products and services that can compete with commercial products sold directly to students and faculty? Should libraries compete or collaborate in this arena?

Looking for answers…

“How can Libraries develop a meaningful electronic presence as students shift away from static web sites….How can libraries more effectively create awareness about their content so users can discover it?”

“How can the library demonstrate impact and value by developing or expanding programs to support student form low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds?

Look no further… ANTS!

“Charles Lowry, executive director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), calls on higher education to “build our digital infrastructure,” by putting library, museum, and related collections online through training 10,000 people to scan books, manuscripts, journals, and other materials in library collections.”

Look no further… ANTS!

“Institutional repositories (IR) and other data and information resources need to be developed and expanded. According to ARL, “repository services are moving beyond pre-print and post-print dissemination to include a wide range of content types, clients, and service needs.”

Look no further… ANTS!

“There is increased use and expectation of distributed or diffused content, in addition to opportunities to create and share content. This can be seen in the increased use of syndication (such as RSS feeds), social networking sites, and the shift to interactivity on the Internet. Students, staff, faculty, and departments will increase their use of social networking tools.”