5 Things Training Program

Description:

The 5 Things training program is a self-paced virtual classroom created in the Blackboard LMS which encourages session attendees to utilize their lifelong learning skills through hands on participation. There are no in-person classes or workshops offered to support this program. Instead, staff are encouraged to work together and share with each other their discoveries, techniques and "how to" both in person and through their online discussions. I originally developed this virtual workshop to address the growing need to bring all librarians up-to-speed with technology that can enhance learning and communication in the classroom. Later, I redeveloped the course to reach the college-wide audience. It was well received and had a high attendance and completion rate.

Topics:

Topics include blogging, adding personalized animated video to a course to enhance communication and learning, screen capture with Jing and Camtasia Relay, cloud storage with Dropbox and Google Drive, and social networking for the classroom with Facebook & Twitter. An introductory video lecture is included with each topic along with an assignment and discussion topic. Participants are encouraged to share and collaborate throughout the five week session.

Format:

Each module begins with a brief lecture of a new topic or tool, followed by reading, videos, and exercises designed to give you hands-on experience. These exercises give the participants the background needed to understand the tools they are learning about. Participants are then asked to communicate reactions, new-found skills, ideas, and questions with myself and their session mates along the way through the course discussion board. Participants who finished early were given options to explore the topics further in a section of the course titled "Beyond 5 Things" which included links, videos, and instructions about related information and technology.

I also met with several participants in by phone, Skype, and in person to walk through trouble-spots and answer lingering questions.

Session Length:

This course is designed to be completed in 5 weeks. Participants have one week to complete each module. Module content opens up on Mondays and exercise submissions are due the following Sunday at midnight.