Developing students who can learn and flourish in a digital society is seen as a key responsibility for today’s universities and colleges (JISC, 2014). However, the lack of digital knowledge of some faculty members has been identified as one of the major barriers for developing online learning content in Canada that can help prepare students to be digitally literate (Contact North, 2012). Both academic librarians and educational developers exist as valuable partners for faculty and bring unique skillsets to the table when working with instructors to develop online content that will improve and strengthen students’ digital and information literacy skills. Nevertheless, many faculty members are unaware of how these professionals can work with them to develop online materials. York University Libraries’ Teaching and Learning Committee, which consists of librarian members and 1 educational developer from York’s Teaching Commons, developed a 1-day professional development workshop for university staff that provided attendees with the following:
- An overview of the theory and history of instructional design, and best practices.
- A candid conversation about some challenges faculty members face when creating online courses and how librarians and educational developers can help overcome these challenges.
- The opportunity for attendees to plan their own eLearning project using an abbreviated version of the model developed by Horton (2012).
The 1-day workshop presentation slides, worksheets, and other materials will be highlighted by the poster presenters. The overall professional development workshop plan will be provided to attendees so they can modify or recreate this workshop at their own institution. Overall, this poster will showcase one of the many ways that York University staff are creating a culture that embraces eLearning and establishes key partnerships amongst faculty, librarians, and educational developers to ensure that faculty have access to the necessary supports to develop pedagogically-sound online learning materials that improve students’ digital literacies.
References Contact North (2012). Online learning in Canada: At a tipping point. A cross-country check-up 2012. Retrieved from
http://teachonline.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/innovation-practices/onlinelearningincanadareport_june_12_2012.pdf Horton, W. (2012). E-learning by design. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
JISC (2014). Developing digital literacies. Retrieved from
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies
