Starting a job in the middle of the pandemic created quite a few challenges as I began my work as the Instruction & Outreach archivist at Clemson University. My mandate was to create digital learning objects (DLOs) that would be effective for providing instruction to a wide variety of courses across disciplines. The instruction topics covered two basic questions:

1. What is a Primary Source and how do you analyze it?
2. What is an Archive and how do you use it?

Having more than fifteen years experience teaching online (eight of that full time!) I have deep knowledge of the pedagogy for online teaching & learning. I also have extensive experience with the practical challenges and needs of teaching in that format–i.e. make SURE your instructions are clear and concise to avoid 60 emails asking the same question!

At the outset, the decision was made to create DLOs that could potentially continue to be used long-term when the pandemic ended and in class instruction returned. Instruction in special collections is normally a one-shot session and often, too much content means that the “hands-on” experience of handling and using collections is extremely limited or non-existent. To provide instruction online during the pandemic that provides an experience similar to face to face instruction with content, access to, and interaction with digitized special collections items, I created modules delivered through Clemson’s Learning Management System (LMS, Canvas) that contained tutorials and a wide variety of resources for student and instructor use.

Utilizing the LMS satisfied the need for our materials and instruction to go to where the students already go: their LMS. The modules could be customized for each instructor’s needs and allowed us to pick and choose elements of instruction (tutorials, LibGuides, links, pdfs, etc.) that best fit the pedagogical needs of the course. Key to this type of DLO was the ability to create tutorials that offered interactive functionality. Initially, these tutorials were fairly static videos of narrated PowerPoint presentations with quizzes in Canvas on content that checked for understanding of video material. The instructor was free to use these quizzes or not. The tutorial module included a link to a Project Outcome survey to assess the overall effectiveness of the module. This approach made it difficult to provide any real interactivity with primary sources for analysis or practice using the special collections catalogue.

This initial program of DLOs for instruction offered a good stop-gap to fulfill the needs most immediately for online instruction. However, only about half of our usual 50-60 instructors per semester utilized the modules–informal communication suggests that everyone was feeling overwhelmed with learning how to “do” things online. We knew we had to do more and prepare for the return to in-person instruction and up our game with the DLOs.

Our experiences with these early DLOs showed us that we needed to find better tools with more functionality. While I would have loved to buy new software and use the most cutting edge tools, the realities of budgets, bureaucracy, and time spent learning new software meant that I needed to get the most out of the tools we already had access to. In this case, I went looking through the Spring Share suite of tools. LibWizard provided most of what I was looking for with their standalone tutorial function. These tutorials could “live” at Spring Share and be easily created and updated without much difficulty or confusion. A permanent link was generated for each tutorial that could be simply included in the LMS module and paired with quizzes, surveys, etc. The standalone tutorial function also allowed for creating built in activities that made it possible for students to analyze a primary source (in digitized format), providing more interactivity. Having links to PDF files (i.e. worksheets, etc.), websites, and the special collections catalogue all accessible within the tutorial made the tutorials a one-stop shop.

You can see one here: https://clemson.libwizard.com/f/Primay_Source

With the return to in-person instruction in fall 2021, we prepared to integrate these tutorials and modules into a hybrid form of instruction that allowed us to move away from content-heavy one-shot sessions. Instead, the modules I created became available through the LMS using the Canvas Course Commons. Instructors were directed to download the Canvas module directly into their courses from the Commons and publish all or parts of the module (depending on their preferences & needs). This meant that when an instructor brought their class to special collections, the content had already been assigned, delivered, and (hopefully) digested by the students. The in-person instruction could then be devoted to answering questions, checking for understanding, and interacting with the collections! The hands-on experience of touring the stacks, handling old books, artifacts, and a variety of documents now dominates the session. Depending on the length of the session, students can even do some searching and calling of items. A major benefit of “pre-loading” the content meant that the module and all of its material was available to the student 24/7 and could be returned to for a refresher or to find specific info.

This method has now proved immensely effective. Our instruction sessions are back up to pre-pandemic levels. Most of the instructors who download the module prior to the instruction session ALSO agree to give me embedded librarian status in their course through Canvas. This ensures that students have access to me directly and I can provide a greater presence for special collections in the course.

With the fall 2022, we will not be resting on our laurels. With more time and research we have decided to create tutorials with even more interactivity and excitement–that is a topic for another post!