“The university is at the stage of reviewing its rules for misconduct because they really don’t apply as much anymore.”
– Tom, Student Advocate, on the Noisy Librarian Podcast
Cheating in the tertiary education sector is not new. Generative AI technologies, while presenting enormous opportunity, are the latest threat to academic integrity. AI tools like Chat GPT blur the lines between human-generated and machine-generated content. They present a raft of issues, including ambiguous standards for legitimate and illegitimate use, variations in acceptance and usage across discipline contexts, and little or inadequate evidence of their use. A nuanced response is required.
Fostering academic integrity through AI literacy
Academic integrity research argues pervasively that a systematic, multi-stakeholder, networked approach is the best way to foster a culture of academic integrity (Kenny & Eaton, 2022). Fortunately, this is also the way to foster ethical, critical reflective and skilful use of AI tools, in other words, a culture of AI literacy. Ironically, to support integrity, we must shift our attention away from merely preventing cheating to ensuring that students learn how to use these tools responsibly. Thus, we can ensure that our focus is on learning and helping students develop the skills necessary to navigate the digital age ethically and effectively.
Hybrid future
So, the challenge of AI is an opportunity and an imperative. As we humans continue to interact with technology in high complexity systems, so the way we approach academic work will continue to develop. Rather than backing away or banning AI technologies from the classroom all together, forging a hybrid future, where AI tools play a role in setting students up for success, will benefit both staff and students.
Information and academic literacy practitioners, and other educators, will need to be dexterous enough to respond to the eclipsing, revision, and constant evolution of some of our most ingrained concepts. Concepts such as authorship, originality, plagiarism, and acknowledgement.
What do students say?
This was the topic of discussion in a recent episode of the Noisy Librarian Podcast. Featured guests were an academic and a student – a library Learning Advisor and a Student Advocate. The guests delved into the complexities of academic integrity in today’s digital landscape. Importantly, their discussion underscored the need for organizations to understand and hear from students about how AI is impacting them, how they are using it, and what they might be concerned about. Incorporating the student voice and understanding student perspectives is crucial for developing guidelines and support services that are truly effective and relevant.
Forget supervillains!
Both podcast guests emphasised that few cases of student misconduct involve serial offenders or super villains who have made a career out of gaming the system. Rather than intending to cheat, more closely, misconduct is related to a lack of knowledge or skill. Meantime, universities are facing challenges – needing to adapt their misconduct rules and provide clear guidelines on the acceptable use of AI tools.
Listen to the Noisy Librarian podcast episode Is ChatGPT cheating? The complexities of AI use in tertiary education
Or find us on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or I Heart Radio
Reference:
Kenny, N., & Eaton, S. E. (2022). Academic Integrity Through a SoTL Lens and 4M Framework: An Institutional Self-Study. In Academic Integrity in Canada (pp. 573–592). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83255-1_30
In early 2023, OpenAI’s ChatGPT became the buzzword in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) world. A cutting-edge large language model (LLM) that is part of the revolutionary generative AI movement. Google’s Bard and Anthropic’s Claude are other notable LLMs in this league, transforming the way we interact with AI applications. LLMs are super-sized dynamic libraries that can respond to queries, abstract text, and even tackle complex mathematical problems. Ever since ChatGPT’s debut, there has been an overwhelming surge of academic papers and grey literature (including blogs and pre-prints) both praising and critiquing the impact of LLMs. In this discussion, we aim to emphasise the importance of recognising LLMs as technologies that can augment human learning. Through examples, we illustrate how interacting with LLMs can foster AI literacy and augment learning, ultimately boosting innovation and creativity in problem-solving scenarios.
In the field of education, LLMs have emerged as powerful tools with the potential to enhance the learning experience for both students and teachers. They can be used as powerful supplements for reading, research, and personalised tutoring, benefiting students in various ways.
For students, LLMs offer the convenience of summarising lengthy textbook chapters and locating relevant literature with tools like ChatPDF, ChatDOC, Perplexity, or Consensus. We believe that these tools not only accelerate students’ understanding of the material but also enable a deeper grasp of the subject matter. LLMs can also act as personalised tutors that are readily available to answer students’ queries and provide guided explanations.
For teachers, LLMs may help in reducing repetitive tasks like grading assignments. By analysing students’ essays and short answers, they can assess coherence, reasoning, and plagiarism, thereby saving valuable time for meaningful teaching. Additionally, LLMs have the potential to suggest personalised feedback and improvements for individual students, enhancing the overall learning experience. The caveat, though, is that human judgement is to be ‘in-the-loop’ as LLMs have limited understanding of teaching methodologies, curriculum, and student needs. UNESCO has recognised this importance and produced a short guide on the use of LLMs in higher education, providing valuable insights for educators (see table on page 10).
Achieving remarkable results with LLMs is made possible through the art of “prompt engineering” (PE) – a term referring to the art of crafting effective prompts to guide these language models towards informed responses. For instance, a prompt could be as straightforward as “rewrite the following = X,” where X represents the text to be rephrased. Alternatively, a more complex prompt like “explain what Z is in layman’s terms?” can help clarify intricate concepts. In Figure 1, we present an example demonstrating how students can use specific prompts to learn statistical concepts while simultaneously gaining familiarity with R coding.
Figure 1. Example of a prompt given to ChatGPT to create R code. The plot on the right shows the result when the code is run in R. Note how the LLM features good code commenting practices and secures reproducibility via the ‘set.seed( )’ function.
Additionally, Figure 2 reveals that not all LLMs offer identical responses to the same prompts, highlighting the uniqueness of each model’s output.
Figure 2. Example of how ChatGPT (left) and Claude (right) respond to the same prompt. Claude seemed to give a better response than ChatGPT and provided an explanation of what was done.
However, the most interesting aspect of PE lies in formulating appropriate questions for the LLMs, making it a matter of problem formulation. We believe this crucial element is at the core of effective prompting in educational contexts. Seen this way, it’s clear that good prompts should have context for the question being asked, as context provides reference points for the intended meaning. For example, a teacher or student could design a prompt like: “Given the information in texts A and B, produce a text that discusses concepts a1 and a2 in text A in terms of concepts b1 and b2 in text B”; where A and B are paragraphs or texts given along with the prompt and a1, a2, b1 and b2 are specific aspects from texts A and B. Admittedly, that prompt lacks context. Nonetheless, context-rich prompts could still be conceived (see Figure 3). These examples also hint at the idea that prompts work in a “rubbish prompts in; rubbish responses out” fashion; i.e. the quality of the prompt is directly proportional to the quality of the response.
Figure 3. Example of a prompt with good context. This prompt was obtained via Bard through the prompt “construct a prompt on the subject of cognitive science and artificial intelligence that provides adequate context for any LLM to generate a meaningful response”.
PE is thus a process that involves engaging in a dialogue with the LLM to discover creative and innovative solutions to problems. One effective approach is the “chain-of-thought” (CoT) prompting, which entails eliciting the LLM to provide more in-depth responses by following up on previously introduced ideas. The example shown in Figure 4 was output by Bard after the prompt “provide an example of a chain of thought prompting to be submitted to a large language model”. The green box contains the initial prompt, the orange box represents three subsequent questions, and the blue box represents a potential answer given by the LLM. Another way of CoT prompting can be achieved by starting by setting a topic (e.g. “The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education”), then ask questions such as “start by defining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its relevance in the context of education, including its potential applications in learning, teaching, and educational administration.”, “explore how AI can personalise the learning experience for students, catering to individual needs, learning styles, and pace of progress.”, “discuss the benefits of AI-powered adaptive learning systems in identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses, providing targeted interventions, and improving overall academic performance.”, “examine the role of AI in automating administrative tasks, such as grading, scheduling, and resource management, to enhance efficiency and reduce the burden on educators.” etc.
It’s crucial not to overlook AI technologies but rather embrace them, finding the right balance between tasks delegated to AI and those best suited for human involvement. Fine-tuning interactions between humans and AI is key when exchanging information, ensuring a seamless and effective collaboration between the two.
This post was originally published in the National Centre for AI blog, owned by Jisc. It is re-printed with permission from Jisc and the author.
On April 20th 2023 the Information School, University of Sheffield invited five guest speakers from across the library sectors to debate “Artificial Intelligence: Where does it fit into your library strategy?”
The speakers were:
Nick Poole, CEO of CILIP
Neil Fitzgerald, Head of Digital Research, British Library
Sue Lacey-Bryant, Chief Knowledge Officer; Workforce, Training and Education Directorate of NHS England
Sue Attewell, Head of Edtech, JISC
John Cox, University Librarian, University of Galway
A capacity 250 people had signed up online, and there was a healthy audience in the room in Sheffield.
Slides from the event can be downloaded here . These included updated results from the pre-event survey, which had 68 responses.
This blog is a personal response to the event and summary written by Andrew Cox and Catherine Robinson.
Impact of generative AI
Andrew Cox opened the proceedings by setting the discussion in the context of the fascination with AI in our culture from ancient Greece, movies from as early as the start of the C20th, through to current headlines in the Daily Star!
Later on in the event, in his talk John Cox quoted several authors saying AI promised to produce a profound change to professional work. And it seemed to be agreed amongst all the speakers that we had entered a period of accelerating change, especially with Chat GPT and other generative AI.
These technologies offer many benefits. Sue Lacey-Bryant shared some examples of how colleagues were already experimenting with using Chat GPT in multiple ways: to search, organise content, design web pages, draft tweets and write policies. Sue Attewell mentioned JISC sponsored AI pilots to accelerate grading, draft assessment tasks, and analyse open text NSS comments.
And of course wider uses of AI are potentially very powerful. For example Sue Lacey-Bryant shared the example of how many hours of radiologists time AI was saving the NHS. Andrew Cox mentioned how Chat GPT functions would be realised within MS Office as Copilot. Specifically for libraries, from the pre-event survey it seemed that the most developed services currently were library chatbots and Text and Data Mining support; but the emphasis of future plans was “Promoting AI (and data) literacy for users”.
But it did mean uncertainty. Nick Poole compared the situation to the rise of Web2.0 and suggested that many applications of generative AI were emerging and we didn’t know which might be the winners. User behaviour was changing and so there was a need to study this. As behaviour changed there would be side effects which required us to reflect holistically, Sue Attewell pointed out. For example if generative AI can write bullet point notes, how does this impact learning if writing those notes was itself how one learned? She suggested that the new technology cannot be banned. It may also not be detectable. There was no choice but to “embrace” it.
Ethics
The ethics of AI is a key concern. In the pre-event survey, ethics were the most frequently identified key challenge. Nick Poole talked about several of the novel challenges from generative AI, such as what is its implication for intellectual freedom? What should be preserved from generative AI (especially as it answers differently to each iteration of a question)? Nick identified that professional ethics have to be:
“Inclusive – adopting an informed approach to counter bias
Informed & evidence-based – geared towards helping information users to navigate the hype cycle
Critical & reflective – understanding our own biases and their impact
Accountable – focused on trust, referencing and replicability
Creative – helping information users to maximise the positive benefits of AI augmented services
Adaptive – enabling us to refresh our skills and expertise to navigate change”
Competencies
In terms of professional competencies for an AI world, Nick said that there was now wider recognition that critical thinking and empathy were key skills. He pointed out that the CILIP Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB) had been updated to reflect the needs of an AI world for example by including data stewardship and algorithmic literacy. Andrew Cox referred to some evidence that the key skills needed are social and influencing skills not just digital ones. Skills that respondents to the pre-event survey thought that libraries needed were:
General understanding of AI
How to get the best results from AI
Open-mindedness and willingness to learn
Knowledge of user behaviour and need
Copyright
Professional ethics and having a vision of benefits
Strategy
John Cox pointed to evidence that most academic library strategies were not yet encompassing AI. He thought it was because of anxiety, hesitancy, ethics concerns and inward looking and linear thinking. But Neil explained how the British Library is developing a strategy. The process was challenging, akin to ‘Flying a plane while building it”. Sue Attewell emphasised the need for the whole sector to develop a view. The pre-event survey suggested that the most likely strategic responses were: to upskill existing staff, study sector best practice and collaborate with other libraries.
Andrew Cox suggested that some key issues for the profession were:
How do we scope the issue: As about data/AI or a wider digital transformation?
How does AI fit into our existing strategies – especially given the context of institutional alignment?
What constitutes a strategic response to AI? How does this differ between information sectors?
How do we meet the workforce challenge?
What new skills do we need to develop in the workforce?
How might AI impact equality and diversity in the profession?
Workshop discussions
Following the presentations from the speakers, those attending the event in person were given the opportunity to further discuss in groups the professional competencies needed for AI. Those attending online were asked to put any comments they had regarding this in the chat box. Some of the key discussion points were:
The need for professionals to rapidly upskill themselves in AI. This includes understanding what AI is and the concepts and applications of AI in individual settings (e.g. healthcare, HE etc.), along with understanding our role in supporting appropriate use. However, it was believed this should go beyond a general understanding to a knowledge of how AI algorithms work, how to use AI and actively adopting AI in our own professional roles in order to grow confidence in this area.
Horizon scanning and continuous learning – AI is a fast-paced area where technology is rapidly evolving. Professionals not only need to stay up-to-date with the latest developments, but also be aware of potential future developments to remain effective and ensure we are proactive, rather than reactive.
Upskilling should not just focus on professional staff, but all levels of library staff will require some level of upskilling in the area of AI (e.g. library assistants).
Importance of information literacy and critical thinking skills in order to assess the quality and relevance of AI outputs. AI should therefore be built into professional training around these skills.
Collaboration skills – As one group stated, this should be more ‘about people, not data’. AI requires collaboration with:
Information professionals across the sector to establish a consistent approach;
Users (health professionals, students, researchers, public etc.) to establish how they are using AI and what for;
With other professionals (e.g. data scientists).
Recruitment problems were also discussed, with it noted that for some there had been a drop in people applying for library roles. This was impacting on the ability to bring in new skillsets to the library (e.g. data scientist), but on the ability to allow existing staff the time to upskill in the area of AI. It was discussed that there was the need to promote lifestyle and wellbeing advantages to working in libraries to applicants.
Other issues that came up in the workshop discussions centered around how AI will impact on the overall library service, with the following points made:
There is the need to expand library services around AI, as well as embed it in current services;
Need to focus on where the library can add value in the area of AI (i.e. USP);
Libraries need to make a clear statement to their institution regarding their position on AI;
AI increases the importance of and further incentivises open access, open licencing and digitisation of resources;
Questions over whether there is a need to rebrand the library.
The attendees also identified that the following would useful to help prepare the sector for AI:
Sharing of job descriptions to learn about what AI means in practice and help with workforce planning. Although, it was noted how the RL (Research Libraries) Position Description Bank contains almost 4000 position descriptions from research libraries primarily from North America, although there are many examples from RLUK members;
A reading list and resource bank to help professionals upskill in AI;
Work shadowing;
Sharing of workshops delivered by professionals to users around the use of AI;
AI mailing lists (e.g. JISCmail);
Establishment of a Community of Practice to promote collaboration. Although it was noted that AI would probably change different areas of library practice (such as collecting or information literacy) so was likely to be discussed within the professional communities that already existed in these areas.
Leah is working for the Languages Data Commons of Australia project. It is a University of Queensland and ARDC co-funded project building digital infrastructure for preserving language data. They provide support to researchers and the broader community around making language data FAIR with CARE.
It seems that every which way we turn, the mysterious concept of data is ever present and lurking in the background of our everyday lives. In the professional setting of the library, data is not a foreign concept – we are surrounded by books and journals and often help students navigate the world of information. But being in such close and constant proximity to data can lead to elements of expert bias creeping in despite the best efforts to keep them at bay! This can make it difficult to explain data concepts in simple terms.
So, what are some ideas for demystifying the concept of data for a wide audience? Particularly those who might be exposed to many different types (and potentially without even realising)…
First, the word itself. Remember that in its purist form data isn’t just digital! Wikipedia defines data as a “unit of information” about a person or object that could be a fact, statistic, or other item of information.
And then to progress to modern contexts (as so much of the data we deal with is digital), the Oxford English Dictionary entry states that it can be “quantities, characters, or symbols” in the form of electrical signals that can be used, stored, or transmitted with computer equipment.
Once there is an understanding of what data is, trying to explain it further can suddenly become wildly more complicated! It may be helpful to compartmentalise that data can be structured, meaning that it is ready for analysing. Otherwise it may be unstructured because perhaps it has just been collected or perhaps multiple data sources are being combined to created a larger dataset. A dataset is just a collection of data points that are together – maybe they came from the same source or maybe they are about the same topic.
Terms that many people will be familiar with are qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative data is an opinion or generalisation about something – a user gives a rating of 5 out of 5 for their experience watching a film. This type of data can be descriptive, be true or false, or give a rank. On the other hand, quantitative data is an objective measurement of something and it generally numerical – for instance, the piece of string is 23 centimetres long. They can also be a number of items or the number of times something happened: there are 2 dishwashers and 1 cupboard and the cupboard was opened 46 times today.
For data to be used in an analysis, it must be structured in such a way that a computer program can interpret it. For example, data that is output from remote sensing equipment is generally already structured, whereas data that is gathered in a survey where someone’s experience was described would be unstructured.
By The UOW Library Digital User Experience team (Carina Tobia, Content Experience Officer | Pia Petre, Content Designer | Kyra Thomsen, Digital User Experience Lead)
At the University of Wollongong Library, our Digital User Experience (DUX) team uses research, analysis, design and iteration to ensure our content and services anticipate and meet the evolving needs of our users.
We see UX as complex and holistic, with omnichannel user journeys that may be in our digital space, at one of UOW’s multiple Australian campuses, or across the globe. Listening to our users through qualitative and quantitative data is central to our work and provides insights which inform UX improvements.
Image: DUX Team, including Carina Tobia, Pia Petre and Kyra Thomsen smiling outside the UOW Wollongong Campus Library
Uplifting the look, feel and navigation of our LibGuides
Our LibGuides were last reviewed in 2018, and with the intense crisis period of the pandemic coming to an end we wanted to take a proactive approach in 2023, aiming to update the guides’ visual design and content.
We did environmental scanning, and a Qualtrics survey of students and staff resulted in 57 responses. The survey included quantitative, affinity statement questions (e.g., “It’s easy to find what I’m looking for in library guides”) and space for qualitative, free text responses. We identified several ‘quick wins’ to prioritise.
Group guides by subject to reduce choice overload
Users told us our long A to Z list of guides was only useful if they knew the exact name of the guide they were looking for, so we moved away from the alphabetical list and opted for an organised view of subjects on the guide homepage.
We consolidated seven subjects into four and reduced the number of menu buttons. This update reduced scrolling and ‘choice overload’ making it easier to browse guides.
Image: Guide groupings before and after
Make the guides more visually appealing
Users told us that LibGuides lacked visual appeal, so we updated several design features including:
adding a new, branded photograph banner to the header of all guide pages
updating the default Springshare favicon to the UOW crest icon
updating the back-to-top button for branding and consistency.
These changes created a seamless transition between the UOW website and LibGuides, and showed users that the information in our guides is up-to-date and reputable.
Improve navigation and promote inclusivity in the footer
Users told us the footer was busy, unstructured and underused. We updated it with links to high-traffic, relevant, useful pages and organised these into logical groups.
UOW Library’s Thriving Digital Library Strategy 2022-2024 outlines the importance of “being welcoming, inclusive and culturally safe in all Library spaces (physical and digital)”. This prompted us to add the ACON ‘Welcome Here’ icon to the footer which mirrors the stickers in our physical libraries, and we included UOW’s Acknowledgement of Country.
Image: Guide footer before and after
Signage UX that overlaps the digital and physical spaces
In taking a holistic approach to UX, we know our clients can interact with the library online, in-person, both or neither throughout their journey.
“Thinking from the perspective of the user, we can see the library as a large, interconnected web of these service points woven together… Library users move across different channels”. (Polger 2022, p. 33)
Library signage is one example where UX skills in user journey mapping and visual design combine with the tangible, physical library building.
Stairs are a ‘no phone zone’
A common library conundrum of clients talking in quiet spaces such as stairwells prompted a cross-team approach, which included installing a new ‘quiet phone booth’.
We drafted several iterations of poster signage to discourage clients from talking in stairwells and encourage them to use the new quiet phone booth.
Informed by a walk-through of the space and ‘disguised naturalistic observation’ (Polger 2022, p. 16) (I.e., people watching), the team created a poster using Adobe InDesign which included:
a universal symbol which could be understood at a glance
plain language which could be read from a distance
a simple map showing the location of the new quiet phone booth.
QR codes in point-of-need signage
With the popularisation of QR codes during the pandemic, we started including them on our print posters in addition to short links (using Bitly), optimising ways users can interact with Library services from their devices.
One long-standing poster outside most study spaces allows clients to book a room with QR codes and short URLs linking to the online booking system LibCal. Updating the posters to include QR codes in early 2023, these have had 64 scans since January. With a new LibCal user interface being released, we’re looking forward to an even more optimised mobile experience.
A pilot of 24/7 access at Wollongong Campus Library saw a need for several types of poster signage including promotional, operational and directional. QR codes were used to link clients to a website with detailed information about the 24/7 access and these were scanned 31 times during the 3-week period the posters were accessible.
If you are interested in finding out more details about any of these activities, please contact us at content-strategy@uow.edu.au
References:
Polger MA, 2022, Library signage and wayfinding design: communicating effectively with your users, American Library Association, Chicago.
by Nicholas Rowsell, Digital Library Programs and UX Officer, University of Newcastle Library (nicholas.brett@newcastle.edu.au)
Knowing how to code in web mark-up languages allows you to create and edit websites and understand how websites work.
Much like learning an instrument, this can be very intimidating at first but with practice you may find yourself intuitively recognising patterns and predicting what logical step to expect next.
The Foundation
HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) is the foundation of every website you visit on the internet. HTML documents are made up of elements, which are the building blocks of each page.
The following examples of code can be pasted into W3Schools.com allowing you adjust the code safely in a sandpit environment.
The Building Blocks
The basic structure of an HTML document includes the following elements (note that you will need to use single spacing between lines of code):
<html>
<body>
<h1>
Content Heading
</h1>
<p>
Content goes here…
</p>
</body>
</html>
The Working Example
<html>
<body>
<h1>
Digital Dexterity
</h1>
<p>
Digital dexterity is a critical component in the success of digital societies.
</p>
</body>
</html>
Note: As each element is opened with a tag <p> it is also closed with an accompanying tag </p> which has a backslash added.
Customising your Building Blocks
Elements consist of tags, attributes, and content.
A tag determines the element type. Examples include:
<html>
Represents the root of an HTML document, differentiating from other types
<body>
Defines the document’s body and may contain the below tags
<h1>
Creates a header, can use the numbers from 1-6
<p>
Defines a paragraph element
<img>
Defines an image element
<a>
Defines a hyperlink
An extensive list of tags can be found on W3Schools.com.
An attribute provides additional information or characteristics about an element. Examples include:
ID
Specifies a unique id for an element
alt
Specifies an alternate text when the original element fails to display
Attributes are placed within the opening tag:
<h1 id=”myHeader”>Digital Dexterity</h1>
Content is the easiest part, this is the text or other elements within the tags that is your awesome subject matter knowledge you wish to share with the world!
Time to add some Style…
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the language we use to style an HTML document. CSS describes how HTML elements should be displayed. Extending our metaphor from earlier, if HTML is the foundation of a website, then CSS is the architecture that makes it beautiful and functional.
CSS allows you to control the layout, font, colour, and other visual aspects of a website, just as an architect controls the layout, colour, and design of a building.
The code which determines this control over the style is known as a CSS rule.
A CSS rule consists of a selector and declaration blocks.
<style>
h1 {
color: blue;
font-size: 12;
}
</style>
In this instance <h1> is the selector as it designates the style to the 1st header.
Between the curly brackets { } are two examples of a declaration, the first being color:blue; followed by font-size:12px;. These declarations can be further broken down into their property and value. In the first instance is the property (color) which is separated by a colon : followed by the value (blue).
Bringing it all together
<style>
h1 {
color: blue;
font-size: 12;
}
</style>
<html>
<body>
<h1>
Digital Dexterity
</h1>
<p>
Digital dexterity is a critical component in the success of digital societies.
</p>
</body>
</html>
An ever-growing knowledge base
As the librarians at the University of Newcastle have developed our skills with web coding we have developed a knowledge base on LibGuides, where staff can see templates for components we have collected over time. The advantage of this knowledge base means having a library of consistent web elements which can be deployed as needed, saving time and creating ease of access.
To learn coding in a supported environment, W3Schools.com is a great and free web resource.
Do you ever feel kind of lost in the sea of resources out there, trying to figure out how to create or find high quality open educational resources (OER)? Those ones that tick all the boxes for great content and promote equity and inclusion?
Me too.
So I went on this trip.
The beginning
For a few years, I’d been peering curiously at the higher education world of North America, watching as they made leaps and bounds in progress towards creating OER that are steeped in concepts of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility – and wondering how can we make these leaps here in Australia too? So, when the Libraries of the Australian Technology Network (LATN) announced a Fellowship opportunity to explore OER on an international study tour, I grabbed it and ran – well, flew – to that magical mystery land I’d been observing for so long.
The broad theme of the Fellowship project I proposed was the development of some kind of resource that curates other resources (a meta resource, if you will) to help Australian librarians better understand the identifying characteristics of OER which influence greater equity and inclusion in education, and to harness this knowledge to empower others to raise their marginalised voices.
The middle
Galvanised by a deep belief in this idea (and the narcoleptic superpower of dodging jetlag), in September 2022, I finally stepped foot in Los Angeles, ready to fangirl my way through a whirlwind two and half weeks of 21 meetings with 46 people I could. not. wait. to. meet.
I attended and met with a multitude of institutions that are home to many open education thought leaders across Los Angeles, Vancouver and Minneapolis, and held a number of incidental conversations along the way. Institutions included:
I am ever grateful to all the lovely humans who met with me for their generosity of time, wisdom and kindness.
The empowered future
These conversations informed the creation of EmpoweredOER (the promised meta resource), a website which helps practitioners wade through that open sea to find a set of resources, concrete examples, and guides curated to the Australian context. It provides a wider theoretical understanding of equitable education principles then grounds them in practical exemplars of OER that meet these needs. EmpoweredOER aims to help people who feel a bit lost amongst it all to find a solid set of parameters to work within.
Often when we talk about creating OER that are “accessible” we’re thinking about alt-text and screen-readers. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s just one step in the direction of access. It’s not thinking about “accessible” in the broader sense of cultural sustainability and multiple ways of learning. The Equity Rubric for OER Evaluation explores these deeper levels of access, but doesn’t give examples demonstrating concepts. EmpoweredOER builds on the Rubric to provide tangible examples found in the wild which help ground the (often high level) language and explanations.
Why is the site called EmpoweredOER?
I’m glad you asked!
OER empower because OER remove the barriers to publishing. In traditional publishing, you have a “gatekeeper” – the one who decides whose voice will be heard and what they’re saying. This necessarily marginalises some voices and elevates others. However, anyone can publish an OER. Anyone can get their voice out there, can tell their own story and not have their story told by others.
OER also afford the opportunity for students to be involved in the co-creation of new knowledge and to have their own voices represented, to see themselves reflected in the material they’re studying in the classroom. One of the great examples I came across in the US was this program called Open For Antiracism (OFAR) which trains teaching staff in antiracist pedagogical practices, including the use and creation of OER as a tool to this end. One of the problems the program addresses is that materials in the classroom don’t always represent the people in the classroom. An OER can be modified, adapted, become a collaborative piece in which students can see themselves and build a sense of belonging: They’re welcome here. This course is for them. They’re not on the outside looking in.
The call for support
If you’d like to learn more about EmpoweredOER, please tune in to my upcoming webinar Demystifying inclusive OER: Practical guidance for finding and creating equitable OER which I am co-presenting with Tanya Grosz from the Open Education Network. I also gratefully welcome any feedback on the website (its content, structure, usability) and any suggested resources to include.
by Kristy Newton (Digital Literacies Coordinator, University of Wollongong Library, knewton@uow.edu.au), and the Library Business Services Team (Aimee Herridge, Cassie Connor, Shaista Poonawalla and Tahlia Kelso) with Ruth Cameron (Coordinator, Digital Library Programs, University of Newcastle Library, ruth.cameron@newcastle.edu.au)
Two members of CAUL’s Digital Dexterity Champions group had a chat about the different project management tools we use in our libraries. You might like to read about what we found:
University of Newcastle Library – the Project Management Toolkit
Screenshot of the Project Management Toolkit in our Library Hub SharePoint site
What is it?
Library staff can use the digital toolkit to learn more about what a project is, how to propose and gain approval for a project, and the library’s project lifecycle (including a current project register). Templates have been created for each phase of the project lifecycle to help staff to manage their projects successfully. There is even a Tools and Training page which links out to further training for staff who want to learn more.
Our Library Business Services team put the toolkit together so that we can standardise the project approval process, ensure that library projects are managed consistently, and follow best practice project management processes. The toolkit aligns with existing University of Newcastle digital resources to ensure a common language and consistent approach.
How long did it take to build?
Approximately one month for the toolkit itself, which will include information and training sessions for library staff in 2023 to build capability and confidence. The toolkit was refreshed in 2022 and flipped into a more interactive SharePoint site with intuitive navigation based on gateways and the project lifecycle. The templates were also updated to align with University of Newcastle brand guidelines, giving them a clean, professional finish.
How did the team decide what to include?
The team benchmarked practices, tools and templates within the University of Newcastle, and researched other universities’ toolkits and project management methodologies (the University of Newcastle is PRINCE2 aligned). They looked at the types of projects usually undertaken by our library staff, and applied what was appropriate for those projects.
Do we track usage? How popular has it been?
The team looks at analytics in SharePoint to measure toolkit and template views. Stakeholder evaluation consultation was undertaken post-implementation, for feedback prior to the toolkit being flipped into the new design. This feedback informed the design and allowed adjustments to be made to the content.
The initial review feedback was positive. Usage was low however due to COVID-19 impacting the number of projects being launched, and we hope to see more engagement following the training sessions in 2023.
Are the documents/templates used in different ways?
Templates are required for project approval and endorsement under the guideline that accompanies the toolkit. Staff are required to use the templates if they have a medium to high level project, to ensure projects are properly scoped and documented for consistency. The documents are designed to be tailored to the size and scope of the project.
Staff can refer to the inbuilt Project Lifecycle page which provides guidance on the different stages (Ideation, Planning, Delivering, Close and Review) of any project, the approval gates, and the relevant templates for each stage. However, the purpose of each template is clear, and they are used mostly for the same purpose in each project, e.g. Project Brief and Closing Report.
University of Wollongong (UOW) Library – Microsoft Planner
What is it?
UOW Library make frequent use of Microsoft Planner. As it integrates so well into Microsoft Teams there are multiple active Planners in our digital environment, with uses ranging from project management, team priorities, strategy, and even resource sharing. Planner can be used to document tasks at a high level, or more granular level. Depending on the preferences of your team/project group you can arrange it by work area, due date, project phase, or topic – the options are virtually endless.
Are the documents/templates used in different ways?
In a team context, Planner can be used to manage team tasks, both strategic and operational. Buckets can be set up for the various focus areas that the team is responsible for, and individual task cards in each bucket document progress against the tasks. A ‘New’ column at the beginning of the board serves as a catchall queue for new items coming to the team, and the task cards are often moved across to a bucket as a team member picks them up. Projects with a separate Planner can be included in the Team Planner as a link, rather than replicating the tasks across multiple Planners.
A resource-based project group uses Planner to arrange resources by topic. This is less a task-based system, and more a categorisation and navigation board.
Project groups use Planner to manage the tasks for the project, with buckets for each of the project phases. There are task cards which function as links to key external reference points such as the vendor knowledge bases, with the rest of the board being populated with a variety of project tasks assigned to relevant staff members, utilising the Checklist function to break each task down into smaller components. The Charts view (which is available in all Planners) is particularly useful in a project as it gives a visual overview of the project milestones that can be extracted for use in reporting.
Tips for getting the most out of Planner
Staff with assigned tasks sprinkled through multiple team and project planners can choose to view a streamlined overview of all the tasks assigned to them by adding the “Tasks by Planner and To-Do” app to their MS Teams sidebar. This app draws in tasks from multiple planners and collates them into a handy task list. From the app view, there are options to filter tasks by options such as ‘Important’ or ‘Assigned to Me’ to drill down to the highest priority tasks.
Prefer to see all the tasks assigned to you across various Planners in a more board-like structure? Use the web view by navigating to displays to see the various project planners you are part of by navigating to the Planner of your choice in the left-hand column. Visually motivated folks will enjoy the ability to add a colourful background to the Planner in web view, too!
Large and complex Planners can get overwhelming and details can be easily missed. Use the Filters on the top right-hand side to drill down and see only those tasks which are high priority, due soon, or assigned to a particular staff member.
Rather than adding multiple cards for smaller steps of a task, use the Checklist within a card to track the more granular aspects like emailing a certain stakeholder, finding an image to use, setting a meeting etc. This allows you and your team to see how the task is progressing and keeps the board a little cleaner.
So … what do I choose?
This will really depend on the nature of your project, and how your team prefers to work. And these two different examples of project management tools are just the tip of the iceberg! Sit down with your project team and talk about what will work best, for the project and for the people involved. Remember, too, that one function of these tools is to keep management updated with what you’re doing, so choose something which is easily shareable or copied for a presentation or meeting.
By Christina Salopek, University of Wollongong (UOW) Library. csalopek@uow.edu.au
Collaboration. Problem solving. Digital creation. Information literacy. User experience. These words, and more, are topics that inspired and motivated me to apply for a 12-month secondment position in 2021 within the UOW Library’s Learning and Engagement team (L&E) – and, what a team! Never one to shy away from embracing opportunities of new ways of thinking and new ways of learning, I was curious to learn:
(a) How does the Library L&E team iterate, develop and deliver digital learning resources? (b) What skills, attributes and priorities are required to be successful in the position?
I was inspired by UOW Library’s Thriving Library Capabilities Framework, which guided me on the capabilities that I would need to apply effectively on a daily basis during my secondment. The capabilities of particular relevance to me were collaboration and communication.
Collaboration, Communication and Information Literacy
Early in my secondment, it became apparent that Tuesday would be my favourite day of the working week. Why? Tuesday was the day the entire team were in the office to discuss and work collaboratively on, for example, identifying gaps in relation to student information and digital literacy; and work on, or plan, any ongoing and/or future projects to support teaching and learning.
Image: How we can help your teaching & learning page from the Library Support for Teaching & Learning library guide.
Ongoing collaboration and communication, integral to the L&E role, were essential capabilities that provided me with a deeper insight and the practical hands-on experience I needed, to understand the tools and techniques the team applied in creating inclusive, pedagogical, online library tutorials for diverse cohorts. Brainstorming, analysing Chat transcripts and LibGuide analytics, liaising with other library team members and connecting and fostering partnerships with library stakeholders, including teaching staff and members from the Faculty of Education Committees; were just some of the capabilities I acquired (and applied) in collaboratively developing creative, online library tutorials.
Image: Library Tutorials page from the Library Support for Learning & Teaching library guide.
For example, an outcome from one of my earliest Tuesday brainstorming sessions was the iteration of an infographic targeting students new to academic research, outlining the benefits and limitations of library databases and non-library databases. For me, Tuesday brainstorming sessions not only highlighted the collaborative aspect of the role and the contribution the team has made towards UOW’s blended learning enhancement initiative. It also provided me with the opportunity to share my insights and experiences from working in various capacities within an academic library, towards actively contributing to and designing an accessible online learning resource.
Digital creation, problem solving and user experience
I love user experience (UX). I have been a long-time member of the Library UX Community of Practice. As such, user experience and my interest in designing with the user in mind is just one of the (many) reasons I applied for the L&E secondment. The team’s commitment in designing and delivering user-focused, accessible and equitable online learning resources was an opportunity for me to apply the knowledge I acquired as a result of my UX interest.
For example, I collaborated with my L&E colleague Cate Slater in the re-design of the Library Systematic Literature Review Workbook (H5P). It was my first foray into using the H5P format in which I contributed by creating online content and interactive activities, with the purpose of delivering a sustainable and pedagogical solution based on the user needs and interactions from students and teaching staff.
Image: Front cover of UOW Library’s Systematic ReviewWorkbook
Key takeaways
There are so many key takeaways to draw from my secondment in the Learning and Engagement team. However, in a nutshell, I have learnt from my team (Nick Zografos, Susan Jones and Cate Slater) that:
Communication, collaboration and partnerships with academic teaching staff are integral to the role and to understanding the user needs of the wider UOW Learning and Teaching community
Creativity, applying best practice for pedagogical solutions and keeping up to date with learning technologies are important to ensure students develop the digital and information literacy skills required for success in their studies and careers
Tuesday is still my favourite day of the working week!
“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.
Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.”
J. R. R. Tolkien. The Fellowship of the Ring. 1954
It’s starting to happen again. Attending events in person and seeing friends and colleagues from other institutions face-to-face.
Kayleen and I both attended the ‘CAUL: Enabling a Modern Curriculum Conference’ in early September 2022, which had both online and in-person days to the program, so it felt like the appropriate time to interrogate and debate our thoughts on ‘in-person versus online professional development’.
Webinar fatigue
Peggy: I. Love. Webinars.
I can see a webinar from anywhere in the world. With webinars, I don’t hurt my neck or back if I’m seated sideways, and *whispers* I can run to the bathroom with my headset on and still listen to the webinar. Plus, the links and attendee chat are often interesting.
Kayleen: I. Love. In-person events.
I enjoy being in the same physical space with others and engaging with them on a very visceral level. I am energised by their enthusiasm and love working together on activities at the event. This can be exhausting, but not as much as ‘webinar fatigue’.
Connections and networking
Peggy: I am an introvert with‘weird hearing’. I strain to filter all the conversations happening around me, plus I feel weird sidling up to a group, inserting myself and then having said difficulty hearing the conversation. Ugh!.
I also forget names, like really quickly. I’m sorry and embarrassed now.
Kayleen: For me, the most amazing part of an in-person event is meeting the people who until that moment had only been faces on a Zoom screen.
And during the breaks, it’s great to engage in ‘face to face’ serendipitous or ‘water cooler’ conversations. Especially when standing in front of the vast array of teas, trying to work out which flavour you want to try, and then finding out that the person standing next to you likes that same tea. A conversation then ensues about the other things that you have in common. Pure gold!
Costs: Money or Time (Travel)
Peggy: I’m about 90 minutes from Melbourne, so not that far. For me, the event should ideally be longer than the time it takes travelling and if it’s on the other side of Melbourne, add another hour. Plus, why are universities not near train lines?
Kayleen: I must admit that there are probably not many positives about the cost of travelling to an event in person. Unless the event is just around the corner or your boss is paying the bill. However, adding other activities to the trip, such as visiting colleagues in other libraries, can make it worthwhile.
Equity
Peggy: This article from Scientific American had some great points to make on equity provided by online events.
Easier access for disabled or people with children.
Environmentally friendlier, if you have a budget for travel.
Lastly, online is great for diversity.
The information that really blew my mind though was research reported by Allseated that at online scientific conferences, female attendance increased by 253% and genderqueer attendance “jumped by 700%”.
Kayleen: Peggy has raised some excellent points around specific elements of equity for attendees at online events.
There is also some great information provided by the Australian Human Rights Commission on hosting in-person meetings and events to improve the experience of attendees.
Wrap-up
There are positives and negatives to in-person and online-only events. Hybrid seems to be the way forward, but the technology may not be ready in terms of pricing, access, and ease of set-up. Still, worse, we might be stuck in a binary where the only perceived options are in-person or online, and we aren’t displaying pandemic adaptability and innovation.
