Need for Use of Digital Library Databases to Enhance Online Learning

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Prior to the pandemic, classroom instructors were encouraged to invite College Librarians to speak in person to students in the classroom, as freshman college students required to write research papers generally  have little experience searching library databases. Not all classrooms are equipped with computers, and not all students bring laptops to class, so the librarians would also encourage students to come to the library to receive private tutoring 0n how to conduct database research. Online tutoring sessions were also available to students who could ask for help using an interactive chat box inside the Learning Management System.

The dynamics changed overnight in March 2020, for librarians became  suddenly overburdened  when assigned to help instructional designers find suitable material for every course being offered online. Hard copies textbooks were no longer appropriate usable once every course offered by the college had to be moved online. Instructors with little experience teaching students how to conduct an effective online search were suddenly called upon to help students develop these vital  skills. Prior to the pandemic, there was no school-wide requirement for any instructor to use the learning management system as a teaching tool for delivering video lectures, creating interactive pages, creating online quizzes, etc. For those teachers who, prior to the pandemic,  had not taken Professional Development courses, the learning management system was mostly used as a record-keeping tool for tracking attendance, emailing students, and posting grades, not as an interactive platform for teaching and learning.

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Prior to the pandemic, classroom instructors were encouraged to invite College Librarians to speak in person to students in the classroom, as freshman college students required to write research papers generally  have little experience searching library databases. Not all classrooms are equipped with computers, and not all students bring laptops to class, so the librarians would also encourage students to come to the library to receive private tutoring 0n how to conduct database research. Online tutoring sessions were also available to students who could ask for help using an interactive chat box inside the Learning Management System.

The dynamics changed overnight in March 2020, for librarians became  suddenly overburdened  when assigned to help instructional designers find suitable material for every course being offered online. Hard copies textbooks were no longer appropriate usable once every course offered by the college had to be moved online. Instructors with little experience teaching students how to conduct an effective online search were suddenly called upon to help students develop these vital  skills. Prior to the pandemic, there was no school-wide requirement for any instructor to use the learning management system as a teaching tool for delivering video lectures, creating interactive pages, creating online quizzes, etc. For those teachers who, prior to the pandemic,  had not taken Professional Development courses, the learning management system was mostly used as a record-keeping tool for tracking attendance, emailing students, and posting grades, not as an interactive platform for teaching and learning.

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At Start of Pandemic, the Daunting Task to Ramp Up Online Classes

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Clearly, the reality of immediately converting all live classes to a stop-gap online version was a daunting task in March, 2020, which fell in the middle of the Spring semester. Here are the challenges administrators faced:

#1 a shortage of experienced online instructional designers;

#2 little consensus on what makes a good online course in the first place;

#3 a lack of appropriate content, a shortage of digital activities that challenge and inspire students, and a shortage of mechanisms for accurately measuring student achievement in an online environment; \

And, probably the most difficult task,

#4 The large number of faculty members who had not mastered the intricacies of teaching and communicating with students using learning management systems…

 

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When Campuses Shut Down in March 2020

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ALL COLLEGE STUDENTS and TEACHERS alike were given no choice but to accept immediate conversion from face-to-face to online courses after campuses were IMMEDIATELY closed in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Prior to March 2020,  full and part-time instructors were not obligated to participate in training in ‘best practices’ for teaching on line. 

Click on Page #1 for more…

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