Part A: Re-write the following in 40-50 words
Learners should see themselves as being information creators as well as information users. Information creation, such as presentations, data visualization, writing, maths models etc, is a process which embraces review and change, reusing and re-purposing discovered content in different formats or for future study. Learners will understand the processes by which scholarly material in their discipline is produced, reproduced and disseminated. Learners consider how they contribute to the body of knowledge through original research work (projects and dissertations) and by joining the scholarly conversation within their discipline specific community of practice.
My re-write:
The process of creation results in manipulating and reviewing information within a framework, and using contextual aids to inform what the shape of the final product might be. Communicating the created product needs an understanding of the product's purpose and its audience.
Part B: Case Studies
1. Personal - Creating a Qwillow (this is a cushion that is also a quilt)
(from pinterest)
I made a qwillow for my grandson. He likes Paw Patrol on TV so I sourced fabric for this and sourced the instructions about how to make a qwillow. There were several instructions I found, one of which made no sense to me, so I abandoned that. I needed this to be a quick project as I was planning on seeing him and wanted to be able to give it to him. The cost was relatively insignificant as I used some materials I had stashed away from other projects. Key issues - measuring the size of each of the pieces of fabric to be used accurately, including the panel and the borders and wadding. Pinning and tacking before sewing revealed a classic error of mine of putting the pillow panel on wrong way around! Once checked and changed then just a quick sew later and it was done. 'Dissemination' involved giving the qwillow to my grandson who really didn't care about the quality of the product - he just liked the Paw Patrol panel!
2. Professional - Sway presentation - libraries supporting teaching and learning in the online environment.
The audience for the Sway document was library staff. It was based on user research - student, academic and library staff feedback gathered. The aim of the research was to explore the issues and benefits of moving into an online learning environment. I participated in a number of meetings and focus groups in the process of gathering this data. I used storyboarding to outline the key messages I was hearing and also put the concepts into a scribbled model, together with the aspects of library support that appeared to be most relevant. I asked for help to find a mechanism to disseminate the information, and once I had an idea of how I could present the ideas that were forming, the process became easier.
Colleagues helped me with the process in many ways: advice on the presentation 'carrier'; advice on taking a case study approach to presenting parts of the model; peer reviewing of the content, including testing the summary of student experience; advice gathered from CCTL, advice from the Director of Library Services; input from professional services staff and academics. The peer review process was essential in refining materials and explanations. It was useful to have a new Education Programme Operational Group to which I could take the model for comment, promotion and an agreement that although the model is not prescriptive it could be strongly encouraged. How effective this will be going forward is dependent on the next steps of communication. Key to this will initially be small scale presentations and discussion via Team workshops; followed by a) line manager conversations and b) the academic liaision team engaging with it. Ownership by subject libraries and those from other areas of the library community supporting teaching and learning will be vital to the success of the model.
This has been costly in time, but a thoughtful process and one which does not ask too much of staff, but ensures that students receive and excellent experience from libraries. Current working draft is available.
Differences between the two case studies?
- Completely different audiences - an audience of one vs an audience of lots.
- Intention - the intention to please in a very simple way vs the intention to get others on board with a way of thinking.
- One needed a lot of revisions, one didn't;
- One was just given away for free with no obligation, one was given freely but with the intention of drawing people in to engage with it.
Similarities?
- Both required research,
- Both resulted in a created 'thing', and
- Both needed communicating
