Heather Cooper, Manager, Educational and Instructional Media Services, Macquarie University Library, North Ryde NSW 2109 Phone: +61 2 850 7503 Fax: +61 2 850 7590 Email: hcooper@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au
Dianne Southwell, Subject Liaison Librarian, Macquarie University Library, North Ryde, NSW 2109. Phone: +61 2 850 7892 Fax: +61 2 850 7590 Email: dsouthwe@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au
The University Library is a primary provider of Internet training on campus, as a means to providing access to an expanding range of electronic networked information. Library catalogues worldwide and commercial online databases are reached via Telnet; the World Wide Web is a virtual library, delivering a vast range of research material, electronic journals, news and consumer information. Electronic mail, newsgroups, bulletin boards, and video conferencing facilities enable communication between staff and students, and the sharing and obtaining of information from people around the world. This offers great opportunities for open or distance education, for both communication and the delivery of study material. Academic staff are incorporating Internet resources into specific teaching programs, and encouraging students to use the World Wide Web and other protocols to find research material. As the Internet evolves and becomes integrated into daily life, work and study, training requirements are increasing.
In this context a group of staff at Macquarie University Library was successful in obtaining funding from the University in 1995 for the first stage of the development of an independent Internet training program. We wanted to develop a program which offered both functional and subject approaches to using the Internet, was easy to use, and provided immediate links to live Internet resources.
Early plans were to develop the program on CDROM, but it soon became apparent that the World Wide Web would be more appropriate because of its graphical, interactive capabilities, and flexibility of use. Many other Internet tools can be accessed through the Web, and with browser programs such as Mosaic and Netscape, information and instructions can be displayed pictorially and intuitively. This provides an effective method of explaining and teaching the Internet. Information presented through the Web can be very quickly and easily updated, allowing for changes to be made to instructional programs as developments occur. The World Wide Web has the flexibility to be used from a range of computer platforms.
World Wide Web Walkabout [HREF 2], an independent subject-oriented Internet training program, was developed by library staff, to help meet the growing need for instruction across campus. It is designed to complement face to face training, allowing users to explore the Internet at their own pace, and develop the skills necessary to make effective use of the network and its information resources.
The initial project group consisted of librarians with experience in teaching and training with audiences of children through to adults. We specialise in the use of information technology for research and study - finding subject resources, teaching others - and have specialised knowledge in a range of subject areas. Information technology instruction for students and other library users is often required to be at a "low tech" level because many attendees are still unfamiliar with technology. The philosophy and methods used in library training sessions therefore aim to demystify the technology and straddle "technophobic" barriers in order to enable access to an increasing amount of electronic information being used in education.
The project group reviewed and evaluated existing online Internet training packages and programs. This initial process was instructive in that it formulated and crystallised our approach, laying the conceptual framework for the product. Internet tool-based programs (email, gopher, ftp, WWW etc) assume the learner has some prior knowledge of the existence and function of these tools. There are also many subject-based resource directories and guides in existence on the Internet. What we wanted to do was combine both of these approaches and develop a training program to suit the needs of network novices, as well as those with some experience, with clear, straightforward and easy to follow instructions. The program is modular, so that users can choose to learn about any or all of the elements offered. It is not necessary to work through it from beginning to end. Live hypertext subject links provide immediate opportunity to put instruction into practice. Some modules are specifically oriented to courses taught at Macquarie University, so that they can be used in classes.
Having decided to use the World Wide Web as the platform for the project, the group considered it important to develop and use local skills in hypertext markup language (HTML) and World Wide Web. Two Library technical staff provide technical network advice and support regarding the capabilities of the World Wide Web and the Internet to achieve the project's aims. A multimedia artist from the University's Design and Visual Production Unit was engaged to advise on layout, develop graphics and background features. Staff within the library undertook to convert text and graphics to HTML, and continue to maintain the program . Collaboration with academic staff regarding the use of the program in courses has contributed many suggestions and ideas. Staff involved have subsequently worked on other projects at Macquarie.
Instruction in information technology is shown to be more effective when there is a motivation for learning. One way of achieving this is to orient training sessions to an area of experience. Humans store information in long term memories by relating it to information that is already known and exists in our memories. (Bjork, Robert J. 1994) This has been demonstrated particularly well in face-to-face Internet training sessions where the instruction includes subject examples relevant to the students. When they can find examples of information resources which they can relate to their courses of study, or work, students are more likely to remember the instructions and skills learned during the training.
While there is a range of available packages or programs for teaching different Internet tools such as electronic mail, listservers, telnet, gopher, newsgroups, World Wide Web and FTP (file transfer protocol), they are mostly functional, or oriented around one subject. Information technology, and particularly the Internet, is most effectively taught in a hands-on environment where students can immediately experience the concepts and practicalities of the training, and the realities of using the network. Simulated computer based training packages give some sense of actual use but are not simultaneously interactive in an Internet environment.
World Wide Web Walkabout combines instruction with live examples in a range of subject areas. An overview of the Internet, identifying the main protocols, is provided from the Contents page. Separate modules incorporate brief textual instruction in the different Internet tools (electronic mail, listservs or discussion groups, newsgroups, gopher, ftp, telnet, the World Wide Web, and searching the Internet) with specific subject resources as examples, where appropriate. The examples are built into the modules as hypertext links, accessible from the body of the instructional program. There are two ways to approach the instruction:
(1) by Internet tool, also using clickable buttons on the Contents page to go to instruction, and selecting subject links from within the text. Contents Page [HREF3]
(2) by subject, using clickable buttons on the Contents page, and selecting relevant hypertext links to resources. Instructions on how to use the protocols are available incorporated into the subject examples.
Whichever option is chosen, the other is also available. Users can work through the instructions on protocols, or go directly to subject modules and use the resources identified. They can then apply the skills, knowledge, and experience acquired to use the Internet and discover more resources for themselves.
Six subject areas were chosen initially, and these are being changed or added to as required from teaching areas across campus and within the Library's instructional program. Internet resources have been identified, evaluated and selected for use in the program based on their subject matter and appropriateness for demonstrating the tool required, or for a particular course of study. Subject resources have been chosen by both subject-based library staff and academic staff.
For example, one subject module is called Fine Arts
It consists of several choices:
Attention has been given to appropriate design and layout, with emphasis on simple text, good graphics and clear layout, with instructions that can be viewed and understood quickly. Ensuring a logical flow of instruction, and consistency of design require careful attention. One of the developmental concerns was how to have users return to the instructional program and not get lost on the Internet following links from the resources they are led to from the program. Part of the learning process is discovering new resources and knowing how to return. Instruction in using Netscape (the WWW browser used on campus) is provided from the first Contents page so that users know how to get back to the WWWW program using the browser's "back" button or the Go menu (Netscape).
World Wide Web Walkabout is designed to be flexible and usable in many different learning environments within and beyond the higher education community. It is easy to follow but able to lead users into complex network and information resources, and enable the transfer of appropriate information technology and networking skills. The program is being used in both supervised and unsupervised environments at Macquarie University. Supervised, or directed, for example, in the teaching of Atmospheric Science, within the School of Earth Sciences, which uses selected Internet resources as sources of information, for example, weather satellite images, photographs of cloud formations, temperature charts. Other courses of study at Macquarie are using the WWWW to provide instruction in Netscape and specific protocols. Unsupervised or undirected, the training program is used throughout the Library and campus (and the world!) via the Library's WWW Home Page http://www.lib.mq.edu.au [HREF4], under "Using the Internet".
The project has been developed in a university environment, and has received the support of educators and faculty at Macquarie University. It is attractive because of its flexibility in subject applications, its delivery method, accessibilty to off-campus users and open education students, and its modular development which allows different subject orientations and Internet tools to be used as required. It can be used in class situations or independently, allowing for self-paced learning.
Email contact for evaluation and suggestions is available from the Contents page. Development is underway to build a multiple choice type quiz into the package whereby students provide answers to questions based on what they have learned, to both reinforce and test their learning. Feedback and evaluation assists with ongoing design and development.
As with most World Wide Web pages, development of the World Wide Web Walkabout is ongoing. Hypertext links to Internet resources need to be constantly monitored for alterations to addresses, and changes in format. New subject resources and Internet programs are incorporated into the package where appropriate, and as required, either for different courses, or as new resources become available. Changes and developments in hypertext markup language, WWW browsers, and Web software, are happening all the time, and offer opportunities for enhancing the program. As ideas for new applications arise it has the potential to grow and grow.
World Wide Web Walkabout is being used successfully for formal and informal Internet training at Macquarie University. Students can use it to learn about the whole, or parts of the Internet. Staff can use it to provide instruction for specific learning needs, in courses of study, Library research, and for local campus Internet use.
Developing an easy to use training package has taken the project group in challenging directions. Translating oral, personal instruction into an independent computer-based learning environment requires detailed analysis and examination of how people learn and use technology. It is not sufficient to reproduce printed materials alone. With skilfull combining of graphical elements and instructional text, good design, and creative use of the non-linear structure of the World Wide Web, a functional and interesting learning experience can be provided. The World Wide Web offers an excellent medium for online training programs in other areas of technology use.
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AusWeb96 The Second Australian WorldWideWeb Conference ausweb96@scu.edu.au