Pam McKinney live blogging from the final day of the #LILAC23 conference in Cambridge. This is the keynote session led by Regina Everitt who is the director of library services at the university of east London. The university of East London is 120 years old, with a focus on the career development of students. There are 155 different nationalities amongst the students, and they are seeing increasing numbers of international students. There are about 40 staff members in the library. When Regina joined the university it was moving towards active learning as the core pedagogy, which focuses on solving problems, analysing and discussing case studies.
Moodle is the VLE at the university, and they made lots of use of Microsoft teams and share point to allow staff to collaborate. The usual challenges were raised around lecture capture, and the adoption of technology to support learning and teaching. Regina was keen to implement social learning spaces in the library, which are standard practice now in library learning spaces. Digital proficiency is a core competency for the delivery of the university’s vision for technology supported learning. Regina used 3 models of professional capabilities (from JISC, CILIP and Microsoft) to inform the development of digital skills for staff. She built a comprehensive programme of development based on staff needs, which built confidence to develop more online content for self directed student learning.
In 2020, when the lockdown started, institutions had been engaging in scanario planning and were confident they could continue to deliver services. Although they felt confident, there were still lots of challenges. Devices had to be delivered to staff and students so they could work at home, but the investment in staff capabilities really paid off. When campus services began to open again, the new challenge was to operate dual delivery, with a combination of online and on campus learning. Microsoft teams was used for online synchronous learning. For a lot of students dual delivery meant they didn’t attend in person, but there was a need to develop new ways of working. Students would rather use online chat to get support in the library rather than go to an information point in person. Students still struggle with finding and using electronic resources. So they did some UX work to try to find out what problems students were facing.
In 2021 the Uk government wanted all universities to fullly reopen on campus services, however they had got very used to working in a hybrid way. Thee were more face to face activities complemented with the use of technology based learning. The new challenge is how to make AI work for the library. There is a significant role for librarians in helping students think critically about the way that AI works and what it can be used for. Students are enjoying immersive learning environments.
The UK's Office for Students has now published a blended learning review in June 2022 which defines how blended learning should be used in universities. Blended learning involves learning that combines in person delivery with digital delivery of teaching. It’s important to reflect on the right tools for blended learning. Library spaces need to accommodate the listening of online lectures, e.g. a little booth for online learning, but it’s really tricky to adapt the library building in this way. It’s important to communicate the reasons for the adoption of a particular learning approach to students, and the library needs to be part of this. It’s important to consider equality and diversity, and provide assistive technology for the students who need it.
Academic staff need to be confident in their digital literacy so they can model appropriate use of technology for students. Engagement is important, but many students engage with the library online. It is important to monitor student’s engagement with online library resources to contribute to a picture of student engagement as a whole. The office for students wants universities to have a clear rationale for the use of any technology, and to communicate this to students. Students should have a high quality academic experience, with appropriate resources, support and student engagement. Resources should be up to date, and staff need to be qualified to deliver services and support. Under consumer law, what universities say they will deliver on their website must be the reality. Libraries can support compliance with these new conditions, but could also be a reason why institutions are not compliant.
Photo by Pam McKinney: Cambridge Zoology museum
