4^th Floor staff member Michael Grilo brought this idea to my attention and said, “The inspiration for co-learning workshops comes from the obvious recognition that everyone learns in various ways and at differing paces. Rather than struggling to keep everyone working at the same pace, co-learning encourages guided self-learning while maintaining the social and collaborative aspects of a classroom environment.”[1] With or without makerspaces, libraries are offering more tech classes, and even though our staff on the 4^th Floor is highly talented, we are not experts. A co-learning environment that uses existing teaching resources to teach others new skills does not require instructors to have an in-depth subject knowledge. This gives libraries the opportunity to bring people together to learn without the burden of being the expert in these very specialized subject areas.

Our first co-learning workshop taught HTML and CSS using Codecademy, an online platform that offers coding classes in several programming languages including Python, Java, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, Ruby, HTML, and CSS as well as application frameworks Ruby on Rails and AngularIS. Codecademy offers a free and a PRO version of their website. We had a very diverse group of people—including a retired accountant, a schoolteacher, two friends looking to start a blog, and an experienced coder—who attended the class. Grilo facilitated the class with our guest, David Alfonso Castaneda, a Pro Chat Advisor for Codecademy David who assists several students live online with any support and questions they have on the lessons or projects they are building on the platform, so it was a privilege to have him join us in person.

Castaneda added, “The Chattanooga Public Library is a wonderful hotbed of technology and innovation right now. As a long time fan of the 4^th Floor at the library, I always try to participate and contribute where I can. When I heard that they were having a co-learning event using the Codecademy platform, I felt obligated to help where I can. I helped set up the 4^th Floor with Codecademy’s teaching resources. With these resources, we were able to gauge everyone’s knowledge level with HTML and pair up people [based on skill level].”[2]

We had everyone log on to their accounts and join our classroom using the platform’s teaching resources. Throughout the three-hour session, people were working at their own pace through the lessons and asking each other for help along the way. While working, conversations about life, work, and more created the social environment that we were striving for. The classroom resource also gave us the opportunity to track the progress of our participants after the class concluded and if they were continuing to learn on their own, which is very useful information when measuring impact of this program.

We are hosting a series of co-learning workshops this summer based on the success of this learning environment and the teaching tools readily available for staff on the web. If you have any questions or want to start your own co-learning classes at your library, please feel free to contact Meredith Levine at mlevine@lib.chattanooga.gov.

References

[1] Michael Grilo, Chattacnooga Public Library staff member, in an interview with the author, May 4, 2016.

[2] David Alfonso Castaneda, Codecademy Pro Chat advisor, in an interview with the author,  April 28, 2016.

The post Collaborative Learning in Libraries first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Using a free one-month trial on Gimlet, we collected the dates, times, question types, people who asked the question, formats of the question, locations, the questions asked, and answers given. We recorded close to 800 questions – and probably missed a couple hundred more during our busy times and by simply forgetting to log the questions. The majority of our questions were asked by tweens and teens, with the remaining questions being asked by parents, children, adults and staff.

Thirty-nine percent of the questions asked were ready reference. “When is the fourth floor opening?,” “When does Mario Kart 9 come out?,” and “Where can I get online?,” are examples. Twenty-one percent of questions were directional, with “Where is the bathroom” being the most popular question. Fourteen percent of questions were technology-related. Twelve percent of the questions asked were reader’s advisory, and the remaining percentage made up circulation, pop-up programming, and research questions.

The locations where these questions took place are telling of our new reference model, which excludes the traditional reference desk. Over fifty percent of the questions asked were on the floor, twenty-six percent were asked while we were sitting on the couch, and only fourteen percent were asked at the computer stand. The remaining questions were asked in our arcade. This shows that we were having the majority of our reference transactions via staff on the floor approaching customers or through conversation and interaction.

Over the past few months we have increased the amount of pop-up programs at CPL. If lots of kids are here we then have a program for them, it’s that simple. This includes turning on a movie, pulling out robots, or playing with Legos. Lots of the regular program prep is done on the floor, so customers come up and ask us what we’re doing, giving us the opportunity to explain the program we are prepping and when that program will be. These interactions are the best kinds of promotions for our programming since customers can see what they are going to be doing, instead of reading a blurb in a calendar posting.

This assessment proved that pop-up programming is a great way to interact with customers and provided information on our busiest times, which will impact our future planned programs for 2016. As expected, our busiest times were from 2 p.m.-6 p.m., nearly twenty percent of our questions were asked at 5 p.m. and our busiest days are Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. This information is crucial when scheduling big events and programs.

This assessment proves that the information desk itself is not necessary to provide reference services to our youth customers; instead, being mobile and interacting with customers works best. But this will only work best if you are actively mobile. You need to be in the stacks, on the computers, in the arcade, doing pop-up programs and actually roving; otherwise it defeats the purpose. It will be interesting to see if a similar assessment is done on the first floor in the Adult Services area where there is a reference desk.

Resources:

Gimlet

The post A Roving Reference Assessment in Teen Services first appeared on Public Libraries Online.