The Students Are the Stars:

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The Students Are the Stars

• Making a
• (Subversively Instructional)
• Interactive Movie
• By Ramona Islam Leslie Porter

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Lets Watch

• Lets see what happens when people stop being
  library-centered and start getting real

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Question

• Librarians, if you were making a video to promote
  your library, what would YOU highlight?

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Librarians?
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Question

• If your students were making a video to promote
  the library, what do you think THEY would
  highlight?

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Students?
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Library Intro repackaged remixed

• Blend social experiences with technology
• Repackage the same content we delivered as a
  lecture
• The experience is customized by the user, like
  Jones Soda

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Why remix?

• Change perceptions of redundancy
• Surprising
• Not intimidating
• Good first impression
• More engaging

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Stop me if you think youve heard this one before

• How many of you teach freshmen library
  orientation sessions?
• Ratio of bored vs. engaged?

Image from Flickr user umjanedoa under Creative
Commons license http//creativecommons.org/license
s/by-nc/2.0/deed.en
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Put the class in the students hands

• Lecture students passive
• Interaction students active participants
• Empowered active more engaged
• Let the class do the work!

Image from Flickr user Ollie-G under Creative
Commons license http//creativecommons.org/license
s/by-nc/2.0/deed.en
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How it works in the classroom

• Clickers
• Results screen

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Enter audience as protagonist

• Choose your own adventure format
• Students are the stars
• in the movie
• in the classroom
• Electronic voting devices empower the audience to
  select the path

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How we did it Making the movie

• Funding
• Assessment of existing program
• Creative collaboration
• Filming and post - production

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Funding

• Funds re-routed from library open house because
  of schedule change

Image from Flickr user Tracy Olson under Creative
Commons license http//creativecommons.org/license
s/by-nc/2.0/deed.en
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Assessment of existing program

• Interviews with graduating seniors about their
  experiences with library instruction over the
  course of 4 years

Image from Flickr user Barbara Dieu under
Creative Commons license http//creativecommons.or
g/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en
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Library as place

• "There's times when I'm studying in the cafe
  late at night."

• "I like the different spaces in the library,
  like the cushy chairs."

How we integrated student feedback into the movie
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Meeting up online

• "In my research, I would say the library has
  maybe a minor role. You can do a lot of it
  from your room."

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Laptop rentals

• "My favorite part about research at the library
  is laptop renting."

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Microfilm

• "The most helpful was microfiche--it was a lot
  easier than using all my StagBucks to print
  out things."

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Interlibrary Loan

• "I love the interlibrary loan service for
  finding books."

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Friends

• "I liked when I could show my roommates how to
  research Sesame Street for our communications
  class. They were impressed."

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Creative collaboration

• Where do we begin? It was a long process!
• Working with Media Center and two freshmen
• Brainstorming
• Writing the script
• Coming up with the concept
• A thousand failuresthen,success!

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It all came down to this
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Filming

• 2 days over the summer
• Casting
• Directing
• Shooting
• Later
• Screening
• Post-production

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Spotlight Know Your Audience

• Fairfield University is a small comprehensive
  Jesuit university located in a suburb 50 miles
  outside of New York City. 
• Undergraduate students 3941
• Full-time entering Freshmen 842
• Sometimes known as J. Crew U.
•  "The DiMenna-Nyselius Library turns into Club
  DiMenna on Sunday evenings - it might as well be
  the Grape on a Tuesday night, except they let
  underclassmen in (including the one that you're
  too embarrassed to tell your friends you have a
  crush on)."
• Excerpt from the Fairfield Mirror, Fairfields
  student newspaper

From the article, The Right way to pop your
collar Fairfield Mirror, 2/1/07
http//media.www.fairfieldmirror.com/media/storag
e/paper148/news/2007/02/01/CampusLife/The-Right.Wa
y.To.Pop.Your.Collar-2688626.shtml?reffeaturerece
ntlycommentedstoriestab
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Your Turn as Audience
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Audience Vote

• Depending upon desired outcomes, can use of
  narrative enhance learning?

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Assessment Student Evaluation Form
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Student Feedback

• What they found surprising
• "The movie. I thought it was going to be stupid,
  but it was actually funny and pretty
  informative."
• Entertainment value
• "I enjoyed the movie and liked how it was
  interactive and kept your focused."
• "It was very good I would like to see the
  segments that the class did not view."
• The movie's impact on the students' experience of
  the library instruction class as a whole
• "I was surprised to learn how much easier it is
  to write a paper using the library."
• "The session was more enjoyable and interactive
  than I thought it was going to be."

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Educational value

• Student Quote "The movie was really good and
  helped me realize what the library offered.
• Several students hadn't known they could "rent
  free laptops.
• Two students expressed surprise that librarians
  may be contacted through instant messaging.

Student responses to the question The movie
contributed to my awareness of library services
and resources
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Reactions

• Librarians - I think it was very successful. The
  students seemed to really like it, and I think it
  got them to pay attention in a way that they
  wouldn't have if it was just me talking. -
  Fairfield U. Librarian
• Faculty - I'm conflicted about the usefulness
  of the film--except insofar as it enticed the
  students to use the library and made it 'sexy.'
  Fairfield U. Professor

Faculty responses (regarding the movie) to the
questions Which aspects of the EN 11 Library
Program were particularly valuable / less useful?
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DO try this at home

• Suggestions
• Use your campus media center, film students,
  drama students
• If you dont have a campus media center, try
  to find another local school/college/community
  college that does
• Paying for the professionals can be cost
  prohibitive
• Get volunteer actors from the drama/theatre
  program if you have one - they can use the movie
  as part of their "reel." If you don't have a
  theater program, try local theater groups or even
  high school seniors.
• Production and post-production - get students who
  edit media to help out
• Graphic design students
• digital media students
• Free software

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Choose the Ending!
A) A walk on the Beach
B) Threes a Crowd
C) An Unexpected Visitor
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Questions?
Photo from Flickr user alexanderdrachmann Used
under the Creative Commons License http//creative
commons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
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Thank you!

• Ramona Islam rislam_at_mail.fairfield.edu
• Leslie Porter lporter_at_auctr.edu
• View the entire movie online at
  http//faculty.fairfield.edu/mediacenter/library/

Photo from Flickr user Randy Son Of Robert Used
under the Creative Commons License http//creative
commons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en