When Computers in Libraries concluded this year I was all gung-ho for overhauling my library system’s computer classes. We’re still offering Mouse Skills and Internet Basics, and the ocassional advanced Excel or Word class. I had, previously, tried offering more fun classes like blogging and advanced searching, but had gotten no turn-out at all. My patron-base is still comprised on beginners, so I finally had to concede that I couldn’t rush them. However, I think I may have found a way to spice things up a bit. I had a big turn-out for a recent 3-session course on Excel. At the end of the final session I took a few minutes to demo Google Docs and Spreadsheets. It was amazing to see the light bulbs go on over their heads when they saw a real-time demonstration of the collaborative features of 2.0. Based on just that demo, I drummed up some serious interest in a class covered just what Google’s Office-esque components can do. Once I have a few students turned on to the wonders of web-based applications, who knows where I can go from there! Maybe at the end of that class, I can do a demo of Flickr or del.icio.us or Picnik… Hey, wait! What if I built into each class, a 10 minute presentation of one applicable-to-the-class topic web freebie! I think I might be onto something here!
Filed under: teaching
I think that’s a good idea. There is so much out there online that you can show.
Thanks for the encouragement, Leah! I’m teaching a blogging class this week and unlike the last time I offered it (back in Janurary), I have a lot of people interested in it. I think it’s just going to take a lot more work than I was expecting to drum up interest, but change is never easy, right?