The document provides an overview of designing and developing open online information literacy (IL) tutorials through a statewide cooperative library instruction project (CLIP). It discusses both what went wrong and what worked well in previous CLIP efforts. It then outlines the tutorial creation process, including defining the project goals and scope, researching the topic, choosing the intended learners or users, outlining the content, writing a script, storyboarding, choosing authoring software, building a working prototype, getting feedback through usability testing, making final edits, recording voiceovers, exporting the final tutorial, and packaging it for distribution. The goal is to create reusable and adaptable IL tutorials that can be shared across different higher education institutions in the state.
1. IL Tutorial Design &
Development – Part 1
Michael Baird
The Art Institute of Seattle
mjbaird@aii.edu
2. Cooperative Library Instruction Project
(CLIP)
• Create open IL tutorials to
be used by higher ed
statewide
• Partnership between
public university, research
I, private university,
community college
• Address state-mandated IL
competencies
• Flexible, adaptable
3. CLIP: What went wrong
• Planning tutorials before researching
• Production before setting style and
technology standards
• Well-defined methods for continued
cooperative participation
• Introducing unnecessary complexity
4. CLIP: What worked well
• Keeping the project open and portable, not
tied to any particular institution
• Hiring staff with extensive multimedia
experience
• Crowdsourcing for content ideas
• Statewide promotion and outreach
• Removing complexity from curation
6. Define the Project
• Refer to COIL project proposal form
• What IL skill/concept will this address? (are
these formally articulated?)
• Learning outcomes?
• Design and development?
8. Meet Your Stakeholders
• Interviews and meetings across disciplines
• Ask what they wish librarians could teach?
• What IL skills are their students lacking?
• Do they need to integrate IL into curriculum?
What are they struggling with?
• Ask to observe a class session
13. User Personas
• Create a short character sketch, or more if the
tutorial concept has potential for wide use
• Who will use the tutorial?
• What are their learning styles?
• Pre-existing skills?
• Cultural awareness?
• Have fun with it!
14. First Year / First
Generation Student
Name: James
Major: Music
Research experience: Using Google
Advanced web searching: none
Uses library resources: Pleasure reading
only
Computer skills: Basic web browsing, e-
mail, Facebook, chatting
Reading comprehension: high
Preferred learning style: Visual with
supporting audio
Likes: Short films, bright colors
Dislikes: Anything boring or slow
16. Goal Statement
• What can the student do that they couldn’t
before? Self-check throughout the entire
process to be sure you stick to this
• Stay on track when distracted by shiny
graphics, clever interactive elements, or fine
details that do not matter
18. Considerations
• Do you need built-in assessment?
• Will there be video clips?
• Will there be video recordings of your screen?
• Is accessibility a priority?
• Where will the output go?
21. Outline
• Organize the tutorial topic into major areas
• Break down those areas to granular concepts
appropriate for audience
• This is just a draft, the point is getting all ideas
committed to paper
23. Script Writing
• This will eventually be your voiceover
• Use your outline to write a narrative
• Keep your word choice, syntax, and tone
appropriate to the audience
• Refer to your prepared personas!
25. What Goes Where
• Storyboards are a draft visual layout of the
tutorial
• PowerPoint is a great tool to organize this,
even if the tutorial is entirely a video
• Also fine to use tutorial authoring software
• Gather images, decide where they go
– Track attribution for images, ideas, etc.
• Choose text wisely, less is more
27. Full-Featured Comparison
Captivate Camtasia
• Uses slides in a familiar way, • The entire project belongs
like PowerPoint to a single timeline, similar
• Detail and customization to audio editing
have high potential, with • Excellent quality screen
high learning curve capture function with many
• Poor quality screen features
recording function • Lower learning curve
• Output can be Flash or • Output can be Flash or
YouTube-ready video YouTube-ready video
28. Lite Software
Jing
• It’s free
• Learning curve is nearly flat
• Files are hosted with TechSmith, or you can
download and host on your own server
• No editing available, all-or-nothing, 5 minute limit
• Best use: single-purpose, tool-based, how-to
screen capture videos.
29. Audio Software
Audacity LameDrop
(new version is LameDropXpd,
I have not used it yet)
• Excellent free audio editing • Free one-step audio
tool compression tool with high
quality results
• Moderate learning curve
• Drag and drop functionality
• Lots of advanced options • Reduces large, high-quality
after you get your feet wet audio uncompressed files to
small, high-quality
compressed files
30. Image Editing Software
Paint.NET
• http://www.getpaint.net
• Free, very high quality image editor
• All functionality you need for cropping,
resizing, changing resolution
• Low learning curve
36. Keep Your First Voice Simple
• This is just a draft, mistakes are fine
• This is to evaluate timing, get a sense of flow,
transition, and pace
• Use authoring software recording tool, quality
is unimportant
38. Line ‘Em Up
• Adjust your visual and audio objects to
roughly line up
• Again, keep it simple, it’s just a draft
• Edit as you go, eliminating and adding as it
makes sense
– Think about flow
– Think about pace
– Think about timing
42. Find an Editor or Seven
• COIL will have a peer-review process in place
• Additionally,
– Track down the faculty you interviewed at the
beginning, non-librarians are essential
– Track down students in classes you initially
observed
– Use bribes for students
44. Usability – Another Dirty Word
• Keep it simple
• Steve Krug – “Rocket
Surgery Made Easy”
– http://www.sensible.com/
rsme.html
• Even 1-2 participants are
very valuable
45. Usability – Sample Test
• Have student perform a simple activity based
on tutorial learning goal
• Have student view the draft tutorial
• Ask questions
– Was the tutorial easy to understand?
– Did the images make sense? Distract?
– Did you feel you learned something?
• Have student perform the same activity
• Compare results
47. Final Edits
• Honest evaluation comparing with project
outcomes/goal statement, does it work?
• Last edits for text choice, transitions, imagery,
etc.
49. Voice Recording
• Make the best audio possible
• Invest in a good microphone
– Blue Snowball works great, around $100
• Likely need to record audio in separate
software
50. Practical Tips
• Use a quiet room
• Reduce echo with at-hand items
• Quiet computer reduces background noise
• Fluorescent lights can “hum”
• Do all recording in one session
• Use a pop shield
• Keep beverages handy
• Make each slide/section a single uninterrupted
clip
• Captivate, specifically, has poor quality
51. Audio Quality Comparison
Less desirable More desirable
https://www.wou.edu/provost http://www.youtube.com/wat
/library/clip/tutorials/internet ch?v=psaOdZFPTEM
_tips.htm
53. Final Tweaks
• Fine-tune text and images to properly align
with audio recordings
• Only do this as the final step, it is incredibly
time-intensive
• Fully export the tutorial to its final format for
previewing
55. Make it Public
• YouTube works very well
– Can be embedded just about anywhere
– Does not use your system (storage and
bandwidth) resources
– Solid closed captioning features for accessibility
• Flash has its plusses too
– Extensive options for interactivity
– SCORM-compliant quiz functionality
57. Collect All Assets
• Zip files work great to keep everything
together
• What you will need to include:
– Primary source file(s) (Camtasia, Captivate, etc.)
– Original audio clips
– Images (everything, including template images)
– Outline
– Script
– Text file with attribution information