Intute - Virtual Training Suite - Using the Virtual Training Suite (VTS) in a staff development workshop

Using the Virtual Training Suite in library information skills training

Ideas from Bristol University that might be adapted for use by others responsible for the delivery of staff development and training in Internet skills and eLiteracy.

Institutional setting: a case study from the University of Bristol, written by Emma Place who runs a staff development course for lecturers and researchers called “Finding Resources on the Internet for Learning, Teaching and Research”.

Why did we use the VTS? The VTS tutorials are ideal for staff development in Internet skills and eLiteracy. Their subject-focus helps staff from different faculties to quickly see the relevance of the Internet for their work, and enables an Internet training session run for staff from different faculties to seem relevant to all.

How did we use the VTS? We run this half-day course for staff a couple of times a year as part of the University of Bristol’s Staff Development programme http://www.iser.bris.ac.uk/cgi-bin/sdev/courselist.pl The aims and objectives, plan, workbook and presentation slides for this workshop are all given here.

Conclusion and recommendations: The course has proven popular with staff for a few years now. Although some academics are very net-savvy, there are still many who are keen to learn the basics. The workbook that they can take away with them is particularly popular, suggesting that while eLearning suits some, others still prefer a face-to-face course with printed materials.

Institutional setting

We use VTS in a staff development course called "Finding resources on the Internet for learning, teaching and research".

This is a half-day course run as part of a suite of Learning Technology Courses http://www.iser.bris.ac.uk/cgi-bin/sdev/courselist.pl?sect=ltare run by the Learning Technology Support Service http://www.ltss.bris.ac.uk/ at the University of Bristol.

These are part of the extensive range of courses run for all university staff as part of the suite of University of Bristol Staff Development Current Courses http://www.iser.bris.ac.uk/cgi-bin/sdev/courselist.pl

The University is an old university with a large staff, many of whom are interested in research as well as teaching. Over the last few years a number of lecturers and post-graduate researchers different faculties have attended the course, with overall positive feedback.

Why did we use the VTS?

Well partly because we developed the VTS here in Bristol! The VTS tutorials are ideal for staff development in Internet skills and eLiteracy. Their subject-focus helps staff from different faculties to quickly see the relevance of the Internet for their work, and enables an Internet training session run for staff from different faculties to seem relevant to all.

We hope that the sessions will:

Ensure Bristol research staff are able to maximise their use of the Internet for their research
Ensure that Bristol teaching staff are able to maximise use of the Internet for their teaching
Ensure that Bristol students are getting good eLiteracy advice from their teachers

How did we use VTS?

We run this half-day staff development course twice a year:

The course is advertised to all staff thus:

Finding resources on the Internet for learning, teaching and research
Description:	An introduction to finding resources on the Internet that can support learning, teaching and research. The workshop will introduce some key national Internet services for the academic community. It will also look at a selection of Internet search tools, which can be used to find resources such as: online newspapers and books, electronic journals, scholarly email discussion groups, organisational Websites, online teaching resources, images and databases accessible over the web.
Pre-requisites:	Familiarity with Windows and the World Wide Web.
Duration:	0.5 of a day 14:00 - 17:00

Target audience

University staff: lecturers, researchers, library or IT staff from all subject disciplines

Course Aim:

To learn how to find information on the Internet that can support academic work

Objectives:

Tour key Internet sites for academics
Discover how to search the Internet for academic information
Review pros and cons of Internet information
Let you explore sites and build a list if useful links to take away

Plan:

Session	Method	Learning Activity	Timing
		Introductions	(5 mins)
1	Presentation	A Guided tour of the Internet for academics	(20 mins)
1A	Hands-on:	Exploring key generic sites (workbook: section1)	(25 mins)
2	Presentation	The Internet for your subject	(20 mins)
2A	Hands-on:	Exploring key subject sites (workbook: section 2)	(25 mins)
		TEA BREAK	(20 mins)
3	Presentation	Searching the Internet for academic info'	(20 mins)
3A	Hands-on:	Internet search tools (workbook: section 3)	(25 mins)
4	Presentation	Pros and cons of Internet use	(10 mins)
		Questions and evaluation	(10 mins)

Resources

Requirements

A networked computer suite (so each participant has access to the Web for the hands-on sessions
The Powerpoint presentation
Copies of the workbook for each participant
Evaluation forms
Tea and coffee for the break

Session1:

A Guided tour of the Internet for academics

After introductions, the tutor runs through the first part of the powerpoint presentation, which offers a guided tour of the Internet for academics.

Although the slides are brief, there are hyperlinks to the Web sites, and the tutor connects to some of these to illustrate their key features to participants.

This is followed by a hands-on session where participants are given the chance to explore some of the sites themselves. They are given the option to either work through Section 1 of the workbook, or to explore the sites that particularly interest them.

As they go they are encouraged to fill in the sheet at the back of the workbook, so that they leave the workshop with their own personalised list of useful Web links.

During the hands-on the tutor encourages individual questions so any participants looking for specific information on the Internet can get individual help.

Session 2:

The Internet for your subject

The tutor runs through the second part of the powerpoint presentation which highlights two resources which give an overview of key Internet resources for different subject areas (one of which is the Virtual training Suite).

Again, the hyperlinks enable the tutor to demo the Web sites and highlight key features.

A hands-on session follows, where participants work through section 2 of the workbook, which asks them to select the VTS tutorial most relevant to their subject interest and spend some time exploring it.

Session 3

Searching the Internet for academic information

The tutor runs through the third part of the powerpoint presentation, which introduces Internet search tools that can be used to find academic information.

Demonstrations are given of each tool, highlighting the key features.

A hands-on session follows, where participants work trough section 3 of the workbook, which asks them to compare searches of Intute, Google and Yahoo.

Session4

Pros and cons of Internet use

The tutor runs through the fourth part of the powerpoint presentation, which highlights the need for critical evaluation of Internet resources and the problem of plagarism.

Participants are pointed to useful references to follow up on these issues.

Questions are then invited on any points arising from the workshop.

Before they leave, participants are asked to fill in an evaluation form.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The VTS tutorials fit in well with the aims and objectives of this course - as they do not offer generic or technical Internet training, but focus specifically on how the Internet can support education and research.
The course has proven popular with staff for a few years now. Although some academics are very net-savvy, there are still many who are keen to get an overview of the key tips and tricks for using it for research and teaching.
The workbook that they can take away with them is popular, suggesting that while eLearning suits some, others still prefer a face-to-face course with printed materials.
The combination of eLearning, a printed workbook and face-to-face tutor-support seems to work well. This is really how we envisaged the VTS would work best - as a tool to support local training, offering a suite of options for learners with different needs and preferences.