A collaborative venture
Toward the end of 2020, a group of eager students started attending digital literacy classes at the TAFE NSW Wollongong Library. Robert Ivancic shares how teaching and library staff worked together, not only to create sessions designed to improve digital literacy skills, but also support the culturally and linguistically diverse community in the Illawarra.
The students, enrolled in the Certificate I and II of Spoken and Written English, attended a wide range of digital literacy classes. These included: using the student portal and TAFE email; word processing; searching the library catalogue and internet. Each session lasted 90 minutes and included practical activities that reinforced the students’ learning needs. This is the second year that this program has been run and will hopefully continue in 2021.
Lower-level English speakers of other languages (ESOL) students face the combined challenge of learning English and learning to use technology. Given that library computer facilities are regularly used by ESOL students and teachers, building a relationship
with teachers is an essential step in promoting information and digital literacy. I asked the question, ‘How can we make the lives of teachers easier?’ One of our regular teachers suggested that we offer digital classes during term breaks. By running smaller classes with more staff, we could improve student use of digital hardware and software. The suggestion was enthusiastically accepted, but the new question was whether students were willing to come in during their own time? In 2019, a pilot project using one class was run at the end of semester two. The project was so successful that students from other classes dropped in without registering!
This success helped forge a growing relationship between library staff and the ESOL faculty. Regular contact was key to maintaining this relationship, with promotion of services and resources through the year. In 2020, teacher Jen Panucci became our unofficial faculty liaison. We decided to run another series of digital classes at the end of semester two and she suggested we extend the invitation to all lower-level ESOL classes. Jen was instrumental in communicating, coordinating and coaxing her fellow teachers to promote these end of year classes.
Teacher involvement was integral to the success of the program. Some teachers kept in regular contact with their students, sending personal reminders in case they forgot. The classes were flexible, in that students could just drop in and attend one class or more.
Asking students questions during class had the benefit of encouraging spontaneous conversation. At the end of a session on using the catalogue, library staff helped students find books in the collection. This joint activity not only encouraged us to chat with each other, but it was also a great way to introduce students to some hidden resources in the collection, like demonstrating Foxton reader QR codes linked to audio recordings.
Collaboration is hard work, but if we are to survive and prosper in libraries, collaboration should be constantly at the forefront of our thoughts and actions. The delivery of education has changed and continues to evolve. With this in mind, we ourselves as a profession continue to evolve.