Education: Make That Transition from Face-to-Face to Virtual Instruction

Many health sciences librarians employed in academic institutions can come to feel pressured to enhance medical library education by offering online courses versus traditional face-to-face classroom interactions. Serving fourth-year medical students, for example, can sometimes be hit-or-miss as students feverishly hurtle through activities before Match Day. Online experiences can, therefore, be decidedly welcome among this patron group. (Match Day, by the way, is the day when newly minted, or soon to be newly minted, medical doctors find out if they have found a placement at one of a select number of residency programs around the nation.)

For librarians teaching students how to search PubMed—for credit, no less—the pressure to conduct online instruction can be somewhat daunting at the best of times. However, the relatively recent switch to the new PubMed interface makes transitioning a course on PubMed from a physical environment to a virtual one extremely knotty—not to mention ill-timed.

So, what happens when librarians must adapt and must make that transition from face-to-face to virtual instruction, particularly under less than optimal circumstances? Where and how to begin? Sometimes the only way to tackle a mammoth project is to start with the basics. Draft a list of unknowns or a series of questions pertaining to the would-be project. Such a list might include a few of the following suggestions and considerations:

• Can current instruction be easily transferred into video format?
• What video application or video software would provide the highest quality product?
• What are the costs associated with producing a video or a series of videos? Would an online platform be a solid and affordable alternative versus downloadable video-casting software?
• What is the learning curve for achieving a comprehensive and user-friendly end product?
• Is it better to present material in stages or to present it in one comprehensive package—as a series of videos or a single video?
• What are the consequences if the user cannot access the video due to technical difficulties at either end? Can the video or videos be backed up or made available in an alternative format such as a zipped file sent via email?
• Depending upon which platform is utilized to produce the video or videos, how easy is it to make and to effect changes?
• Should the video or videos include an audio component? If so, how do you record for quality results? How do you avoid background noise and static?
• If the video includes an audio component, how best to capture the narrative? Who is responsible for the script or scripts? What happens if changes must be made and the original narrator is unavailable? Do you scrap the entire production and start anew?
• What about Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design and the use of closed captions?
• Should videos be branded in some way? Should a template be established and followed for all video presentations?
• How do you strategize a video to keep it visually interesting as well as to control pacing?
• In cases where more than one instructor is involved in instructional activities, how do you develop a video or a video series that represents one and all? Is such a feat practical or even possible?
• How do you select an effective teaching style that adapts well to video presentations? Are several teaching styles acceptable for video or can alternate styles appear somewhat unfocused and/or messy? Can this be resolved by presenting the project as multiple videos?
• Can the video software or the video application support an interactive component? Is interactivity necessary to cement the ideas captured in the video content?
• Where and how should videos and accompanying materials be placed in the virtual domain, especially in situations in which an accepted online teaching platform is not available?
• What is the timeline for producing a video or a video series? How many people should be involved with the project?

A number of websites provide direction for instructional videos, including Columbia University’s Center for Teaching and Learning and Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching. Follow the links and check them out. In the meantime, do not let fear hold you back or keep you from venturing into bold, new, diverse, teaching frontiers!