23+Things+project

=The 23 Things Pilot Program= Amy Hightower Information Literacy & E-Learning The University of Western Australia Library

23 Things is a technology training program designed to encourage participants to explore online technologies and services that are new to them. Originally developed by Helene Blowers for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 23 Things was published online under a Creative Commons license, and has subsequently been run by over three hundred libraries around the world. At UWA, the program was trialled as a means of addressing a need for staff training and development, and to determine the resources required to deliver the program on a larger scale.

The pilot ran for five weeks in April and May 2099, covering ten of the twenty-three concepts or ‘Things’, including topics devoted to blogging, wikis and tagging, and was delivered in two parts: an online, self-directed learning component and a face-to-face workshop component. Participants were expected to conduct the majority of their learning on their own online, with the workshops being offered to provide structured assistance for those who struggled and to introduce more advanced concepts. Material for the online component was presented weekly through the 23 Things UWA blog (http://23thingsuwa.wordpress.com), including background information on the topic and technologies/services, as well as instructions for completing that week’s task(s). Participants completed tasks by using the technologies or services and then blogging about their experience in doing so.

The pilot was developed and delivered by the Library’s Information Literacy and E-Learning Unit, drawing heavily from programs run by Murdoch University Library and McMaster University Library. Sixteen staff from all areas and levels in the Library participated in the pilot program which was extremely well received. All participants have demonstrated a clear increase in knowledge of, and comfort in, using online technologies; some have already begun making suggestions for using these tools and concepts within the workplace. A proposal has been made to run the program in full, beginning shortly after the commencement of second semester 2009.

Ms Amy Hightower Senior Library Officer 2 Information Resources Access Management (IRAM) Phone 6488 1672 MBDP M209 Email ahightow@library.uwa.edu.au