Wherever You Are: Engaging Learning Experiences for Distance and Online Learners

This presentation formed one part of a 5-person panel presentation on Engaging Strategies to Teach Information Literacy to Distance Learners, sponsored by the Educational Media and Technologies Section of the Medical Library Association. This presentation focused on distance and online learning options for providing information literacy instruction from VT University Libraries, with a focus on health and life sciences. Examples discussed include the full online course, Graduate Library Research Skills; the Advanced Research Skills Certificate program for undergraduates; one information literacy session for a fully online, asynchronous course; and two course-specific examples of flipped library information literacy sessions (online / in-person and online / via webinar). Each example included a verbal summary of the content, context, activities included, and assessment methods, as well as positive results and challenges. The presentation concludes with two examples of additional ways to engage distance and online learners in more open-ended special topics events, such as through online meeting software for real-time attendance, or event pages with materials and video recordings of events for later self-directed use.