Author Archives: steven bell

Testing the Value of Librarian Interventions Is No Easy Task

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Have you ever considered conducting a quasi-experimental research project in order to determine if one of your learning interventions helped students to be academically successful. It can be a powerful way to demonstrate Blended Librarian value, but there are pitfalls to be aware in order to avoid them. Here are some ideas on how to avoid the most common pitfalls that doom experimental research to failure. Continue reading Testing the Value of Librarian Interventions Is No Easy Task→

Beyond Instructional Designer to Learning Experience Designer

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Learning Experience Designer (or LX Designer) is still quite rare a job position in higher education. It’s a blend of instructional designer and user experience design. But what exactly does an LX Designer do? A job description and EdSurge article may shed some light on that question. Continue reading Beyond Instructional Designer to Learning Experience Designer→

Time Well Spent At the Teaching Academy

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This spring I attended my Teaching & Learning Center’s Provost’s Teaching Academy. Me and mostly non-librarian faculty. Find out what my big takeaways were and why Blended Librarians have much to gain from attending a teaching academy. Continue reading Time Well Spent At the Teaching Academy→

Knowing and Recommending Edtech Tools (even when you might not use them)

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Do you like discovering and learning about new edtech tools? This column shares a few new ones – or at least new to this blogger. Should librarian-educators stick to the edtech they can use – or should they learn about the ones that might be useful to non-library faculty? Continue reading Knowing and Recommending Edtech Tools (even when you might not use them)→

Going With Gamification or Giving Up?

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Are you having success with gamification at your library, perhaps in conjunction with instruction activity or the curation of learning activity? Or did you try it and give up in frustration. According to some experts, we are still trying to figure out whether gamification lives up to the hype. Continue reading Going With Gamification or Giving Up?→

What’s Holding Back Faculty Adoption of EdTech?

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If instructors were recognized and rewarded for experimenting with and adopting new educational technologies in their classrooms that could significantly change Blended Librarians’ ability to work collaboratively with faculty for greater use of library and non-library learning technology. The current system is the problem not the solution Continue reading What’s Holding Back Faculty Adoption of EdTech?→

Dealing With Digitally Distracted Students

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Student distraction is a significant problem. Well, a problem perhaps for the librarian-educator. Not so much for the students who have some interesting opinions about their use of the devices that lead to distraction. A new study sheds some light on the degree to which electronic distraction is happening, and it may encourage Blended Librarians to consider how to use their skills to keep students focused on learning, participating, discussing, and achieving engagement with the class. Continue reading Dealing With Digitally Distracted Students→