need help for guided hands-on computer learning management

[mbelvadi]

Hi, we librarians constantly struggle with this when we do 'one off' sessions teaching library searching skills to other people's classes. I thought I'd pick your brains for ideas.
We have an in-library computer lab/classroom where every student has a computer in front of them. On the one hand, we can lecture/demo at the front for the first 30 minutes taking them through how to search the article database, navigate the results, etc., and then turn them loose to search their own topics for the rest of the class time while we wander around helping.  This is by far the easiest, but we suspect they don't learn as much and we have trouble holding their attention. OR we can try to have them follow along step by step, but inevitably someone clicks on the wrong things and requires intervention to get them back to the wrong place, and if you don't have an assistant, this brings the entire class to a halt. Also if we want to have them find a couple of articles on their own topic (rather than trying to force them to search exactly the same words as your demo topic, which most of them will ignore and do their own thing) and waiting for that a bit before taking them into how to export those citations to RefWorks, eg, some people are much more ahead than others and it feels like we're wasting the time of a big portion of the students.
Those of you who on a regular basis teach online skills in a computer-hands-on environment, please share your tips and advice!

[dr_codex]

I'm a strong believer that people learn best when applying something. Most demo sessions feel artificial because they are, well, artificial. I would prefer sending students out to do what they can at their own pace, with somebody there for support. Ideally they will both need to bring something back at the end of the session, and have a follow-on task (e.g. the next stage in a scaffolded research paper). Students who are ready can get ahead, and others can catch up.

[EdnaMode]

I'm in engineering so I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but I do teach students how to do things with computers on a regular basis. We have software installed on our instructor's computers that allows me to send what is shown on my screen out to the students' computers. I do this when I'm demoing new assignments that require the use of software, like FEA or CAD. I walk them through the procedure, and they can see it right in front of them, and they generally pay attention because they can't be doing other things on their computers and get distracted. I also strongly suggest they take notes.

I have "how to get started" types of handouts with the basic steps on them, and screengrabs of what it should look like, and I go through those steps when they're first learning so they have it on paper and also see it on the computer in real-time so they know what should happen if they click all the right buttons and input the right information. After doing a demo I set them free to get started and wander around the lab to help when they have any errors. I've tried the "follow along as I do it" method, and as you said, inevitably a few students get off track and then the others get bored whilst I'm trying to get the off track ones caught up. I think the handouts along with watching the demo in front of them combine to make pretty effective instruction.

[ergative]

I also teach a learn-how-to-use-this-software course, and I agree with mbelvadi that it's tricky to balance the needs of the slower students with the ones who catch on fast. One thing I do is add a lot of more advanced activities (or I suppose this could include more advanced functions, or more involved research tasks) at the bottom of the workshop material (e.g., an R script, or a handout). Then students who don't need so much handholding can move on along with activities, while students who need more help on the day can take something home to practice on.

[LibrariAnne]

For my 1 hour info lit sessions, I usually do about 15 minutes of showing, mainly because if they are following along and everyone tries to access the same eBook, chaos reigns. I'll ask for a topic that they are studying in whatever class that week if I don't already have an assignment from the instructor. Then we take a few minutes for the students to use their own topic and search for materials.

Once they have a results page, I'll show them how to narrow their results with the database filters. I'll ask who in the class thinks they found the most articles and we compare numbers.

If someone has a zero-results page, I'll ask for their search term and ask if I can try to replicate the search. I'll ask the class for theories as to why nothing was returned and to suggest alternate keywords or phrases.  Usually, it's because the student used a profoundly narrow search or typed in their entire thesis statement and needs to back up a few steps. We'll try different variations of search terms until we get results then narrow down to a manageable group.  I'll use Boolean operators, truncations, or whatever little database tips and tricks as I'm going along and will generally see students making notes about using the asterisk to search for more words at once.  This helps the students think outside the box and realize that there may be more that one word or phrase that can be used.

When they find an article they like, I show them the other functions of the database, such as emailing and citing. The citing always gets the "are you serious right now?" responses. Students always ask if they can email themselves the articles right then. I'll respond with an "ABSOLUTELY!! Go forth and email my child." (I'll usually get a snicker or a grin out of that)

We'll talk for a few minutes about the differences between a magazine and a journal and why using scholarly material is important to their research.

I'll show them our guides and how to get help if they get home and remember nothing. Then we have a quick assessment depending on the instructor and the class and before I know it, time's up.

I've found that the more I can engage the students and the more they are using search terms that are relevant to them, the better my classes go. I also have to change gears about every 20 minutes...that seems to be my students' attention span time frame. Laughter also works to keep them paying attention and I'll try to inject jokes or otherwise humorous snippets into my sessions.  OH! I have what I call "my bag o' nerd swag" where I toss all the things I pick up at conferences that students can pick something out of if they participate... A pen for the most results, a pad for the zero results, a camera cover for the student who knew what the log in credentials were...that sort of thing. That also encourages participation and breaks up the session.
Does this help?