Guide on the Side: Testing the Tool and the Tutorials

Abstract

Guide-on-the-Side (GOTS) open source software is emerging as a popular new platform for library tutorials. Unlike video tutorials, GOTS tutorials provide an active learning experience for students. This research sought to determine student preference for passive video screencast tutorials versus interactive GOTS tutorials. In addition, the study compared creation time for GOTS versus video screencast tutorials, an important consideration in the adoption of this technology. Findings suggest that students are evenly split on tutorial preference, largely based on their individual learning styles. Furthermore, results showed that GOTS tutorials take significantly longer to create than simple screencasts, but may save time in the long-run because they are easily edited.

KEYWORDS:

• tutorials
• information literacy
• online learning
• library instruction
• user studies
• undergraduates