Using Technology to Prepare World Class School Librarians to ...

Implementation of LIBR 233
Following the August 20, 2007 web conference orientation session for students and
instructors, the LIBR 233 Blackboard site was officially launched and coursework began. The
students quickly became comfortable navigating the components of Blackboard. Emphasis was
placed on communicating the details of project-based work, as recommended by Pribesh,
Dickinson, and Bucher (2006) in a study comparing online and face-to-face cohorts in a school
library media specialist graduate program.
Students regularly checked the Announcement section of Blackboard (Figure 1). Students
then proceeded to the Course Documents section (Figure 2) where color-coded folders grouped
PowerPoint presentations, links to recorded Elluminate sessions, assignments, and related
handouts needed for each of LIBR 233’s units. Figure 3 provides an example of the contents of
the Unit 1 folder.
Figure 1. Blackboard Announcement directing students to Course Documents.
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