Online education at the point of need: Growing a video program in a time of change and constraints

Abstract

Objective: To create a larger and more efficient online video tutorials program to better serve not only our on-campus community, but also the increasing number of distance learning communities that are part of all 5 professional health sciences schools and the large academic medical center we serve.Method: Video tutorials complement, and increasingly replace, traditional teaching options. They are integral to the LibGuides we create for departments and classes and are important in our online learning environment. This past year was a time of transition in our program, with staff changes leading to the hiring of a student assistant. Creating a training program was challenging in the short time available, but it became clear also that our program was suffering from growing pains in other areas, and we needed to carefully evaluate our process to discover where the problems lay. We developed a spreadsheet to provide detailed tracking of each step of the video creation process, from planning to final approval. In addition, we assessed our training plan, focusing on training new staff in our production standards and in the video creation program.Results: We identified problem areas in both production and training. We have developed and implemented a new production plan, which is more effective and efficient. Our new training plan allows us to more easily integrate new staff—whether student or permanent staff—into the process, which will happen each year. We are now creating more videos for a larger and more varied set of users, as more programs move to an online environment