We need module rockin’, not perfection: creating library content for an LMS

The Georgia Tech campus switched to a new LMS, Canvas, in 2018, and subject librarians began creating library content for Canvas in the following year. After the campus shifted to remote and hybrid learning in response to the global health crisis in spring 2020, high-quality asynchronous learning materials became critical. Synchronous, virtual instruction was deprioritized.

The shift to online instruction seemed like an ideal opportunity for the library to reach new audiences. Library instructors are double- and triple-booked for classes. Canvas modules on research skills, media literacy, and plagiarism could supplement or replace librarian-led instruction and support a flipped-classroom model. Librarians could extend their instruction reach beyond face-to-face instruction as well as target just-in-time research skills for students.

Librarians discussed several potential learning modules on topics such as information literacy, database searching and avoiding plagiarism. Modules would include interactive elements in the form of quizzes and surveys. The project co-leaders also invited a new partner, campus IT, to create a space for library instruction in Canvas, enabling them to publish their modules in the Canvas Commons.

The Georgia Tech Library was able to meet students where they were in a new learning environment. The library is inspired to further develop its suite of asynchronous offerings as a complement to live instruction, post-pandemic.