Classrooms

Different Shapes and Sizes Of ‘Classrooms

Information Literacy Instruction happens at every level, from one on one to one-shot classes to ongoing curriculum in formal institutions. When thinking about how to offer a computer class to your patrons, focus on what you have, not what you don’t have.

Here are some different places that I’ve done computer classes, with two computers, three, four, and more!

One computer. I probably should have turned it on for this picture, so it would look more alive. Next time… next time.

This little computer all by itself in the YA section of the library could be a great classroom.

For one thing, during the school day, when all the YA’s are at school, the area is pretty quiet, so you can have animated conversation about computer things with your student.

Just one computer by itself probably isn’t the most efficient classroom, but if it’s what you have, then it’s better than nothing, right?

These computers are normally used for the library’s online catalog. For the few hours of the class, we made them able to access the whole Internet. There are three more computers in this 2,500 sq. ft. branch – two that are specifically for the Internet, and another catalog computer. By taking over two of the three catalog computers, we minimized the impact on the library’s regular functions, which were happening all around us during the class. You might notice that these two computers are right by the front door, and there’s a portion of the reference collection between the two screens…

Four computers:

There are four computers here, but one of them is a “15 minute Internet terminal,” and we didn’t know how to shut off that feature at first.  The classes at this branch became very popular, so we eventually figured out how to free it up for the class.

These are all Internet stations, and students had to sign in to use them. The library’s limit is one hour per person, per day, so we had to figure out a good work around for that one: Guest passes with longer time limits on them.

Four or five computers:

This library is about 100 miles away from the last one, but still in our district. Here you can see four catalog computers that we gave access to the Internet for the class.

In the distance you can see a fifth computer that could have been used for a fifth student, had we had one. Well, now that people know there are classes at their branch, maybe next time there will be!

More than four:

This isn’t the library computer lab. It’s a computer lab at the middle school. The library in this town has some computers, but jumped at the chance to conduct the class in this lab – there’s a projector, even:

On the down-side, the room was over 80 degrees when we got there, and it took about forty-five minutes to get the temperature down. We had seven students in the first class and five in the second. Having a large computer lab has its pros and cons – you can get more students into your class, but you have to run faster to get from person to person and back to the front again to keep teaching. I was glad I was there with two other people to help me keep everyone on track.