Sneak preview

It is still a work in progress but here is our resource
APA Referencing in 3 easy steps

Simplify, simplify

Having spent some time finding and adding links in our Libguide to some of the fantastic resources others have developed on APA style, I am now peeling it back a bit. Trying to get enough to be useful, but not so much as to be overwhelming and keeping those bower-bird tendencies at bay.
I am also looking to move things around within pages to get a more consistent look and more predictability in terms of where to look for information.

Issues with Version 6 of APA

One of the main challenges with putting this guide together has been making sure the information is accurate and current. We need to be consulting the 6th Edition of the APA "bible" which has some important changes from the previous edition, but we're still waiting on the book to arrive! Jo sourced a summary online which is helping. From what we can gather, DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) are one of the main updates we need to include. This will mean re-scripting the electronic sources part of the "3 Easy Steps" spiel in CodeBaby which Dale has already done...hope he doesn't mind redoing that bit!

Consulting with Nursing Teachers

Yesterday I had a meeting with the Team Leader of Nursing to discuss the material we plan to include in our online resource. We want to ensure that the information students will access is relevant to their learning and relates directly to their course.

Feedback from the Team Leader was positive so now we need to concentrate on putting all the bits and pieces together.

It feels like we are making good progress.

Everyone is Busy

Dale, our multimedia developer, is exploring how we can integrate the avatar into the LibGuide. He is also developing a learning sequence based on Sandy's resources to show students how to reference in 3 easy steps.

Sandy is writing the avatar scripts for the learning sequence for the voice behind the avatar.

Jo is putting the LibGuide together, adding the resources and activities to the guide and grouping them into sections.

I am telling the world what we are doing by keeping this blog up to date.

Online Platform

We plan to use a LibGuide as the online platform for our resource in this project.

LibGuides is a Web 2.0 tool that libraries can use to manage content, share information and bring together multimedia resources.

The GippsTAFE library has purchased a licence for this tool and have been exploring how best to use it. They have created several guides and are finding it versatile and user friendly tool.

GippsTAFE LibGuides

The Role of the Avatar

At a recent meeting we discussed the role our avatar will take. Will it act purely as a guide to direct the students around the resource or will it also take on an instructional role? We plan to explore both possibilities as the project progresses. At this stage we will identify those parts of the resource where addition of the avatar will have the greatest impact and make those the priority.

Here are two interesting sites relating to the use of avatars, or interactive animated pedagogical agents as they are also known.

• Pedagogical Agents - A Primer
• Pedagogical Agents on the Web