Bella Karr Gerlich

Bio: Bella Karr Gerlich is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Digitization & Special collections. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 7 citations.

Arts Instruction in the Age of Technology: Providing Library Services to Support Studio and Survey Faculty Who Use Technology for Instruction. (Communications)

Abstract: Where students once came into higher learning equipped with pencils and protractors, paintbrushes and easels, scores and record player, today's art student arrives armed with laptop, speakers, and wireless card. Just as academic institutions must adapt and restructure instruction modules around the twenty-first-century student, so must university libraries provide new services to support studio and survey faculty as they change teaching methodologies and pedagogies. At Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, services to support technology in education include digitization workstations, creating and maintaining digital image collections, and implementing audio e-reserves. ********** At Carnegie Mellon University, the libraries acknowledge that instructional methods are becoming increasingly technological. To that end, each of the three facilities that comprise the University Libraries (Hunt Library, Engineering and Science Library, and Mellon Institute Library) has been supplying electronic databases and online resources for the campus community for some time. For the College of Fine Arts studio and survey courses, however, it became clear that in order for faculty to be successful using technology in the classroom, additional library services were going to be needed beyond changing subscription formats from print to electronic resources. Providing these new services for the art faculty are the staff in the Arts and Special Collections department in Hunt Library, whose areas of specialization and collection responsibilities support the arts disciplines. Canvas versus Computer Screen Until recently, studio and survey faculty in the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon were satisfied to continue teaching using tried and true instruction methodologies that required little or no technological skill or knowledge: group lecture and critique sessions, analog slides and in-library audio listening assignments, library print collections, and term papers printed on good, old-fashioned twenty-pound white stock. It was obvious in isolated conversations that some faculty were proud of their luddite tendencies, but when informal polling by library staff began in earnest, another side of the story began to emerge: most studio and survey faculty were simply uncertain as to how the library could help them to begin using technology for teaching, and up until this juncture, it didn't really seem to matter. Students seemed content learning in the old, precomputer ways--but were they? Students Want Digital In 2000 and 2001, Carnegie Mellon University was ranked number one by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine in its annual survey of the one hundred "most wired" colleges and universities in the United States. (1) It's no surprise then that within the College of Fine Arts, we found students have their feet planted in both old and new learning environments. Not a day goes by when you won't find students sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of some section of the library stacks, leafing through page after page of books old and new, searching for inspirations for their own work. When it comes to classroom presentations and learning styles, however, most students we talked to preferred the digital world as opposed to analog presentation. Library staff soon began to notice that students were often converting print images or sound files to digital for projects. Immediate access to resources also seemed a primary concern when it came to writing a paper or presenting supporting materials: time is clearly a critical factor in preparation and often the students turned first to online resources. From our observations it is clear that these students are well-equipped to use technology for gathering information and representing points of view. Over the past couple of years, faculty have begun to notice an increase in the number of students requesting the use of classroom facilities equipped with computer projection to present materials. …

Bringing the Studio into the Library: Addressing the Research Needs of Studio Art and Architecture Students

Abstract: For the academic art and architecture librarian, two of the most difficult groups to draw into the library are the studio art and architecture students. These students often do not regard the library as logically fitting into their studio projects or course work, and as a result do not recognize their own valid and extremely challenging research needs. This is not to say that all studio students are unsuccessful researchers or that they never use the library. Nor is this to say that librarians, when asked, immediately have all the services and answers for these students when the latter do use the library. The difficulty lies in aligning these unique student needs with what are perceived as tradi tional library public services. This is rather tricky, particularly when such alignments question or confront what is meant by traditional library public services. Throw into the mix the ever

Expectancy theory as a predictor of faculty motivation to use a course management system

Abstract: .................................................................................................................... ii ACKOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER

Challenges facing higher education: faculty’s concerns about technologies of social media

Abstract: Although research concerning technology adoption and use has been extensive, it has mainly been limited to developed countries. The lack of research in online technology field in developing countries strongly limits the development of online technology infrastructure and the use of online technology at many levels: individuals, groups, organisations, and regions. This study seeks to investigate the concerns of 327 Turkish higher education faculty members regarding adoption of social media in their instruction and the faculty development opportunities to resolve their concerns. Two different data collection methods were utilised to collect data from the participants. The survey contained three parts: a faculty demographics section b stages of concern questionnaire c professional development needs survey. Qualitative data obtained from the structured levels of use interviews. Results of the study indicated that the instructors were concerned about not having enough support and not knowing enough about social media use in instruction. Faculty members with less experience had higher self-concerns than their peers with more social media experience. Results of interviews supported the higher rate of self-concerns. Of the 12 faculty development and support activities analysed, technology support and incentives were perceived as the most effective ones.

Awareness of Information and Communication Technology-Based Information Resources in Library User Education Programmes in Colleges of Education in Southern Nigeria

Abstract: The study investigated awareness of information and communication technology-based information resources in library user education programmes in South-South Nigeria. Three research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 1022 respondents which consist of 62 staff and 960 library users. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire of a four-point rating scale and observation checklist. Tools used for data analysis of research questions were frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation; t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at selected probability of 0.05 level significance. The findings revealed that more than half of the listed ICT-based resources were available in the six colleges of education libraries under study. The study also shows that the respondents had high awareness on these items. It was deduced from the findings that the method used to a high extent for awareness of ICT-based resources for user education programmes in colleges of education libraries was conferences. The study recommended among others, that, colleges of education authorities should embark on capacity building programmes in terms of training and re-training of librarians on ICT awareness. Keywords: Awareness, Information Resources, User education, ICT

Teaching visual arts with digital technologies

Abstract: Visual arts education has been significantly influenced by technological progress and attracted significant research attention. This study focuses on how the exploration of visual arts in a digital environment (art software) shapes new ways for children to improve their visual literacy and social skills. The study followed a mixed methodology design that included observations, tests, children’s digital creative works, and works with ordinary materials. A 3-month intervention was implemented with a class of 21 primary students (12 years of age) and 1 teacher in Greece. Each week, students were introduced to, and explored, works of art (paintings of the late nineteenth to early decades of the twentieth century) through an educational art software application specially designed for this intervention. Students were engaged with interactive activities using the computer and learned to critically observe and understand the aesthetic characteristics of the paintings. Through a process of thoughtful dialogue and writing routines, students enhanced their visual perception and expressed their judgments about the aesthetic value of the observed artworks. Additionally, students designed and created their individual or collective pieces of art with digital and physical means. Findings suggest that the intervention had a positive influence on students’ creative engagement and aesthetic perception and value of artworks and on promoting peer collaboration. Overall, the study offers useful insights for teachers on how to efficiently integrate technology into visual arts education to support children in becoming informed citizens, critical consumers, and creative producers in this highly visual information age.