Rhonda Altonen

Welcome

Welcome to my ePortfolio. Here you you can view my experience, education, professional development, and other activities). You can find my resume, certifications, or look at my contact info. After completing my graduate work in library science I found a natural transition into instructional design and am now pursuing my MS in Instructional Design & Technology (IDT) program at Emporia State University where my coursework is focused on educational technology, the user experience and it’s impact on adult and distance learners.

I am often asked how I can connect being a librarian and instructional designer. Librarians use instructional design everyday. At it’s most basic, ID is the practice of arranging content and media to help transfer knowledge to learners. ID is the systematic planning of instruction including needs assessment, development, evaluation, implementation, and evaluation of materials and practices.

One of my goals is to combines traditional library and information technology skills with instructional design and technology skills as well as knowledge of collections of instructional resources and current trends in developing and distributing instructional resources. The future of  librarianship requires the ability to integrate services and practices into the teaching and learning process for all users and learners.

In my research and encounters of the user experiences I think the most pressing issue that libraries, especially public libraries, need to address is the usability of the catalog. I am referring not only to the “user-friendliness” of our OPACs, but also to the “discoverability” of our data by general purpose search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Recent literature refers to the  “Deep Web,” that vast repository of Web content that is hidden within databases; ironically, it is our own holdings data that is too often hidden from sight. Furthermore, to search most of our proprietary OPACs requires our users to learn some of the jargon used by professional librarians, and when our users do finally succeed in getting a non-empty results list, the display is often hard to decipher without knowing more of our technical terms. The short-term solution is a re-design of our OPACs—insofar as it is within our ability to modify them—and several rounds of usability testing with actual patrons. The long-term solution is open source ILSs which will give us all the control we need over internal representations of our data and its external presentation to the Web.

As a lifelong learner and a student of adult learning styles I have always been intrigued with how adult learning works and how this process can be used when looking at how libraries work (or don’t work). As I progress through my career I am drawn to exploring how learners learn, the cognitive processes that drives retention of content, and the various delivery methods.  I consider lifelong learning and continuing education is not just a luxury but an essential component to growth regardless of age or year in school.

In in a variety of positions I worked with a broad spectrum of courses and programs that incorporate information literacy and technology in varying degrees. Additionally, I explore the incorporation of three schools of design: instructional, graphic, and web, into library teaching initiatives.

I understand the trans-formative potential of digitally-rich teaching and learning, embracing such developments in technologies and the accompanying emerging pedagogical models, I am compelled to think beyond current frameworks.

• I am committed to using a variety of instructional methods designed to effectively present topics, engage learners, and provide a positive learning experience.
• I feel we can connect with learners by applying design thinking to develop and enhance library services.
• I want to provide new tools for sharing information literacy and research process insights and creating effective and engaging tutorials for staff development, patron training, or library instruction.
• I strongly believe in active learning and learner-focused instruction, problem-based learning and inquiry, and believe that by delivering library instruction on information competencies in an engaging manner, the student will experience learning as more relevant and valuable.
• I promote flexible learning moving students toward greater autonomy and responsibility.
• I am also committed to adopting and leveraging technology systems to support flexible learning in both classroom and online environments.
• I deliver instruction in a variety of modes, concentrating on creating learning activities and opportunities catering to a range of student needs and encouraging self-directed learning.
• I am committed to working on a continual basis with colleagues and instruction design experts in order to keep current with curricula and best practices in pedagogical techniques.
• Consider the THE IDEO METHOD TO INNOVATION

Academic Interests