Some of my least favorite teaching moments are those focused on mechanics: Click here; scroll there; point at this; type on that space. Jenica Ibarra, Reference & Instruction Librarian at St. Petersburg College-Clearwater Campus uses Canva to get around the mechanical aspects of library instruction to focus on more substantive teaching:

When teaching library instructions (particularly for first-year students), I like to provide a handout that outlines the ‘point and click’ steps. When I first started teaching, I would spend so much time pausing and walking around the room to show students where I was clicking. A simple yet attractive handout makes students less anxious about missing clicks, and more attentive to my lesson. I can spend my limited time teaching concepts and skills (and cracking corny jokes).

It’s a great idea as a handout, but I could also see printing these steps out business-card-style and keeping a stash at the circulation and reference desk for patrons to grab as needed.

This instructional handout is available on the Librarian Design Share Google Drive, or you can email Jenica for more information.

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