On the morning of May 22,2019, 8.00 am., all the Associates were met by the Director, and Distinguished Professor of the Mortenson Centre, Clara M. Chu, Ph.D., and her amiable and hardworking team, Courtney Horry, Jean S. Kanengoni and Catalina Hernández-Cabal. We had some informal introductions, here, at Newman Hall before walking over to the Centre. At the Centre we had light breakfast at 8.30.am., and welcome introduction with the Mortenson Team. So we commenced the day with formal introductions of Associates with slide presentation of our profiles. We also had a paper work session on our travel documents, coordinated by Catalina.
An overview of the Centre program was given by the Director, and as is the tradition, we were handed our schedule for the programme on what to expect day-by-day during our stay, describing the sessions. She explained this year’s theme, “Smarter, Strategic and Sustainable Libraries”, where I got a clearer understanding of the theme. For me, this was quite interesting because ‘smarter, strategic’, have been re-echoing in mind as I expected they would feature in all of our learning sessions.
At 10.30-11.00. am., we had had a tour of the undergraduate library where the Circulation Librarian David took us round on the expansive facility with its fast and rich resources of all the media for learning one can imagine, in that seemingly simple but classic building and highly technically equipped in a conducive learning environment. What was most fascinating to me was the history behind the underground construction and layout of the building, the Tunnel that connects it with the post graduate library complex. Everything is connected …everything is maintained and preserved for the future.
We also had the rare opportunity to meet a one-time IFLA President, and University Librarian, Ellen Tise, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. With her team of librarians on a tour of libraries in the U.S., she shared her wealth of experience on data generation and data management…on data ownership, upon completion of research issued by granting institutions to researchers. She also explained that librarians should advance in the era smart technologies and make impact for the sustainability of the core library values (which is provide information for all), and be part of achieving the next millennium goals. It was a good learning platform that left me thinking of how big the world of information is in librarianship, there is ample field /areas that is yet uncovered and researched into. There could not have been a greater opportunity for me to be part this learning exposure. The day ended with so much to meditate as it has been one of my career goals to have a knowledge practicing librarianship beyond my borders and here is an opportunity I plan to sustain.
We began with the DISC Assessment Measurement Test for workplace with Zoe revel, Library Operations Associate. It is workplace Tool for Self-appraisal used to mirror what/whom you are, how we behave and relate with colleagues/peers in a workplace environment, as different from the image we present in our home. The goal was to actually allow individual associate to reflect on our personality and style …whether we dominate, influence, and our conscientiousness and stability level at workplace.
The report generated did reveal some interesting facts of who we truly are and some of the things we do to portray our weaknesses/ strength as leaders/managers.
The learning goal could help managers to make improvements by building and developing capacity in human relations, for sustained trust in people and confidence building.
Today, we also learnt about the interesting exercise of blogging through practical demonstration on how to blog (sharing) our team work learning activities. It is about reflecting on our experiences of each learning as we work through our daily schedule in the course of this program, using the smart technologies of social interaction. It was my time of using this technology and it a little confusing for me as I couldn’t figure out the steps. Yes I can blog now but still learning how import my images from other platforms. I am strategizing more. From different perspective each of us can understand and view our experiences, ideas and opinions and documenting such shared knowledge among a community of users serves as an important reference tool for future purposes.
Innovation Tech Hub
The term ‘Library Buddies’ was new to me. So I was curious to meet them. ‘Library Buddies Launch’ was a marvellous time to get together, to connect with a robust community of professional experts in diverse. It was a time to learn from their wealth of experience and share information, which is one of the goals of the program. I was opportune to meet Shuyong Jiang, PhD., an Associate Professor and Chinese Studies Librarian, with whom I had the privilege to have dinner. I and my buddie would be meeting soon to share engage with the hope of learning from her wealth of knowledge and establish a lasting networking and collaboration.
At the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, (CITL), Michael Belini, Director and Robert Baird, Associate Director, gave an overview of what they do. We witnessed how technology is now deployed for the transformation has taken place at University of Illinois, in teaching and learning. Through rethinking, remoulding, restructuring, rebuilding and maintenance of traditional classrooms, learning spaces have been turned around for a more interactive learning that is inclusive of the student we teach; leap-frogging from a teaching method, since the Ages that seemed impossible to change! It was wonderful to have a dynamic team…Eva Wilf, elearning professional, also inundated us with high Tech interactive session on flexible classrooms, flexible pedagogies, with demo on tools like iFlex, iClicker, eText etc.
Change, indeed, has a way of changing the way people behave. Responding the change mantra lies in the determination to take that first step and believing in the course of transformation. An evaluation and assessment of infrastructure, facilities, staff in meeting the objectives of providing beneficial learning outcome for undergraduates is the key at the University of Illinois. At the Centre for Innovation in teaching, using Smart technologies combined with strategic planning, creativity in programme and curriculum are redesigned for undergraduates learning experience in order to make learning more interactive and result oriented for better performance. SPACE is more aesthetic and an appealing environment. Students and teachers are brought together in some sort of informal setting, thus winning back lost clientele and building credibility with a lot of innovative activities. Introducing of new concepts into classrooms…such as lighting, white boards vs black, interactive boards etc, has brought students and the teacher in an engaged teaching and learning classroom situation where two or more groups can participate in learning through dialogue/discussion.
We ended the day at the Innovation studio and Virtual Reality (VR) Lab, where we were all engrossed and had fun touring the virtual world of under-water live marines. All these are used for teaching where students actually feel and have a practical and technical knowledge of subjects. Indeed, mind blowing experience to continue reflect on which is memorable.
We also had a tour to the DIY Instruction Support Studio and Technology Hub with a lot of sessions on May 25,2019. Our activities commenced with Leadership, Cultures, Sub-Cultures and Academia, given by Candice Solomon and Robert Baird. The session was particularly interesting as it draws on our experiences on some of the cultural elements there which interplay in organizational leadership/management, particularly, in the academia. It was interesting to learn that culture is visible and is depicted in every institution that tell of our values and principles of who we are. This is reflected in the manner we do conduct our work, how we communicate and how we relate with colleagues and peers in a workplace. The resource persons conducted the sessions with activities that gave a clear understanding that there are differences and common grounds in all cultures but the learning goal is to avoid the ‘single story’.
My reflection on Saturday, 26, 2019, was a memorable one, it would be the first free day I had to actually paused and realized that a lot had happened within the space of four days through active co-learning with international librarians from diverse cultural background. In the evening at 7.00. pm. I, along with team Associates arrived at the Terry Weech Home. It was a beautiful opportunity to meet such eminent Faculty members from the ISchool, University of Illinois; Terry Weech, PhD, Library Science, and the wife, played host to us, retired librarian, Amani Ayad, Liza and David, were very pleasant personalities. It was a privilege to have this close rapour because I was able to relate quickly, this networking experience to the leadership session of the previous day. The different cultures that we shared will remain memorable. Associates were free to engage and share professional and cultural perspectives which was another learning and sharing forum.