In 2017 I was hired as part of the Canada Assistance Program (CAP). This Federal program works within libraries and other organizations. Its employees provide resources and training allowing underserved groups to engage with technology.

Public libraries exist to serve the entire community. Many library users lack basic technology skills. Many of these users have low and very low technological literacy.

Prior to my becoming the technology instructor for the Sault Ste Marie Library System the role was held by another. I tracked down and compiled her findings at the beginning of my time in this role. My other source of information was co workers who aided patrons as they used library Internet terminals. As part of my position I also hosted drop in trouble shooting sessions.

Working one on one with library patrons in an unstructured environment provided a lot of useful information on what I would cover in class. These sources revealed a number of issues that I would address via the tutorials.

Many library patrons had access to technology in their personal lives. iPads were especially popular gifts for the elderly. Not only students and other patrons who seemed affluent. Everyone I worked with had a smartphone or tablet regardless of their economic background. Though some did have less expensive devices and not the iPads that made up more than half of the devices the students needed help with.

INSIGHT

The most important thing I discovered while working with patrons to research their needs. Patrons were aware of what both their hardware and software could do. They understood the uses of email, camera functions and general web surfing. They were unsure of how to do this and worried they would damage their computer or compromised personal data in doing so.

For most users, notably youth and the middle aged, devices such as an iPad, or the internet can be learned via trial and error, especially if the user has experience with other software or hardware. Some users have never had any previous experience with the subjects they are trying to learn. The biggest gap between these users and their goals in using these technologies is the fear they would do something wrong. Reducing this fear was the primary goal of the classes and the advantage classes had over online or printed self study materials

Safe

The most crucial requirement for these tutorials was to ensure that the students kept their devices and information safe. This was an interesting requirement because concerns over safety are what often prevented students from using devices to their full potential. Both the wording of the brochures and the lecturers spent a significant amount of time explaining what online activity was considered safe, and how to avoid leaking personal information. Contrastingly I emphasised modern devices were much safer than previous generations.

Simple

When creating a lesson plan for classes simplicity was the predominant theme. These classes were referred to as beginner and had students who had never used a computer before or used one very infrequently.

Easy to read for people with vision issues

While there was no attempt to direct the classes to any group besides beginners all but one of the participants of my four person classes ended up being senior citizens. The materials had large fonts and used images over text whenever possible. So the design was adequate.

Small class sizes

Students to this class did require a lot of one on one help. Class sizes were capped at four. This created a long waiting list and prevented me from performing other duties. However, it ultimately was the right decision as primary objectives were met.

I built upon the already successful tutorial model. To instruct library patrons I designed and taught small classes. The subjects were focused on one device or one program. This degree of focus provided a contrast to my drop in trouble shooting sessions that allowed users to receive help with one problem they found. Although in teaching the classes I did answer specific questions regarding the use of the subject matter and work on any small issue a student would have.

The physical material for this project was a single brochure for each of the classes. It acted as a step by step guide to the tutorial. Previous classes were taught with an eight page brochure made in Microsoft Publisher. As this format was very successful according to the teachers, discussions with the students and feedback surveys it was continued. The design philosophy of using many images and little text was continued. In this generation of brochures more care was taken to select relevant and modern images. And iconography that matched what the user would see.

The other artifact was the lecturing itself. Although it was not tangible it was more important than the brochure themselves. The students were novices, many of whom have never used a computer. They needed someone to work closely with them to help them move from one function to the next.

I relied heavily on my experience as a Toastmaster to listen and answer questions and concerns students had. I also drew from my experience doing technical troubleshooting over the phone. I remained empathetic and patient. To reach desired outcomes I did need to occasionally remind some students to stay on task or inform them that the program they were in had a set lesson plan and that drop in trouble shooting may better suit their needs.

A vital step in the making process is finding existing materials and knowledge within an organization. Beginning this project It was assumed I would be starting from scratch. I asked my supervisor to locate any material left over from the instructor who held this position before me. After some weeks of work he was contact her and she sent over information that was not originally saved in the library system. These templates saved a great deal of time in creating my materials.

I would not be able to make iterations as the materials are required before I would teach the first class. I relied on the above assumptions, advice from my supervisor and co workers and the design philosophy of the previous generation of materials.

A crucial step in my making process was to create dedicated libraries for the various images I would use in the making of the brochures. Creating these libraries and then organizing them into sub categories saved me a great deal of time.

The tutorials I taught were a resounding success. Students were very happy to be able to work at a reasonable pace to gain an understanding of the subject matter. iPad classes were particularly popular and thus more sessions were added.

Ratings were consistently high. Scoring roughly 8/10 on the surveys handed out. Students often told me afterwards that they were more confident in using these devices and programs.

Going ahead the only notable changes will likely be a dropping of the computer basics tutorial and even more classes on ipads and other mobile devices.