30 new Virtual Training Suite tutorials launched June 2010

http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/

vts-tutorials@bristol.ac.uk

twitter.com/VTStutorials

What is the Virtual Training Suite?• A series of free Internet tutorials that

teach Internet research skills for over 60 university and college degree subjects

• All the tutorials have been written and reviewed by lecturers and librarians from UK universities, who are experienced Internet researchers

Who are they for?

They are ideal for students looking for advice and guidance on using the Web for their studies, especially those who:

• struggle to find the right information for university work

• get marked down for citing inappropriate sources in their assignments

• rely too heavily on Google, Wikipedia and the open Web, because they are unaware of key academic and library sources

Screenshot of VTS homepage

New tutorial titles …

Arts and Humanities• Architecture• Archive Studies• Art and Design• Classics• English• Fashion and Beauty• Linguistics• Media & Communication• Music

Health and Life Sciences• Allied Health• Dentistry and Oral

Health• Food Safety• Pharmacy• Plant Sciences

New tutorial titles …

Social Sciences• Anthropology• Hospitality and Catering• Social Policy• Social Statistics• Sociology• Sport, Leisure and

Recreation• Travel and Tourism• Women's Studies

Science and Engineering • Earth Sciences• Electrical Engineering• Geography• Health and Safety• Materials Engineering• Mathematics• Mechanical Engineering• Petroleum and Offshore

Engineering

Screenshot of individual tutorial

What's changed

• Written for HE students• To help with coursework and

assignments• Focus on academic sources online• Includes Web 2.0 but in academic

context• More about libraries, librarians and

using locally provided resources

Tutorial structure

• Four main sections - Tour, Discover, Judge, Success

• Format - takes about an hour to complete, includes quizzes and practical exercises

• Links Basket - so students can take away a list of key websites for their subject

• New design, more graphics, easier to read

Tour

Focuses on the academic information landscape on the Internet and aims to create a mental map for students of the key scholarly sources for their subject.

• Introduces the key websites for each subject• Shows the range of different types of

academic Internet resources - journals, databases etc.

• Enables students to collect a list of useful websites

Tour Screenshot

Discover

Offers updated guidance on how to find scholarly information online; choosing the right search tool and looks at the importance of developing a search strategy.

• Shows a range of different Internet search tools

• Gives tips on developing a search strategy• Provides practical exercises to test the

different tools and strategies

Discover screenshot

Judge

Shows how critical thinking can improve the quality of online research and provides guidance on how to judge which Internet resources are appropriate for University work

• Demonstrates how to avoid being caught out by unreliable information on the Internet

• Provides practical tips for critical evaluation of websites

• Quizzes test the understanding of students in their use of Internet information

Judge screenshot

Success

Provides practical examples of students using the Internet for research – successfully and unsuccessfully, so that students can learn from the mistakes of others

• Brings together the lessons from the other parts of the tutorial as a worked example

• Demonstrates how other people use the Internet in genuine academic situations

• Suggests new ideas for using the Internet for education and research

Success screenshot

Links basket

Use the tutorial to build a list of useful websites to save and explore later.  Simply drop the website links into the links basket.

• View, print or email the selected links.• See a list of all the links in the tutorial.• Export the links basket in a format suitable for

importing into a web browser, Delicious.com, or to save for later use.

Getting more from the Virtual Training Suite• Where in the curriculum?

– Research methods, study skills, information literacy or as part of assessed subject work

• Place to mention it? – In the student / course handbook, linked from the

library webpage / VLE or as part of plagiarism advice

• How to use it? – As a handbook for reviewing websites, for an

assessed web review of the subject or by completing the tutorial in class

What's next?

• Confirm 12 months maintenance funding from August 2010 to assist in moving towards a self-sustaining business model

• Enables maintenance of the current suite of over 60 subject based Internet research skills tutorials, keeping them freely available

• Looking to develop and implement a licensing model to sustain the Virtual Training Suite beyond August 2011

Get in touch

• Try the new tutorials at: http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/

• Let us know what you think by email at: vts-tutorials@bristol.ac.uk

• Follow us on Twitter at:twitter.com/VTStutorials

• Or Tweet about the Virtual Training Suite using the hashtag #vtstutorials