Kyle Denlinger from Wake Forest University created an open online course called ZSRx to teach web literacy skills to parents, alumni and other external audiences. The course was created using free tools by one person over a few months. It exceeded expectations with over 1,000 total registrations from 6 continents and 50 US states, including alumni from 1954 to 2012. Feedback was very positive, with many asking for additional courses. The success demonstrated opportunities for libraries to reach new audiences through low-cost online courses.

1. Reaching New
Audiences with
Library
MOOCs
Kyle Denlinger | @kyledenlinger
Wake Forest University | zsr.wfu.edu
NCLA2013, WSNC
2013.10.16

2. FOR THE
UNINITIATED…

3. & LIBRARIES:
THE CURRENT
CONVERSATION

4. LIB-100

5. COLLEGE BOARD OF VISITORS:
WE NEED THAT CLASS!

7. we saw
value
& opportunity

8. to
HARD-TO-REACH
POPULATIONS

9. (read: potential donors)

10. to
CRITICAL 21ST
CENTURY LITERACIES

11. to
THE VALUE & EXPERTISE
OF LIBRARIANS

12. so we asked ourselves:

13. WHY DON'T WE
JUST BUILD IT?

14. so that's what we did.

15. A FOUR-WEEK
OPEN ONLINE COURSE
TO FOSTER WEB LITERACY
IN PARENTS & ALUMNI

16. SEARCH STRATEGIES
ADVANCED SEARCHING
PRIVACY & FILTERS
INFO MANAGEMENT

17. LOTS OF CONTENT
BUT A FOCUS ON
CONNECTION

18. candy dish

19. We called it:
ZSRx: THE CURE
FOR THE COMMON WEB

20. BUILT WITH
FREE TOOLS
BY ONE GUY
OVER A FEW MONTHS

21. then something
amazing happened.

22. BY THE NUMBERS:

23. WE WERE HOPING
FOR 100.
INSTEAD, WE GOT:

24. total registrations

25. continents
(thanks for nothing, Antarctica)

26. states in the US

27. (we thought this was pretty cool)

28. (we thought this was pretty cool)

29. (we thought this was pretty cool)

30. (we thought this was pretty cool)

31. (we thought this was pretty cool)

32. from the class of 1954
to the class of 2012

33. of current &
former students

34. even our
was an enthusiastic lurker

35. all of whom were
to us in a new way

36. how we did it:

37. GOOGLE SITES

38. GOOGLE GROUPS

39. 303 MEMBERS
~300 POSTS ALL TIME

40. GOOGLE+
COMMUNITY

41. 82 MEMBERS
183 POSTS ALL TIME

42. DOCS FORMS

43. YouTube

44. how we did it:

45. how we did it:

46. lessons

47. surprises

48. feedback

49. “I have been moving about the course
in a somewhat random pattern, but it
is a wonderful learning experience.
And it is stimulating sharing ideas at
home and at work. Thank you.”

50. “As an alumnus, it made me feel
reconnected to WFU as a place of
learning. As alumni, we can easily stay
connected socially, but this sparked an
excitement in that we could be students
again and feel a part of the academia at
our beloved school.”

51. “Thank you. I enjoyed the course,
learned a lot, and hope to take another
one.”

52. “Please consider doing more of these!
I think they will just grow in popularity
as word of mouth spreads. Thank you
so much for putting this together. It
was fun being in 'college' again at the
same time as my daughter!”

53. “I've been very impressed by the
thoughtful comments from group
members and the willingness to share
and help others. This is a new on-line
experience for me and I'm glad I am
participating.”

54. “Just wanted you to know that I've
learned a lot from the course--and
since at 81, I'm what you could call a
computer dinosaur, no one is more
surprised than I am about that!”

55. “The course showed me so much that I
did not know and now I am much
better equipped. I’ve learned and
already used something from every
module… I’ll continue to explore and
make use what I’ve learned in the
course. A great experience!”

56. “If I ever need a new name for my rock
band, I'm gonna go with ‘Kyle's Beard.’”

57. “opportunities”

58. opportunities!

59. ZSRx Parents & Families

60. Digital
publishing
(Winter 2014)

61. Social
media
(Spring 2014)

62. Genealogy?
(Someday?)

63. More info:
zsr.wfu.edu/zsrx

64. Thank you!
Questions?

65. Image Credits
Lightbulb photo by user gaymay on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52746562@N00/7943706608/
Spice Drops photo by user Cape Cod Cyclist on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80949849@N00/273440780/
Swimming Lessons photo by user City of Olathe, KS on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/olathegovnews/6936149983/
Motorcycle & Sheep photo by user peretzp on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68877611@N00/5324565888/
Amplifier photo by user maury.mccown on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51342146@N00/582178380/
Trainwreck photo by user e r j k p r u n c z y k on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24842486@N07/8283222347/
Rainbow photo by user jermudgeon on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35474089@N00/2669650598/