That’s Using Your Brain!: Mind-mapping and AI Tools for Information Management and Information Literacy Instruction

TheBrain.com is a dynamic, mind-mapping tool you can use to manage your files, links to web sites, and other content–any kind of information you need to collect and manage. You can use your ‘digital brain’ to gather and visualize information from various sources and formats (i.e. create ‘thoughts’). The advantage is you can organize your files and information according to how you think about them, without the limitations of a typical folder-and-file organization system. Your digital brain is an invaluable tool for collecting and managing information but it also can be used as a tool in the higher education classroom. You can build lesson plans, collect content for LibGuides or other instructional materials, and record notes about the information you find. Your digital brain has sharing features so you can make content maps you create available to students in your classes. In information literacy classes, students can use the free, web-based version of TheBrain.com and its AI features to gather information for their writing projects, exercise critical thinking to organize materials effectively, and visualize connections between ideas and concepts. This presentation will show you how to quickly capture information and create visual connections in your digital brain. Using the new AI features in TheBrain.com, you will also see how to auto-generate thought structures or notes using ChatGPT

Making a First-Year Experience Course iPad Intensive: A Cautionary Tale

This presentation tells the story of an experiment to make a First-Year Experience (FYE) course more engaging and enjoyable through the integration of iPads into the curriculum and the infusion of information-literacy throughout the course. Students analyzed 4 films from classic horror cinema and created cultural-historical documentaries about them. Students worked in groups of 4 or 5 on iPads using the Adobe Voice app and learned how to locate and evaluate sources, incorporate sources into their projects, and cite them properly. An exemplary documentary will be screened for the audience

Designing LibGuides as Instructional Tools for Critical Thinking and Effective Online Learning

Presentation obtained from the Distance Learning Services Conference