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Evaluating Resources for Your Course

By Jessica O'Neel
November 8, 2021

Posted in: Teaching Online / Tips

Introduction

Quality resources can enhance the content of your course and foster deeper learning. However, selecting resources for a course can be overwhelming. In addition to textbooks, there are so many options for open educational resources (OERs) and resources from the UW library collection that it can be hard to choose. A targeted evaluation of the resources you are considering can make this process easier for you.

Set Goals for Your Search

Resource evaluation can begin before you start searching. Here are some tips and questions to get you started:
• Know what you are looking for in advance.
• Avoid duplicating existing content in your course when selecting additional resources.
• Take a moment to think about your goal for the new resource. Are you hoping to provide more depth to a topic? Clear up confusion about a concept?

Narrow Down Your Choices

After you have selected some possible resources, the seven evaluation criteria below can help you narrow down your options.

  • Alignment: Resources should help learners meet course and assessment goals. When evaluating a resource, ensure its format and content will align with your goals. A short video tutorial could present a complex concept more effectively than a journal article. An article or case study might allow for the deeper application of knowledge in an assessment.
  • Accurate and Current Information: Students may doubt the credibility of a resource if it contains errors or seems out of date. Use the publication date to prioritize recent content.
  • Proper Scope: “Resources should primarily focus on the chosen topic with limited coverage of additional topics.”. For example, selecting a ten-page article that mentions the information you want in one paragraph doesn’t have the appropriate scope.
  • Ease of Use: The learner should be able to access and navigate the resource with minimal direction or additional technology needs. A website with distracting advertisements or requiring specific applications or software may discourage students from accessing the resource. If navigation is a challenge, but the content is worth it, include clear directions to help students get to the information they need. For example, if students
    need to log in or use credentials, let them know ahead of time to prepare.
  • High-Quality Media: Video, audio, and images should be clear and high quality If the quality is low, it may be difficult for students to understand the concepts presented in the media piece. Low quality could also mean that students won’t access the resource.
  • Accessibility and Copyright: Any resource needs to be accessible and available to use without copyright restrictions. Look for PDFs that are screen readable or videos that have closed captioning. Librarians can be excellent resources for determining copyright questions. Your ID or media team representative can help identify accessibility issues.
  • Credibility: Resources should come from a credible source. A video about climate from a well-known organization such as NOAA is more credible than a video from a random YouTube channel. Also, consider whether the resource cites or references its sources.

Prioritize Your Resources

After considering the pros and cons of a resource based on the above criteria, prioritize your list. Resources can still be used even if they don’t meet all the criteria. If there are drawbacks or issues with a resource, call them out for students when you write directions or describe the resource in your course. Your carefully selected resources will enhance the content of your course, add variety and interest for your students, and foster deeper learning and retention.

iDigest News Bulletin – Fall 2021

By Kristin Kowal

Posted in: News

In this news bulletin, read an update on Zoom and about a resource you can use to add videos to courses in Canvas!

Learning Technology Team Leads Transition to Zoom

I reached out to Patrick Wirth, director of the Learning Technology and Media Team at UW-Extended Campus for an update on the wonderful work his team has done on the Zoom transition:

Over the course of summer 2021, UW as a whole moved away from Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (BBCU) to incorporate Zoom as the preferred tool to facilitate live conferencing in Canvas courses. Even though all UW Extended Campus courses are asynchronous, our courses still use live conferencing tools frequently for online office hours, open Q&A sessions, group study sessions, group presentations, and more. This fall, we have helped instructors in almost 40 of our courses successfully make the transition to Zoom. Not only have we offered one-on-one help to instructors needing to learn a new tool, we have created documentation for students and faculty on how to use Zoom in Canvas courses. We are continuing to gather feedback from faculty about this transition to help ensure that the next wave of courses, launching in Spring 2022, are well primed to take advantage of all Zoom has to offer. – Patrick Wirth, Director of Creative Services, UW Extended Campus

After reading the update about Zoom, you might have interest or questions about how you can use it in your course. Reach out to your instructional designer for more information and we will help you find what you need!

New Resource: Films On Demand

Films On Demand is a collection of video databases that focus on educational and academic content. It offers access to thousands of films, documentaries, and news for streaming on demand. Best of all, you can browse for videos and embed them directly in your course in Canvas. If you’re interested in exploring Films on Demand, contact your instructional designer to discuss how to access this exciting new option for adding resources to your course!

Offering Students Free and Easy Access to Learning Materials

By Nate Ewings
November 4, 2021

Posted in: Faculty / Teaching Online

I’ve been impressed with how many instructors have it as a goal to provide students with high-quality, affordable resources. Increasingly, instructors have been inquiring about providing students with easy access to free materials through the campus library. As an instructor in one of our collaborative programs, you may be aware of the potential challenges that can accompany providing library materials for your students: each campus library in the degree partnership needs to have the resource, it needs to be available online, and access needs to be stable. Determining if a resource checked all these boxes was no easy task.

I thought, “there has got to be a way to make the process easier!” Luckily, I found a group of UW librarians familiar with the mission of UWEX who were willing to help. I recently sat down with three of these librarians to discuss an excellent opportunity to offer students free, easy, and stable access to library materials: UW Shared Resources.

Left to Right: Julie Pohlman Library Program Director (UW System), Renee Ettinger Assistant Director, Research and Outreach Services (UW-Green Bay), Aubrey Huff Undergraduate Support/Outreach Librarian (UW-Stout)

Left to Right: Julie Pohlman Library Program Director (UW System), Renee Ettinger Assistant Director, Research and Outreach Services (UW-Green Bay), Aubrey Huff Undergraduate Support/Outreach Librarian (UW-Stout)

Can you explain what UW Shared Resources are?

[Julie] Sure! UW Shared Resources are library materials licensed specifically to be available to all UW students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, UW Shared Resources are located online, which means students can access them without needing to go to a specific campus, which is why they are great for online programs with geographically dispersed students.

What types of resources are included in this collection? 

[Renee] I could probably fill a whole page answering this question, but I’ll highlight just a few items.

  • Books: We have many books. For example, Proquest Ebook Central has more than 200,000 titles across publishers, and Wiley Online has over 40,000 titles. If an instructor is using a Wiley book, I highly recommend looking into whether or not it is a title we have.
  • Journals: We have tens of thousands of journals articles across most disciplines in various databases. Too many to list, honestly.
  • Streaming Media: Films on Demand has 30,000 titles across disciplines; Alexander Street Press collections: PBS Video, the National Theatre, Nursing and Mental Health, and LGBT Studies.
  • Newspapers: Proquest “Newstreams” – U.S., Canada, International; Westlaw Campus Research.

As you can see, there are a lot of resources available that can be used as a primary or supporting component to a course.

What are the benefits of linking to UW Shared Resources in a course versus uploading them or linking to other resources on the Internet? 

[Aubrey] A few benefits quickly come to mind:

  • Stability. We can run reports on resource usage and ensure long-term access to materials by negotiating with vendors to keep a resource during contracting.
  • Copyright compliance. Directing students to library content instead of uploading PDF copies is the best way to ensure course materials are copyright compliant.
  • Increased Options. Shared Resources provide instructors more options when developing a course. Many instructors are being asked to be cost considerate when developing a course, which can result in fewer resources being selected. Using Shared Resources provides more options. For example, we worked with an instructor who had already identified a required textbook for a course and wanted to use only two chapters from another book to flesh out a particular topic. In this case, he felt he couldn’t justify having students buy a book for just two chapters. Fortunately, the book was part of the Shared Resource collection, so the instructor was able to provide his students with exactly the material he wanted to adequately cover the topic.

Who can instructors work with to see if a particular resource is part of the Shared Resources collection?

[Julie] Instructors have two options:

  1. If they are currently revising or developing a course, we recommend they reach out to the instructional designer with whom they are working. The instructional designer then reaches out to the campus librarians, who locate the shared digital content.
  2. If they aren’t currently developing or revising a course but would like to explore options, they should contact their campus librarian! The librarian can help determine if a resource is shared. If not, they can offer additional suggestions prior to moving to a purchase option.

If instructors want to find resources on their own, how can they tell if a resource is part of the UW Shared Resources? 

[Julie] First, when an instructor searches for a book or article in Search@UW (the library search portal), they need to make sure they search for only online resources. Second, Shared Resources will be identified as such (UW System Shared) in the listing.

Example of (UW Systems Shared) in a resource link

If instructors want to start a search in a shared database, they should visit the guide listing all shared content databases: https://libguides.uwgb.edu/uws-library-resources.

Last question, what other services do UW librarians want instructors to be aware of?

[Aubrey] In this interview, we talked about how librarians can help instructors locate materials, but we can also work with them to incorporate student-facing library and information literacy instruction directly into an online course.

[Renee] We can also provide point-of-need help for you or your students when they are doing research, so please don’t hesitate to have your students contact their campus’ librarian if they need to locate high-quality resources.

As I wrap up this article, I’m happy to say that because of the collaboration with the librarians and the simple process they have developed. I’ve been able to assist a number of instructors incorporate UW Shared Resources into their courses. The UWEX ID team is excited about the opportunities UW Shared Resources provide. These resources are a free and easy way to provide stable, high-quality, and copyright-compliant materials to students in our collaborative programs.

We look forward to seeing how instructors incorporate these resources into new and existing courses!

UW-Milwaukee RN to BSN OER Project

By Jessica O'Neel
November 1, 2021

Posted in: Faculty / News / Projects / Teaching Online

Introduction

Starting in June of 2021, UW Milwaukee College of Nursing RN to BSN Flex program began a year-long OER Grant Workshop Series. OER stands for “open educational resources”, which means that subject matter experts develop content and materials or lists of content and materials for learners to retrieve and use at no expense. Through this workshop, the team learned how to recruit team members and structure content into textbook or handbook resources.

The Flex nursing team decided to focus on the transition from study to practice. Once a nurse has obtained their bachelor’s, what new opportunities do they have? How does the nurse leverage the new degree within their profession and practice? The team is still in the early phases of development, but so far, they have created a handbook consisting of five chapters about the transition to practice for RN-to-BSN nurses. After creating a detailed outline, they focused on content development for each chapter. The team has also learned about various interactive technologies which could be implemented. Ryan Anderson is lending his expertise in the area of instructional design.

Interview

Team member Nicole Marie Simonson was kind enough to provide an insider’s perspective on the project.

Can you speak a little more to the motivation behind this project, or was reducing student costs the primary motive?

[Nicole] ​The motivation behind this project was addressing a topic that is not readily available to students and targets this specific student population. Traditional undergrads get a transition-to-practice course for becoming bachelor’s prepared nurses, but what does that transition to practice look like in Flex? We wanted to explore this further and inform our students about the differences in nursing when transitioning from ADN to BSN. As for cost, students would not have the cost associated with purchasing a textbook.

What learning benefits will this resource provide to students? For example, do you think this handbook is more representative of real-world workplace challenges compared to an existing textbook?

[Nicole] ​​We are unaware of a current text that addresses RN-to-BSN students and their transition to practice. This resource expands far beyond what the transition to practice is for the new nurse. They will learn about the asset of having their BSN and how to leverage the degree within their practice. They will explore additional opportunities that will open as a result of being BSN-prepared. The handbook will allow them to take what they have learned within the program and apply it to real-world situations.

What challenges have you had finding, evaluating, and selecting OERs for the handbook? How have you worked through them?  ​

[Nicole] ​One challenge was selecting a topic with few existing OERs. We did have challenges in finding supporting research and literature on this topic. We found broader topics that were applicable, but little research exists about this topic specifically.

What has been the most exciting/fulfilling part of working on this project? ​

[Nicole] ​Exciting aspects are working with fellow team members— learning about their expertise and knowledge on the topic. Also, learning about how the transition to practice for RN to BSN looks different from what it would for a new nurse or nurse transitioning into a graduate degree with a more formal role. It is exciting to be part of something bigger than oneself and to work with others with similar passions and interests. The Rebus OER workshops have provided us with tools and resources that help support our success with creating our OER.

Can you share any advice or tips for faculty who want to implement OERs into their course, even if it is not to this same level? ​

[Nicole] ​Create a plan, identify your key team members. You will have additional team members along the way, but a core group is helpful as you move along. Set a timeline and goals for moving forward and a means to hold one another accountable. It is great to have team members who have varying levels of experience and perspective to add.

All of us at UW Extended Campus are excited to follow the progress of this project!

Utilizing the Power of Feedback

By Eric Peloza
April 19, 2021

Posted in: Faculty / News / Teaching Online / Tips

Feedback is a crucial part of the online experience for students and instructors. It is valuable for a number of reasons, one being that it allows instructors to connect to students and help students grow their skill set. This blog post will look at the importance of feedback and how you can leverage it in your courses.

Let’s unpack feedback!

Does feedback matter?

Instructor Sharon Frazier, Healthcare Administration

As we know from student feedback and research, instructor feedback is a priority for students in an online course. It has also been shown to have a direct impact on students’ perceived satisfaction with online courses. A study from an online nursing program showed that a lack of feedback caused students to be unsatisfied with their online learning experience (Soon, Sook, Jung, & Im, 2000). Additionally, we have heard from our students through surveys and student success coaches that they appreciate quality instructor feedback.

One of our Healthcare Administration students had this to say about the great feedback her instructor, Sharon Frazier, provided: “Overall, things have been going well. Getting constant guidance from Professor has been helpful in understanding the assignments and expectations for HCA 700. I find myself learning a lot through the discussions. She also provides a lot of feedback which is incredibly helpful.”

Getting constant guidance from Professor has been helpful in understanding the assignments and expectations…She also provides a lot of feedback which is incredibly helpful

What do students want from their online instructor?

Studies show that students feel affirmed, challenged, and influenced when they receive quality feedback from exemplary instructors (Edwards, Perry, & Janzen, 2011). Students also report frustrations with inadequate feedback and a lack of depth in another study (Lai, 2006). When you provide thoughtful feedback, it shows students that their instructor is invested in their learning. Students may have invested a lot of time and energy into an assignment, so putting the same effort into giving good feedback reassures and motivates them.

Finding the correct tool to meet the feedback requirement

How to use the tools in Canvas to maximize your feedback

In online learning, providing effective feedback is facilitated by the tools in the learning management system or digital learning environment. Effective feedback is frequent or immediate, specific, or interrogative (Leibold & Schwarz, 2015). Our digital learning environment, Canvas, enables faculty to easily give feedback with these characteristics.

If you’re looking to provide feedback in Canvas, consider one of these tools:

  • Announcements: Announcements are a quick and great way to communicate to the entire class at once, such as when you notice a running theme when grading and want to point it out. You can also use them to prepare students for the next stage in the course.
  • Rubrics: The Canvas rubrics tool gives you the ability to use pre-built feedback and personalized feedback. You can use the pre-built feedback to quickly assess the main criteria of an assessment. It also gives you the ability to justify your grading with the differing levels of criteria assessment. The rubrics tool also has an area that allows you to provide context and commentary regarding your grading.

    Example of using feedback in Canvas Quizzes
  • Quizzes: The Canvas quizzes tool allows you to give feedback on quiz questions based upon the correct answer, incorrect answers, or for specific selections. You can create this feedback before the course opens, and students can receive it immediately after submitting their quiz. The advantage of this option is that you only need to write feedback once and it applies to every student attempt.

Canvas also has a great analytics tool that allows you to view student performance at the class-level. You can interpret the data and identify common threads from the reporting then use this information to provide additional feedback on specific content areas that have lower than expected performance. You can also leverage announcements to share content with students right when they need it!

If you’re looking to learn more about feedback and other related topics, you can review our Journey to Online self-guided courses! In our Teaching course, the following modules address feedback:

  • Developing Your Online Course – This module explores the ideas behind creating effective, feedback-drive, rubrics for your students and yourself
  • Teaching Your Online Course – This module has great information and advice on how you can best provide valuable feedback

If you learned something new or would like to suggest future topics for us to dig into, leave a comment below! We’d love to hear from you.

References

Edwards, M., Perry, B., & Janzen, K. (2011). The making of an exemplary online educator. Distance Education, 32(1), 101-118.

Lai, H. J. (2006). On-line courses: Recommendations for teachers. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 10(4), 50-55.
Leibold, N., & Schwarz, L. M. (2015). The Art of Giving Online Feedback. Journal of Effective Teaching, 15(1), 34-46.

Soon, K. H., Sook, K. I., Jung, C. W., & Im, K. M. (2000). The effects of internet-based distance learning in nursing. Computers in Nursing, 18(1), 19-25.