Engaging students using meaningful, diverse and inclusive course materials.
Course content is available in a variety of formats (e.g., digital and print) and from a variety of sources, including instructor-created. Consider using diverse types of content throughout your course to meaningfully engage students in the learning process. With access to endless information at our fingertips, using an assortment of materials is easier than ever. However, having more content or types of content does not automatically make the course better and more engaging. Review the best practices below to address potential content additions or changes.
The following table includes examples of different content formats:
Audio or video | Visuals | Print or digital text |
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Content should be:
Scaffolding is a process that should be strategically embedded into both the design and instruction of your course. In many cases, it follows a similar progression as shown in the diagram below.
Although the quantity of existing instructional content is vast, it is not ideal for every situation. The right content may take extensive time to find, may not align to the course, or may contain outdated, erroneous or conflicting information. There are benefits to creating your own materials, particularly the ability to customize content to align to your course’s outcomes and meet the needs of your students.
The following are common types of instructor-created content:
There are several ways to upload or create course materials in UB Learns, some methods are better suited for specific types of materials.
Determine which method(s) work best for your course. Choose the correct module then select Upload/Create or Existing Activities, depending on need.
Step 1: Gather course content into an organized location.
Step 2: Determine where the content will live within the course.
Step 3: Upload your content. Move, reorder, edit and manage content as needed.
Step 4: Review the Anthology Ally ratings of the content. Update accessibility as needed.
Step 5: When finished, use View as Student feature to ensure this view is accurate and students can successfully access the content. (i.e., videos play accurately, links work properly, content is accessible, alternative formats are available, items that should be hidden do not show up, etc.)