Module 2: Selecting Learning Resources

Selecting learning resources for your course usually entail looking for existing materials that suit the course. In some cases, you need to develop new learning resources for your course to address particular learning areas or topics. Whatever the case maybe, it is important that you know how to select learning resources that would support the attainment of the learning objectives.

Objectives

After working on this module, you should be able to:

  1. Define resource-based learning;
  2. Differentiate the types of Web-based learning resources;
  3. Describe open educational resources (OER); and
  4. Select online learning resources for each topic in your online course.

Resource-Based Learning

A key feature of the online learning model being implemented at UPOU is the use of digital learning resources found on the Web. The availability of numerous multimedia educational resources on the Web makes it a good tool for resource-based learning (RBL), an educational model where students are encouraged and enabled to use a variety of print, non-print, and human resources to seek information and solve problems (Prince Edward Island Department of Education, n.d.). In the process, students develop not only knowledge of a particular subject matter but also information literacy — the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information — and independent learning skills.

Activity 2-1

Learn more about RBL from this wiki created by Campbell et al. Note that the wiki makes use of a variety of multimedia resources (including images, slide presentations, a movie, and an animation) to provide an overview of RBL and how to implement it.

Test your understanding of RBL by playing the Jeopardy game at the end of the overview (the link to the game is in the section titled “RBL Knowledge- Check”, just above the list of references).

Types of Learning Resources

Laurillard (2002) provides a classification of learning resources based on the type of media, with each media type supporting or enabling different degrees of learner activity and engagement (see Table 1).

 

Table 2-1. Media types and the learning tasks that they support

Media type Learning task supported or mediated Examples of Web tools and resources
Narrative Tasks where learners are expected to apprehend and/ or assimilate information presented; the narrative medium is used to present the subject matter Web pages and websites
eBooks (e.g. Project Gutenberg, Goodreads)
Images (e.g. Flickr)
Video files (e.g. National Geographic, TED Talks)
PowerPoint slides (e.g. SlideShare)
Animations (e.g. DNA Learning Center)
Interactive Exploratory or investigative learning tasks; the interactive medium returns information based on user input Hypermedia
Search engines (e.g. Google Scholar)
Gateways and portals
Adaptive Tasks involving experimentation and practice; the medium continuously adapts to user input Virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life)
Simulations (e.g. Nobelprize.org educational games)
Models
Interactive tutorials
Communicative Tasks involving communication between individuals and groups (e.g., discussion, debate) Synchronous:
Chat (e.g. Google chat)
Video conferencing (e.g. using Skype)
Instant messaging (e.g. Chikka.com)Asynchronous:
Email
Discussion boards
Productive Tasks where students articulate or express their understanding of the subject by generating or constructing their own representations or ‘knowledge products’) Web and multimedia authoring tools (e.g. Flash)
Word processing tools (e.g. MS Word, iPages, OpenOffice Writer)
Image processing tools (e.g. Photoshop)
Audio and video capture and editing tools (e.g. Audacity)
Blogs (e.g. Blogger, WordPress)
Wikis (e.g. Wikispaces, WikiEducator)
Shared write/draw systems (e.g. Googledocs)

Source: Adapted from Laurillard, 2002, p. 90 and Beetham, 2007, pp. 226-229

 

All of these media types are relevant for the online course that you are designing. But in this module, you will be selecting Web resources that exemplify the first three media types in Laurillard’s classification — i.e. narrative, interactive, and adaptive media. We will discuss the use of communicative media and productive media in the module on writing study guides and creating assignments, respectively.

Aside from selecting learning resources in various media, it is important that the Web-based learning resources you select for your course are open educational resources.

Open Educational Resources

Open education resources (OER) are “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and/or re-purposing by others” (The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation).

Activity 2-2

The Open University of the United Kingdom has a project called OpenLearn which features hundreds of free online courses and study units. One of the study units is on creating OER. It gives a concise overview of the concept of OER, the process of creating OERs, and a list of OER repositories. The study unit is also an example of a resource-rich and interactive (i.e. providing for active learning) online (mini) course.

Go over this short study unit and note the following:

  1. What types of learning resources are used in the study unit and for what purpose/s?
  2. How are the learning resources deployed within the unit?

If you don’t have time to go through the entire study unit, read at least the first four sections, namely:

  1. What is open learning and why OERs?
  2. What makes a good OER?
  3. Finding and evaluating OERs
  4. Copyright and OER

Guidelines for Choosing Learning Resources

In selecting learning resources for student use, teachers should keep in mind the following guidelines provided by Herrington et al. (2001):

  1. accessibility – resources are organized in ways that make them easy to access and locate
  2. currency – resources are up-to-date
  3. richness – resources reflect a variety of perspectives
  4. purposeful use of media – appropriate media is used; the usability of the resource is enhanced by the media used
  5. inclusivity – the resources demonstrate social, cultural, and gender inclusivity

Activity 2-3

Objective: To identify digital learning resources for each module in your course

Task: Mine the Web for OER for each module in your course.

Tools & Resources: Course plan, Internet access

Procedure:

  1. Using a good search engine and the appropriate search terms, look for open access learning resources on the Web or OER for each module in your course plan.
  2. For each course topic, include as many OER as are needed for your students to understand the topic and achieve the learning objectives for that topic. Remember that these learning resources are supposed to be essential “reading” for your students, not reference or supplementary material only. In other words, your students will be learning about the topic from these learning resources. At the same time, you should avoid overloading the students by making sure that each learning resource carries its own weight and does not unnecessarily duplicate the information provided in another learning resource. Aside from narrative learning resources (Laurillard’s first media type), include learning resources that are interactive or adaptive (Laurillard’s second and third media types) whenever appropriate.
  3. List the OER you have selected for each module in column 4 of your course writing plan (i.e. insert a fourth column after the column for module learning objectives, see table below). List each resource using the APA referencing format. For example: Campbell, L., Flageolle, P., Griffith, S., & Wojcik, C. (2002). Resource-based learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved 14 May 2014 from http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Resource-Based_Learning
  4. Write an annotation to the selected resources describing what the resource is and what is it for. For example: Resource-based learning http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Resource-Based_Learning
    This wiki makes use of a variety of multimedia resources (including images, slide presentations, a movie, and an animation) to provide an overview of RBL and how to implement it.

 

Module Number / Title Learning Objectives Topics Learning Resources
After completing this module on ____________, learners should be able to:

[Main topic]

  -[Sub-topic]

[Main topic]

  -[Sub-topic]

       

References

Beetham, H. (2007). An approach to learning activity design. In Beetham, H & Sharpe, R. (Eds.) Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age. London and New York: Routledge. Pp. 26-40, 226-229.

Herrington, A; Herrington, J; Oliver, R; Stoney, S and Willis, J. (2001). Quality guidelines for online courses: The development of an instrument to audit online units. In Kennedy, G; Keppel, M, McNaught, and Petrovic, T. (eds.) Meeting at the Crossroads: Proceedings of ASCILITE 2001. The University of Melbourne.

Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking University Teaching: A Conversational Framework for the Effective Use of Learning Technologies. 2nd Edition. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Prince Edward Island Department of Education. (n.d.). Resource-Based Learning: Approaches. Building Information Literacy. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.edu.pe.ca/bil/bil.asp?ch1.s2.gdtx