14.1 Best Practices for Lectures and Other Instructional Materials
The term "instructional materials" refers to any type of materials instructors provide to students to help them master course content. These may include PowerPoint presentation, videos, Web links, simulations, study games, flash cards, chapter outlines and even written lectures.
Lectures
Many instructors are wary about teaching online because they feel their students will miss out on in-class lectures and discussions. It is true that online instructors no longer have a captive audience, and must design their courses in ways that reach an online audience. But, this does not mean the instructor becomes "absent" in the online course.
Instead, instructors have many lecture choices available. The first instinct most new online instructors have is to record their in-class lectures and make them available for online students. This is not a best practice. Online and hybrid students learn best through "chunked" lecture materials of 7 minutes or less. The shorter the lecture, the more likely students are to watch it and learn from it.
If you do decide to create voice-led lectures, there are several options:
If you decide to make visual-only lectures, we have other options:
You will notice that we use a great deal of cloud-based services. This is partially to support our students using mobile devices... but also because we have a limited amount of space on our Blackboard servers, so we rely on cloud-based tools to keep from uploading large files to Blackboard.
Instead, instructors have many lecture choices available. The first instinct most new online instructors have is to record their in-class lectures and make them available for online students. This is not a best practice. Online and hybrid students learn best through "chunked" lecture materials of 7 minutes or less. The shorter the lecture, the more likely students are to watch it and learn from it.
If you do decide to create voice-led lectures, there are several options:
- Record your lecture with Blackboard Collaborate (see Chapter 5)
- Record a Narrated PowerPoint and upload it as a video to YouTube
- Make a video with iMovie or your cell phone's camera
If you decide to make visual-only lectures, we have other options:
- Translate a PowerPoint presentation to an iSpring using iSpring Free
- Upload a PowerPoint to SlideShare
- Make a SoftChalk lesson (SoftChalk offers a free 30-day trial)
You will notice that we use a great deal of cloud-based services. This is partially to support our students using mobile devices... but also because we have a limited amount of space on our Blackboard servers, so we rely on cloud-based tools to keep from uploading large files to Blackboard.
Videos
You may use YouTube or other video services on the Web to add videos to your class; but, all videos must be closed-captioned in order for your course to meet ADA compliance standards.
YouTube's automatic closed-captioning tool does NOT meet ADA compliance standards, so beware. For example, look at this screenshot from a YouTube video:
YouTube's automatic closed-captioning tool does NOT meet ADA compliance standards, so beware. For example, look at this screenshot from a YouTube video:
The video's caption reads, "this is the 2010 the end to the urine the holiday shopping with." What the video's audio actually says is "This is the 2010 year-end holiday shopping wins." To YouTube, "year-end" sounds remarkably similar to "urine." This would definitely confuse a student with hearing disabilities!
Look for videos that have custom captions, and not just the "English" or "Auto-caption" track. Watch the video with the captions on to ensure the captions reflect the video's actual audio content.
LSSC's library has purchased a subscription to the Films on Demand database. Videos in this database come from PBS, ABC News, the Discovery Channel, and many other educational sources. These videos are closed-captioned, and even contain interactive transcripts. Email the LSSC library for the login information for this tool.
LSSC's library has purchased a subscription to the Films on Demand database. Videos in this database come from PBS, ABC News, the Discovery Channel, and many other educational sources. These videos are closed-captioned, and even contain interactive transcripts. Email the LSSC library for the login information for this tool.
Study Materials
Your publisher may provide study materials, such as chapter outlines, practice games and flash cards. These are great additions to a Blackboard course, and may appear in your "Optional: Additional Resources" folders as you learn advanced Blackboard techniques.
If your publisher does not provide these tools, LSSC subscribes to StudyMate, which can turn any of your test questions into interactive study games for your students. See this one from the Humanities course: http://www.studymate.com/?id=3ZekcaQ7d
If you would like to use the StudyMate tool, please email [email protected].
If your publisher does not provide these tools, LSSC subscribes to StudyMate, which can turn any of your test questions into interactive study games for your students. See this one from the Humanities course: http://www.studymate.com/?id=3ZekcaQ7d
If you would like to use the StudyMate tool, please email [email protected].
Web Links
Another great feature in Blackboard is the ability to create Web Links from the Build Content menu. Best practices for Web links include:
- Make sure the link opens in a new window
- Describe the link, and its importance, to your students
- Cite the link, just like you would in an academic essay, in either APA or MLA format
File Formats
When you upload files to Blackboard, make sure to use universal file types that will open on any computer or device. This means avoiding .docx and .pptx files when possible, as well as other software-specific file types. Instead, use PDF files in Blackboard courses.
Next Steps
When you are ready to move on, proceed to 14.2 Uploading Instructional Materials to Blackboard.