Making subject materials accessible
The Resources and Modules tools can be used to make subject materials accessible to students.
Note: Staff have a responsibility to familiarise themselves with guidelines on appropriate copyright compliance relating to the use of resources in CSU Interact. See http://www.csu.edu.au/copyright/docs/interact-staff-guide.pdf for more information.
An extensive set of resources relating to copyright issues for staff and students can be found at http://www.csu.edu.au/copyright/
Resources tool:
The Resources tool provides a flexible space for lecturers to upload and manage course materials. Materials of various types can be uploaded to the Resources area, including documents, slides, images, sound files, video clips, and web links. Lecturers can opt to upload multiple files at once, manage files that have already been posted, and organise materials into folders. As with the Announcements tool, lecturers can notify students via email that new course materials have been added to the site. One advantage of the Resources tool over the Web Content tool is that it doesn’t clutter the toolbar, and it can be used to organise links into folders. For links to more important or commonly used material, however, it’s probably better to use the Web Content tool.
Ideas:
Resources can be used as more than just a repository for files. With a little creativity, this tool can be used to create a number of engaging activities. Here are some ideas:
Organisation: While the way in which you organise course materials is not an activity in itself, it can have a direct affect on learning. Well organised resources make it easier for students to find what they need when they need it, while disorganised resources can quickly cause frustration and loss of motivation. Consider the following ideas for keeping your Resources area effective:
- Clearly name folders and files. “Lectures” and “Images” are much better folder names than “Documents” and “Additional materials.”
- Add numbers to folders and files to guide students. For example, “1. Lecture – Native Flora,” “2. Lecture – Native Fauna,” “3. Lecture – Rare Species”
- Add dates to folder and file names. For example, “1. Lecture – Native Flora (Week 02/05),” “2. Lecture – Native Fauna (Week 02/12)” . Place a link to lecture notes from a relevant date in the Calendar.
- Don’t clutter the Resources area with unnecessary files.
- If possible, provide different types of materials, such as images, video clips, and sound. CSU Interact provides opportunities to accommodate different learning styles.
Modules tool:
Overview
The Modules tool is an online lesson builder tool that allows authors to publish learning sequences that can be created by using a built-in online editor, by linking to web pages, or by uploading learning objects or documents of various formats. It can be used to easily publish subject content online in web page format.
In CSU Interact users can set their preferences to one of two editors; the basic FCK editor and an editor that supports equations, Sferyx.
The Modules tool was developed for Sakai under the name of Melete by Foothills College in the USA . A more detailed overview may be viewed at http://etudesproject.org/melete_overview.htm.
A Guide to the Modules tool is available here.