Considerations for Using and Adapting Existing Materials
As you explore the table below, think about the existing instructional materials you may utilize in your online or blended course and how these may impact student access, interaction, and engagement. This is also a good opportunity to consider how adopting new types and formats of instructional materials for your course may help increase interaction and motivation while also helping to reduce potential access barriers.
The table below provides considerations for using various types of existing instructional materials in online and blended courses.
Instructional Materials
Considerations for Digital Learning Courses
Open Educational Resources
Consider adopting Open Educational Resources (OER) which are licensed in a way that clearly informs you how you may use and adapt the materials. (More information about OER is provided later in this module.)
Library-Sourced Materials
Provides you and your students access to eTextbooks, streaming video collections, information literacy modules, research guides, and more.
The wide variety of materials available supports multiple means of interaction with content and may provide more diverse perspectives and voices in your content.
Adopting e-books from the <Replace - Institution Name> Library may reduce or eliminate the cost of textbooks for your students.
See if your university has a dedicated Textbook Affordability Librarian to help you find e-books for your course.
Your subject librarian will happily help you search for course materials.
By linking to or embedding materials and not copying those materials, you are adhering to copyright law.
Important: Check these links periodically to make sure they work and the content is still available.
Remember to give credit to the author and set links to open in a new window. If you make the linked material appear to be your own you could be in violation of copyright law.
Materials You Previously Used in a Face-to-Face Class
Existing instructional materials from your face-to-face course (e.g., PowerPoints, PDFs, hand-written notes, scanned images) may need to be adapted or reformatted to ensure access and support student learning in your digital learning course.
Uploading a PowerPoint to your course to serve as a lecture and the main source of module content is not recommended. Alternatives to PowerPoint are provided on the next page in this module.
Poorly formatted PDFs or scanned images may not be readable to assistive technology.
Publisher Materials (e.g., traditional textbooks, digital coursepacks)
Often ready to share with students and require little to no modifications.
Cost is typically high which may prevent student access
May provide ancillary materials (e.g., test banks, supplemental online resources, course cartridges). Be sure to identify which of these resources are free and which are an additional cost to students.
May provide a variety of ways for students to interact with content (e.g., digital textbooks with interactive features, online exercises).
Don't assume that publisher materials are accessible to all students. Ask the publisher about the accessibility of digital texts and ancillary materials.
Instructional materials should...
...align with course objectives.Selecting instructional materials that align with course objectives will help you identify what resources are critical to preparing students for assessments and help you identify optional resources.
...be accessible.Instructional materials should be accessible to all students regardless of how they access them (e.g., on a mobile device or using assistive technology).
...provide multiple ways for students to interact and engage with the content.Providing materials in a variety of formats (e.g., text, images, video) gives students multiple ways to engage and interact with content, which supports Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
...support diverse and inclusive teaching.Incorporate instructional materials that provide a variety of perspectives and voices while also helping students feel represented in the course materials.
...adhere to copyright laws.Become familiar with copyright laws and strategies to utilize and share digital materials in ways that adhere to copyright laws.
Considerations for Using and Adapting Existing Materials