Presenting, Choosing and Organizing Information

Organizing Modules and Topics

Presenting the learning content at a topic level helps to "chunk" the learning. You can begin with a description of the primary ideas presented. A good way to think about this is "zooming" in from general, big picture level to module, topics, and then smaller granular bits of information. 

It's useful for students to understand how and why you've organized your topics and the connections between them and the overarching goals of the course. For example, many courses start with foundational knowledge and build on that learning as the course progresses. When students understand the value of that initial information they will learn it better.

See here for more information on using Canvas for Information Hierarchy and Organization and for Formatting and Visual Cues. 

Use a Variety of Media 

An online course that is all text-based or all video-based is not the best to maintain student engagement. A course that includes content presented in a variety of ways and includes diverse learning activities contributes to student success in an online environment in a number of areas:

Engagement

Including interactive and multimedia materials in online courses helps attract students' attention and sustain engagement as well as appeal to diverse learners and learning preferences. You can use images, links, PDF articles (remember to add them to LOCR), embed visuals, and media, on the pages.  There is more information about this on the upcoming pages.

Learner-Centred

Educational learning technologies have increased the quality, diversity, and accessibility of courses and programs for online students. Shifting to a learner-centered course design improves student experiences and outcomes, and instructors are able to transfer the blended/online pedagogical strategies back to their face-to-face teaching practice. Student-centered strategies, such as incorporating  "warmer" language, have been shown to improve student outcomes in online courses.

Digital Literacies

Media-rich and interactive learning design help students develop digital literacy skills useful for the real world and workplaces. Keep this in mind as you design learning activities and assessments.

Proximity of Information

Be sure to sequence the information in a way that makes sense (for example, simple to complex) and provide related information closer to relevant information. The upcoming pages will provide more information on information hierarchy in learning design.

If you want to include topic-specific optional or supplementary materials, you can include them at the bottom of the topic page and clearly identified as optional. These supplementary materials are particularly valuable when combined with formative assessments. This way students are able to identify gaps in their learning and then select the relevant supplementary materials to review.  Being very selective and limiting the resources to the best ones will increase the likelihood students will use them. It is important to make it very obvious that supplementary materials are not required. See the example at the bottom of this page.

 

Tips

  • You can list the topic-related optional materials at the bottom of the page and separate them using a horizontal line above.
  • It's a good practice to separate required content that students will be assessed on from extra learning resources.
  • Including formative assessments will help students figure out areas to focus on.
  • If you expect students to use a particular formatting style (for example, APA or MLA) then you can model that in this area.
  • Including the PDF or link on the page makes them more accessible for students, but be sure to add them into the Library Online Course Reserves (LOCR) too.
  • You can use headings to "chunk" these resources as well.

 

Optional Readings and Resources

The following materials are not mandatory and have been included if you would like to learn more about this topic: