WCLN resource development relies on teachers to work together to design resources that best serve the majority of students. Quality explanations and a variety of activity types is the core goal.
Guidelines(click question to jump to answer):
General Layout
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- in general, a course will hold 4-8 units (try to be consistent with others of the same grade/topic)
- in general, each lesson should hold 4-8 readings
- in general, readings should be about a screen size (not overly small or big). Avoid lessons that require excessive scrolling (overwhelming).
- please don't specify font size or family unless absolutely needed (improves general accessibility)
- if you choose to bold "key words," that's fine, don't use various colors and/or underlines and/or highlight colors (too distracting)
- if you choose a different color for examples (eg. Example 1:), keep consistent throughout course
- sometimes <hr> tags (line) are nice to separate sections or items.
- don't over-format, as different browsers and/or screen sizes will mess with this anyway
- if you copy from WORD, please be aware of messy HTML and discuss ideas for not leaving a mess.
- Use our Canadian way of spelling (eg. colour vs. color) - reference
Embedding Graphics
When you wish to embed a graphic into a reading:
Find the graphic you wish to use (not from a publisher or money-making stock photos).
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- Download to your computer
- Resize image to size you'll use (or close) - don't upload a huge file that you intend to shrink anyway, as it impacts load time.
- Upload into the reading (do not upload/link directly from other web page).
- Center the graphic in most cases (sometimes align left or right).
- Add description for accessibility (eg. text readers).
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Embedding Videos
When you embed a video into a lesson, here's how to do it.
<p align="center"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JAIHikod-Q0?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" longdesc="examples of volcanism"></iframe></p>
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- align="center" ensures the video is centered on the lesson
- ?rel=0 ensures that the "recommended videos" at the end come from same channel
- width = 640 is a nice size for a typical screen, generally good not to go wider
- height = 360 complements the 640 height for typical videos, but just set it to keep proportions
- longdesc = a description for accessibility and in case the video becomes unavailable and we need to replace.
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If you wish to set start and end times, you would add additional variables:
<p align="center"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JAIHikod-Q0?rel=0&start=33&end=200" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" longdesc="examples of volcanism"></iframe></p>
WCLN Theme
Within the Spero LTI system, WCLN has its own Theme (CSS). This is an area that we're slowly evolving, based on developer feedback and needs.
Here are what we have now and planned:
Tables - tables are formatted (by default) to be centered in any reading. In the vast marjoity of cases, you'll want the table to be centered, but if you want a table that is NOT centered, the margin tagging will override the centering.
Fancy-Tables - you may wish to insert a table with some "fancy" formatting.
Fun-Fact - at the bottom of many readings, you may wish to have a "fun fact" or funny comic or story, or something to add a little extra engagement.
PDF-Link - at the bottom of many readings, you may wish to have a "fun fact" or funny comic or story, or something to add a little extra engagement.
DOCX-LINK - at the bottom of many readings, you may wish to have a "fun fact" or funny comic or story, or something to add a little extra engagement.
Acknowledge - below a graphic or statement or..... that came from a source that should have acknowledgement.
Links in Lessons
Within LTI / LMS, ALL links within lessons NEED to open in a new tab or they won't work.
Two ways to make sure they "open in a new tab"
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- Using the editor, use link button and select "New Window"
- In HTML mode.
<a href="https://reference.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here.</a></p>
- Using the editor, use link button and select "New Window"
Embedding Audio
Adding audio clips to a course can be done in a few ways. A couple of common ones are:
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- Best in most cases: <p align="center"><audio src="https://wcln.ca/_LOR/course_files/Art09/audio/clip.mp3" controls="controls"></audio>
- Can add graphic(s): Make a Youtube video of it and embed the video (option to add some accompanying pictures).
Assessment
There's no perfect assessment for any given group or individual.
Thus, the goal is to have some variety, so teachers can decide what best suits their purpose.
It's up to the teacher to choose which assessment tools to use - ie. they can hide/delete/skip the ones you don't wish to use with your students.
Our goal as designers is to sometimes provide a variety of assessment options for teachers to hide/show as they see fit.
Review in Courses
Why do WCLN courses have extensive review at the beginning of each major section in Math and Science?
Every classroom teacher is going to do some review at the beginning of a new topic or unit, to ensure that all students are roughly "on the same page."
For a classroom teacher, this is a challenge in that you:
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- want lots of review for the weaker students, so you don't leave them even further behind.
- don't want too much review, as you'll bore the stronger students who remember much of it.
One advantage that we have in the online-course world, is that we can provide lots of review, without boring the stronger students nearly as much. They can do the review and if they remember it well, they can have it done really quickly and move on. Weaker students can take their time, making sure the successfully scaffold for upcoming lessons.
Thus, feel free to provide a little extra review, if you think it'll help many students.
Why Print?
Why do we have so many Learning Guides, Assignments, and Projects presented in .pdf form? Why don't we use .docx or self-fill pdf files?
No solution is perfect for every student and situation, but we lean towards students having to write notes/solutions in most cases.
Here's a video that students see in a number of courses:
Did you Know?
At the bottom of some readings, a bit of extra information can sometimes be fun for students. It may be a "did you know" that hopefully captures the imagination of some students.
Sometimes, I come across a little tidbit of information that I would "throw out there" if I were in a classroom, hoping for it to garner a few raised eyebrows, pulling them into the lesson a bit more.
Here's an example from a static electricity reading:
| Electric Eels - Shocking! |
| Electric eels can stun both predators and prey with electric shocks of around 500 volts. |
The HTML for this (that you're welcome to copy and paste into your course - in HTML mode):
<center>
<table style="width: 550px;" border="3" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr style="background-color: #99cc99; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" align="center">
<td valign="top" width="NaNpx"><span style="font-size: large;">Electric Eels - Shocking!</span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color: #99ff99;">
<td valign="top" width="NaNpx">Electric eels can stun both predators and prey with electric shocks of around 500 volts.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</center>
Inquiry Projects?
At the bottom of many units, students will find a list of "Inquiry Projects."
These provide students with a different way to learn about the unit topics. The goal for the projects is to provide a lot of variety, to make the unit topic accessible and interesting to a wide variety of students.
The projects aren't a required part of any course, but teachers are encouraged to include them to allow more diversity for student learning.
New courses should look for opportunities to add student choice and diverse options, such as with Inquiry Project lists.
Interactive Media?
Some students can learn from navigating through multiple lessons in a section without interruption (just like some students can read a text book and engage with the material).
Given that, most students need some help reflecting, thinking, and scaffolding along the way.
Interactive media can supply this support in an easily digestable and fun way to self-test their knowledge.
Thus, we put a lot of effort into adding media (both AI and logic-based) into the courses.
We currently have over 900 media pieces within the courses (and counting) to support students.
All newly developed material should look for opportunities to incorporate interactive media to support students.