DE Oracle @ UMUC

Open Educational Resources

Background information

The past several years have seen an exponential increase in the creation and use of open educational resources (OERs), which, according to an often-cited definition, are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others. (Atkins, Brown, and Hammond, 2007, p. 4)

In other words, OERs are any type of educational material thats freely available for teachers and students to use, adapt, share, and reuse. OERs include learning content such as videos, audio clips, images, lecture notes, reading lists, course assignments, syllabi and lesson plans, textbooks, data, instructional games, tests and quizzes, etc.

OERs started as a grassroots movement by educators worldwide. Funded by grants and private donations (particularly from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which has given more than $68 million in support of OERs), the OER movement has attempted to bring into the educational process groups who have been traditionally shut out, including K-12 teachers, scientists and engineers working in the industry rather than in academia, and those who arent fluent in English. The OER movements goal is to make education available to everyone around the world (particularly those in the developing world, who could not otherwise afford an education, as well as self-learners).

Since its inception as a grassroots movement, it has become an institutional movement as well, with early pioneers such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology putting an increasing amount of course material including complete course lectures online, to the point where, as of November 28, 2007, MITs Open Course Ware site contained material for more than 1800 classes in 33 academic disciplines. Other prestigious educational institutions, such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and U.C. Berkeley, have begun to put at least some of their educational content online as well. In most cases, OERs available online from institutions such as MIT do not confer degrees, certificates, or course credit, but they do provide accessibility to educational material for those who have interests in particular subjects and want to self learn.

The worldwide educational community met in September 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa and produced the Cape Town Open Education Declaration, a document advocating the continued development and sharing of OERs in support of worldwide education, particularly in developing countries.

There are currently more than 300 institutions in more than 30 countries around the world that are creating or using OERs, and OER material is available in more than 10 languages.

Finding OERs

Because of the rapid growth in the development of OERs, there are many online repositories that contain OER material. The question for educators who want to use OERs is how to find them. There are a variety of methods to do this, including:

searching through OER compilations such as:
- OCW Consortium
- Creative Commons search
subscribing to an education-related listserv such as:
- OER@LISTSERV.AED.ORG
browsing through OER journals like:
- The International Journal of Open Educational Resources
conducting searches in UMUC library databases such as:
- ERIC, Education Research Complete, Professional Development Collection, and/or Teacher Reference Center (using search terms like open education* resources)
And

conducting general Web searches using search engines such as Google Scholar

OER collections

Some OER collections focus on particular subjects, while others are multidisciplinary.

Subject-specific OERs include:

Berkelee Shares (music)
Chemistry Collective
HEAL (Health Education Assets Library)
SERC (sciences)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Multidisciplinary OERs include:

Most OER repositories allow users to create a free account and to search for and save OERs, as well as create new OERs and share them with others. This is a great way to organize OERs for future use.

Advantages and disadvantages of OERs

As with any educational resource, there are both advantages and disadvantages associated with using OERs in the classroom.

Advantages of using OERs include:

expanded access to learning. Students anywhere in the world can access OERs at any time, and students can access material repeatedly.
scalability. OERs are easy to distribute widely with little or no cost.
ability to supplement textbooks and lectures where deficiencies in information are evident.
enhancement to regular course content for example, by adding multimedia to text. Presenting information in multiple formats may help students to more easily learn the material being taught.
information may be disseminated rapidly (especially as compared to information published in textbooks or journals), which can increase the relevance of the material presented.
the use of OERs instead of traditional textbooks or course packs, etc. can substantially reduce the cost of course materials for students.
faculty are able to showcase their innovation and talent. A wide audience may learn of faculty research interests and expertise. Potential students and donors may be impressed, and student and faculty recruitment efforts may be enhanced.
OERs provide an excellent way for alumni to stay connected to the institution and continue with a program of lifelong learning.
continually improved resources. Unlike textbooks and other static sources of information, OERs can be quickly improved through direct editing by users or through solicitation and incorporation of user feedback. Instructors can take an existing OER, adapt it for a class, and make the modified OER available for others to use.

Disadvantages of OERs include:

quality issues. Since many OER repositories allow any user to create an account and post material, some resources may not relevant and/or accurate.
lack of human interaction between teachers and students. OER material is created to stand alone, and since self-learning users may access the material outside of a classroom environment, they will miss out on the discussion and instructor feedback that characterize for-credit classes and make such classes useful and valuable.
language and/or cultural barriers. Although efforts are being made to make OERs available in multiple languages, many are only available in English, limiting their usefulness to non-English speakers. Additionally, not all resources are culturally appropriate for all audiences.
technological issues. Some students may have trouble using some OERs if they have a slow or erratic internet connection. Other OERs may require software that students dont have and that they may not be able to afford.
intellectual property/copyright concerns. Since OERs are meant to be shared openly, the fair use exemption from the U.S. Copyright Act ceases to apply; all content put online must be checked to ensure that it doesnt violate copyright law.
sustainability issues. Since OER creators generally do not receive any type of payment for their OER, there may be little incentive for them to update their OER or ensure that it will continue to be available online.

Using OERs in UMUC classes

There are a variety of resources available to help instructors who want to use OERs in their classrooms.

Because OERs may vary in quality, it is important for instructors to carefully evaluate them before posting them in their classroom. Although there is not yet a standard checklist thats been developed for this purpose, many of the criteria listed on the UMUC librarys Web site for evaluating online resources can be used to evaluate OERs. The criteria include:

authority: what are the authors credentials?
accuracy: are there errors or omissions visible?
objectivity: is any type of bias present?
currency: is the resource up-to-date or have a creation or update date visible?
coverage: does it address the topic at hand sufficiently to add value to the class?

It is important to pay attention to the type of copyright assigned to an OER by its author and to use the OER in strict accordance to its stipulations. In order to facilitate their use, modification, and distribution, many OERs have flexible copyright licenses from organizations such as Creative Commons; these licenses provide varying amounts of protection, ranging from all rights reserved (full copyright) to no rights reserved (public domain).See the Creative Commons Web site for a list and description of the six main licenses.

Several online tools can help users determine an items copyright status. These include the PDTool, an interactive tool that can be used to determine whether permission is needed to use an item and when an item will no longer be protected by copyright, as well as Stanfords Copyright Renewal Database, which allows users to search the copyright renewals records received by the U.S. Copyright Office between 1950 and 1992 for books published in the U.S. between 1923 and 1963.

UMUCs Center for Intellectual Property will be able to provide additional copyright-related information and guidance.

Instructors planning to use OERs in their classrooms should also keep in mind that the OERs should comply with federal and state accessibility requirements. A checklist for compliance with Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act can be found at WebAIM.

You may also want to review UMUCs information about accessibility in distance education. The site contains information about disability-related legal issues and best practices for developing accessible Web sites, along with other useful links.

There are other considerations to keep in mind when determining whether and how to incorporate OERs into an online classroom. Instructors must consider, for example, how an OER will need to be adapted to meet the particulars of the class learning objectives. Theyll also need to decide how the OER will be used, and theyll need to provide clear instructions to students for its use. Theyll need to decide how theyll determine whether the OER was successfully integrated into the class and whether it was valuable to students. And before they use the OER in another class, theyll need to determine whether the URL is still valid and whether the OER was updated since they last accessed it.

The Future

The students that will be attending college in the near future are used to robust multimedia experiences, such as can be provided by OERs. Todays students send and receive text messages, play video games, surf the Web, and post comments in online classrooms, often all at once. Students will not be satisfied by online content that is text-heavy and instruction that relies simply on students reading the class material. Students want to interact online, experiment with information provided in classrooms in a hands-on way, and add their own content to the learning environment. This is what Web 2.0 is all about. The use of OERs can help bring Web 2.0 to the classroom, as well as meet the expectations of our future students as to what the online environment is all about.

OERs can make education more convenient since many contain content that is accessible nearly anywhere and that can be used on the go (podcasts, for example). This aspect of OERs will help to ensure their popularity and continued use and growth.

The expanded use of OERs also has implications for faculty and their role in the online classroom. In response to the question of whether faculty will still be needed in an environment where educational content is provided for free, most experts and currently teaching faculty members indicate that the answer is yes. Students will still need instructions, guidance, and feedback, regardless of how learning material is made available. Interaction with faculty and other students is part of the learning process, and while the use OERs may enhance the learning process, they do not substitute for human interaction. Also, faculty are still the subject experts in the classroom, and their expertise is needed in the selection and proper use of OERs. For these and other reasons, faculty presence will still be needed in online classrooms in the future.

Conclusion

Just as television did not replace the radio, but rather complemented it, OERs will likely not completely replace textbooks, lectures, or other traditional classroom materials. However, their role in enhancing the online learning environment, allowing faculty to collaborate in new ways, and expanding access to educational materials to people worldwide, will ensure their growth and use in education, to the benefit of students and faculty alike. This can only bode well for the future of online education.

Reference

Atkins, D. E., Brown, J. S., Hammond, A. L. (2007, February). A review of the open educational resources (OER) movement: Achievements, challenges, and new opportunities. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from http://tinyurl.com/yw4j4u

Electronic Resources News

As part of its collection management assessment for fiscal year 2009, Information and Library Services (ILS) performed a careful review of UMUCs electronic library resources in light of current budget constraints. Factors taken into account included the number of times the resource was accessed in the previous fiscal year, whether similar content was also available in another resource or on the Web, how instrumental a resource is in supporting the UMUC curriculum, whether the resource was full text and FindIt enabled, how often the resource was used by ILS librarians for instructional purposes, its cost, and whether a lower-cost equivalent substitute was found. Input was solicited from faculty throughout the university. In addition, ILS explored new resources that could be added or serve as substitutes to better support UMUCs programs. Below are the lists of additions/substitutions, as well as those databases that have been discontinued as of July 1, 2008. Be assured that, as always, ILS remains prepared to support your research needs through its 110 databases and other electronic resources. Be sure to see the subject guides for appropriate databases in your area of study.

Electronic Resources Added or Upgraded as of July 1, 2008	Vendor Interface
Academic OneFile	Gale
AnthroSource	Blackwell Publishing
Business Source Complete (upgrade Business Source Premier)	EBSCOHost
DB Key Business Ratios (upgrade to 3 years)	DB
Gale Virtual Reference Library	Gale
GenderWatch	ProQuest
GeoREF	EBSCOHost
Oxford Reference Online Premium with Western Civilization and Literature Add On	Oxford University Press
Philosophers Index	EBSCOHost
Points of View Center	EBSCOHost
Sociological Abstracts Plus	ProQuest
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts	ProQuest

Electronic Resources Discontinued as of July 1, 2008	Vendor Interface
American Chemical Society (ACS) Journals *Exception: Will discontinue as of January 1, 2009	ACS
Bibliography of the History of Art	CSA
Business and Industry	Gale/RDS
Business and Management	Gale/RDS
EconLit	EBSCOHost
Encyclopedia Britannica	Encyclopedia Britannica
Expanded Academic Index	Gale
GEOBASE	OCLC FirstSearch
Health Reference Center	Gale
History Resource Center (US)	Gale
History Resource Center (World)	Gale
Ingenta ConnectComplete	Ingenta
LexisNexis Primary History: African American	LexisNexis
LexisNexis Statistical	LexisNexis
Library Literature and Information Science	EBSCOHost
Literature Resource Center	Gale
Opposing Viewpoints Center	Gale
Oxford English Dictionary	Oxford University Press
Public Library of Science (PLoS)	PloS
Tablebase	Gale/RDS

EBSCOHost Web 2.0 and Other Enhancements are Coming in July 2008

Anew look is coming soon tothe EBSCOHost electronic resources! More information is also available on the EBSCO site.

GreenFILE - Free Database From EBSCO is Available

A free environmental database is now available in the EBSCOHost interface, called GreenFILE, which offers a unique perspective on the positive and negative ways humans affect the environment.

New NetLibrary Titles are Available

About 400 titles were recently added in many topic areas in the NetLibrary (e-book) collection:

Anthropology
Art
Biotechnology
Business and Marketing
Business Ethics
Communications
Company and Industry
Computer Sciences
Criminal Justice
Education and Distance Education
Emergency Management
Environmental Management
Finance and Accounting
Fire Science
Gerontology
Health
History
Homeland Security
Humanities
Information Technology Systems
Legal
Literature
Management
Mathematics
Philosophy
Psychology
Reference and Biography
Religion
Sciences
Sociology
Statistics
U.S. Government
Womens Studies

Overseas Students, Faculty and Staff - Get Your Library Barcode Number!

Beginning with the Fall 2008 semester, all UMUC-Asia and UMUC-Europe students, faculty, and staff will be assigned a library barcode number, which will be available for you to look up in MyUMUC. You will need this number to log into library resources. (See the Library Login Changes announcement below).

Library Login Changes

Beginning with the Fall 2008 semester, you will need to log in to library resources using either your library barcode number or your EMPLID. Resources include library databases, Quick Searches, Journal Finder, Research Port, DocumentExpress, RefWorks, andthe ILSchat service. Additional resources for faculty include Ereserves and Turnitin.com. Look for more details about these changes on the library Web site throughout the summer.

Ereserves and Book Delivery Options for Overseas Faculty

Beginning with the Fall 2008 semester, you will have access to the interactive Reserved Reading Request system that will fill in your classroom information so you do not have to do this when submitting requests for reserved readings. If you have submitted requests in the past, you can select them from a list and this will then build the requests for your current classes automatically. In addition, you will be able to see what reserved readings other faculty in your department have requested and select those readings for your class in the same manner. You will also be able to log into the library catalog (catalogUSMAI) with your library barcode number to request delivery of books to your APO address. Look for more details about this on the library Web site throughout the summer.

Engaging Students and Doing Good: Online Clubs Fight World Hunger

From June 1 through June 30, 2008, four of UMUCs online student clubs increased their vocabulary and helped fight world hunger by donating rice to the United Nations World Food Programme through the popular Web site FreeRice.com.

FreeRice.com is an Internet phenomenon visited by millions of people who enjoy learning new words and donating food for the hungry, all for free. Visitors to the FreeRice Web site guess the definition of vocabulary words; with each correct guess, advertisers on FreeRice contribute twenty grains of rice to the World Food Programme. FreeRice has received a great deal of positive media coverage, and other schools have used it as a tool to teach vocabulary and promote charitable giving.

UMUCs FreeRice activity was a great success. Students, faculty, family, and friends contributed a total of 1.8 million grains of rice in the month of June throughthe following WebTycho-based academic clubs:

BEHS 900 (Social Sciences Gerontology)
ENGL 900 (English)
ENMT 900 (Environmental Management)
PSYC 900 (Psychology)

While doing so, each club had the opportunity to learn about and discuss the current global food crisis. Librarian Robert Miller posted links to Web sites and to articles in UMUC library databases addressing the topic of world hunger.

Students embraced hunger as a deadly serious issue, and their tremendous donations of rice show how dedicated students were to helping those less fortunate than themselves. But the FreeRice activity in the online clubs also encouraged students to have fun. In each club, students posted photographs of themselves, their families, and friends playing FreeRice. Students also shared interesting new vocabulary words they learned while playing.

Community was built across clubs as each vied to donate the most rice. PSYC 900 won the friendly competition. No prizes were offered, as the real rewards were the fun of playing FreeRice and the knowledge that one has helped others in need.

So many individuals in each club contributed a great deal of time and effort in donating rice. An example of our students generosity is Debbie Lynch, Student Leader of BEHS 900 and a member of PSYC 900. For one week, in the two clubs with which she is associated, Debbie matched the rice contributions of students and faculty, grain for grain: If someone donated 10,000 grains, then Debbie sat down at her computer and did the same. Debbie was motivated by her own life experience. She writes:

I grew up in a family of fourteen children, and my parents worked as sharecroppers on farms. Food was scarce and often we lived on potatoes and brown beans, corn bread, biscuits and gravy, but there were times when my parents could not even afford those staples. Having experienced hunger often as a child, I was motivated to donate as much rice as possible in the hope that many hungry children will now have food to sustain themselves and ease their hunger pangs.

Professor Sabrina Fu, Faculty Advisor for the Environmental Management Club, got her children involved in the month-long effort to help the hungry. In the process, Sabrinas children learned about her work as a distance-education professional. Prior to playing FreeRice and experiencing the ENMT 900 virtual club up-close and in-person, Sabrinas youngest daughter would sometimes doubt the reality of Sabrinas classes: Are online students real? You never see them! Now Sabrinas daughter knows how dynamic, fun, and real online education is!

A student member of ENMT 900, Sheri Kantor, also inspired her entire family to play FreeRice and raise their awareness of the global food crisis. Sheri writes:

The FreeRice competition brought family, friends and students together with one focus in mind: world hunger. For one month, we as students helped to educate our family and friends in a way that is rarely achieved. The children of students and faculty joyfully donated their time, concern, and many thousands of rice grains. They were truly an inspiration!

As the librarys liaison to the School of Undergraduate Studies science departments (including Social Sciences, Psychology, and Environmental Management), Robert Miller initially proposed FreeRice as an activity in one club, BEHS 900. In fact, Robert learned about FreeRice in ENMT 900, from students Carrissa Acosta and Sheri Kantor.

Shelley Hintz, Coordinator in the Department of Student Success, who oversees all of UMUCs online academic clubs, suggested the competition among each of the three clubs with which Robert works. When FreeRice began in BEHS, ENMT, and PSYC 900, a student member of the psychology club, Cherita Montoney, brought the competition to ENGL 900, where she is one of the Student Leaders.

This community-building activity, involving students, faculty, family, and friends in four online student clubs, would not have been possible without the enthusiastic support and excellent ideas of the following club faculty advisors:

Donna Maurer (BEHS)
Jeff Sypeck (ENGL)
Sabrina Fu (ENMT)
Ahalya Hejmadi (PSYC)

For more information on UMUCs student clubs, please visit the Department of Student Success Web site.

To find out how you as a faculty member can become involved with the clubs, please contact Shelley Hintz.

Strategies for Student Success in the Online Classroom

Introduction

*Deloris James is Director for Women in Business and Assistant Academic Director for Business Administration and Management Studies; Claudine Weatherford and Penny Ittner are adjunct faculty for Business and Management courses; Penny is also the course chair for BMGT 110.

According to the National Center for Academic Transformation, Successful completion of introductory courses is critical for first-year students, but typical failure rates in these courses contribute heavily to overall institutional drop-out rates between the first and second year (Twigg, 2005). Core and introductory courses play a special role, not only as the foundation of a specific major, but also as the door to success for new students and the school in which they are enrolled. BMGT 110, Introduction to Business Management, is one of UMUCs core courses for business majors and a prime example of a high enrollment and first course experience for students new to UMUC. Realizing the importance of BMGT 110 in the Business Administration and Management Studies Program, Deloris James, Penny Ittner, and Claudine Weatherford* designed a Toolkit that explains how to use effective strategies and practices to engage learner interest and maximize successful course completion.

Online Course Toolkit

The Toolkit offers faculty a step-by-step plan for designing and organizing courses that provide students with a higher level of engagement with the content, the instructor, themselves, and their peers. By following the framework described in the Toolkit, faculty can make a greater impact in assisting their students. The tips and examples show ways to reach out to the motivated students as well as those who tend to fall between the cracksoften because of their lack of experience or confidence as a learner. Deloris, Penny, and Claudine developed strategies that take into consideration students who are not only new to UMUC, but also new to the online environment.

The Toolkit provides tools and examples for designing activities and facilitating discussions that are structured yet flexible and student centered. By using these tools as a checklist throughout the semester, faculty can design courses and course activities that provide a higher level of student engagement and result in a higher degree of student success. Note that the strategies provided here work not onlyfor introductory / core courses, but they also are appropriate for all courses across the curriculum. Student success and retention is an ongoing concern as well as an opportunity for faculty and directors to make a difference.

BMGT Toolkit

Instructional Strategies:	Examples:
Course Objectives: Make students aware of the relationship between the course structure and course goals / objectives.	In the introduction to the course, have students review the course objectives and develop questions for them to answer. Include specific course goals in assignment instructions. Create and post a matrix to clarify course goals with space for students to fill in additional text chapter objects and subject matter examples.
Course Structure: Make students aware of the relationship between the course structure and course modules.	Organize conference topics by course modules. For instance, set up a conference entitled Module 2 The Structure of Business and assign discussion topics on such things as mergers / acquisitions, entrepreneurship, etc.
Expectations and Grading: Use assignment rubrics to clarify lesson goals and expectations for learning success.	Post holistic or analytic rubrics under the conference assignment link or other accessible location. Require students to review the rubric and make comments. You may want / need to prompt them with a few discussion questions.
Flexibility: Allow for flexibility and provide clarification. Students appreciate the opportunity to make choices that reflect their interests.	Allow late assignments with set penalty points. Offer assignment topic choices (e.g., require 6 out of 8 writing assignment options). Offer conference discussions, study groups, or debates with longer, multiple-week timelines.
Assess Understanding: Use elements within the course / assignment that provide feedback to both instructor and student(s) that show level of understanding of course and assignment details, instructions, and procedures.	Devise a syllabus quiz by creating questions on the most important components such as grading information, project descriptions, and course schedule. For incentive, award 2 points or include a General Online Participation grade for getting all questions correct. Create conference topic(s) that ensure clarity by using a read and respond topic to require positive indication of understanding about requirements. For instance, use Ask the Professor topic(s) to facilitate clarifying questions on requirements and expectations.
Initial Communication: Send a welcome letter to your students the week before class starts.	Send e-mail greeting to students, reminding them about the pre-Week 1 access to WebTycho and encouraging them to introduce themselves. This is a good opportunity to emphasize the regular and frequent online participation and communication.
Introductions that Enhance Connection: Provide creative ways for students to introduce themselves to the class by posting an introduction conference.	Post a structured set of questions designed to draw out students; learn preferred names / nicknames; provide a learner portrait based on sharable background, academic and personal goals, family and community accomplishments, and involvements / hobbies. This activity builds clear communication channels and good working instructor-student and student-student relationships. Respond to each student individually, spotlighting one or two pieces of information shared by the student. Noting common background (Im from Chicago, too!) or connecting a students job or past course experience to the forthcoming BMGT 110 assignments will help students feel more connected to the class. Maintain samples of introductory responses for use as a quick reference and customize responses that show instructor awareness of individual student needs, especially in case retention issues arise.
Time Management Strategies: Help students understand time management issues by creating a discussion topic on strategies and practices for the adult learner.	Encourage students to share tried and true time management approaches that lead to successful course completion. Stress the importance of maximizing the ability to plan ahead for all course assignments at the beginning of the term by entering deadlines on the calendar, PDA, or the MyUMUC calendar feature.
Debriefs of Assignments: Create assignment debriefs to provide reinforcement of learning subject matter and / or concepts.	After due date, post the grading key, an exemplary student sample, or discussion questions on how students came up with concepts for their project / report.
At-Risk students: Keep in touch with no-show or at-risk students.	At the end of the second or third week (depending on course assignments and policies), compose a friendly yet firm reminder about the importance of regular and meaningful participation, including meeting assignment requirements, goals, and deadlines.
Class Announcement Reminders Students need reinforcements and reminders about upcoming assignment deadlines. They also appreciate frequent participation and positive feedback from the faculty.	Use the Class Announcement area for assignment reminders and to encourage students to continually check the Course Schedule to stay on track (e.g., Writing Assignment 3 is due 6/1. Check the Course Schedule and designated conference for details). In the beginning of the semester, send students reminders via e-mail as they get acquainted with the classroom layout.
Class Participation: When students are new to online discussions, they need reinforcement and explanations of what to expect and what is expected of them.	Reignite interest and participation in sagging discussions by posting new provocative questions or references about current events or late-breaking news (e.g., Congressional debate on immigration reforms and employers needs). Deliver liberal pats on backs whenever justified (e.g., for improved work, increased interactivity, peer support, etc.). Actively engage with low participation / at-risk students who are not successfully completing the course. For instance, develop stock yet customizable e-mail to use when communicating with late-entry / low-level participants. Consider telephone contact as appropriate.

Reference:

Twigg, C. A. (2005). Increasing success for underserved students: Redesigning introductory courses. The National Center for Academic Transformation.

Coming Soon: DE Oracle Live

Coming soon in Fall 2008 to the DE Oracle will be DE Oracle Live sessions. Using the Wimba system, the CSI team plans to host webinar sessions on topics related to distance education that are of interest to our faculty. Wimba allows many participants to view the presentation simultaneously, which can include slide presentations, demonstrations of software packages, audio and video components, and collaborative question-and-answer portions.

Announcements of scheduled sessions, including topic, days, and times, will appear on the Events page. Notification of upcoming sessions will also be sent via e-mail to registered DE Oracle subscribers. We hope to host multiple sessions at different times to accommodate our global faculty, but we will also have archives of the DE Oracle Live sessions available following the presentations.

We welcome your suggestions for topics of interest that you would like to see presented. Registered subscribers are encouraged to leave us a comment on this page with suggestions based on previous DE Oracle articles or on new topics you would like us to address in the future, consistent with the DE Oracles mission. We appreciate that our innovative faculty will want to present in the futureon DE Oracle Live, and presenter guidelines will be available after the first DE Oracle Live session to assist in that endeavor.

Thank you in advance for you suggestions and we look forward to meeting you online in the DE Oracle Live sessions in the fall.

A Flash Learning Object of the OSI Model

Background

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model is a specific learning concept in teaching networking, information assurance, telecommunications, and other technology- and computer-related subjects that has been particularly difficult to convey to students online. It is an elementary Network/IT fundamental, of which students must possess a firm understanding prior to moving on to advanced IT security and information assurance concepts. Also, students are required to have solid knowledge of the OSI model prior to taking industry certification exams and for entering the technology workforce.

UMUCs Security Studies Laboratory received a grant from the National Security Agency to develop an interactive learning object that would facilitate online UMUC courses in the areas of telecommunications, networking, and information assurance. Some of the suggested courses that will use this learning object in the School of Undergraduate Studies are in the CMIT, CMIS, and IFSM programs; suggested graduate courses that will use the learning object include some in the INFA, ITEC, and TLMN programs.

The Center for Support of Instruction (CSI) development team was tasked with developing an interactive Flash learning object that would provide students with an immersive, engaging, and interactive representation of the OSI model concepts. The anticipated deliverable would help bridge the gap between learning about the OSI model and understanding its relationship to information assurance and other networking topics.

Structure of the Learning Object

The adopted structure of the learning object closely matches the conceptual structure of the OSI model, utilizing seven learning modules to match up with the seven layers of the OSI model. An introductory overview module was added to provide an overall framework to the learning object. Each module includes the following learning stations:

Learning Objectives
Virtual Instructor
Description
Protocols
Real Life Examples
Information Assurance Implications
Test Your Knowledge

Interface of the OSI model learning object

Students traverse through the various learning stationswhich include text, animation, video, and multiple-choice and true/false questionsfor a multimedia representation of each layer of the OSI model. The interactive learning experience will assist them in understanding the concepts of the layer, the associated terminology, the relationship of that layer to its adjoining layers, and, very importantly, the relationship of the layer to information assurance concepts. The development team used subject matter experts to create the text and exercises for each layer.

Status and Timeline

On May 28, 2008, the Security Studies Laboratory and CSI presented the draft of the learning object to various stakeholders, including university staff, subject matter experts, undergraduate and graduate faculty, and other guests. The responses to the learning object and user interface were positive and enthusiastic. The faculty provided valuable input to enhance the learning object and were looking forward to integrating it into their WebTycho classrooms. The first version of the learning object is scheduled to be released in the fall 2008 semester. Accompanying the release, the development team envisions providing a faculty user manual, as the object was designed to be used in multiple courses for teaching multiple concepts. The manual will include suggested in-class activities, possible assignments, and general guidelines for using the learning object to minimize repetition among courses.

Developing Effective Link Text

What is Link Text?

Link text is the text on a Web page that is placed within the a /a brackets in HTML; on a normal Web page, this text will show up in another color (usually blue) and is underlined to indicate that it is a link.

When devising link text, everyone knows not to click hereor do they?

From an accessibility standpoint, a basic tenet for creating link text is to ensure that it is meaningful. Readers need to understand what the link points to, and the link itself needs to make sense to them. A typical method for adding a link to a file is to copy a URL from the location bar of a browser and simply paste it where you want it in your documentand many programs, such as Microsoft Word, recognize certain text as a URL and automatically convert it to a link with the URL as the link text. The URLs, though important in and of themselves, become an afterthought in how they are presented to readers. In this article, well review the standards and best practices for developing effective link text so that the links you put in your Web-based documents are accessible and easy to understand.

Meaningful and Effective Links

In its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the World Wide Web Consortiumthe same international standards group that developed the specifications for HTMLnotes quite simply in regard to link text: dont use click here. The main reason for this guideline is because the phrase says nothing about what the link points to; it is not meaningful to the user.

What makes link text meaningful? In a nutshell, link text is effective when it is short, descriptive, and able to stand alone; it needs to make sense out of its usual context.

Many people who have vision problems use screen readers, such as JAWS, to navigate Web pages. Instead of having an entire Web page read to them, these users can click the Tab key to jump from link to link. In turn, the text of each link is voiced to the user as link, [link text]. Sequential links with the text of click here and read more, for example, would thus come back to the screen reader user as link, click here, link, read more. This information provides little value to the user out of its Web page context, as it provides no clues regarding the nature of what the links point to.

Some screen readers provide a list of links for the user as an additional way to navigate a Web page. The links list might list all the links on a page, all the links on a page that the user has visited (or not visited), or even a list of links that contain certain information requested by the usersuch as all links on a page that point to the www.umuc.edu domain. A list of links generally uses the link text for its list and could very well contain information such as this:

Read more
Click here
3 comments
More information
Visit
Download
Watch now
Transcript

Again, out of context and without specific identifying information, click here makes no sense. Click here to do what? Similarly, Read more does not help orient the user; what topic is it referring to that you can read more about? By not providing contextual clues in your link text, it becomes very difficult for people with screen readers to navigate properly and use the Web as a source of information.

There is one good attribute about all the link text examples mentioned thus far: They all clearly meet the short requirement. These examples, however, are simply too short; with just a little more information added to them, they will likely contain enough description that will allow them to stand alone.

Consider a resume-like Web page that lists the various major resume categories (education, experience, etc.) on separate pages, accessible via links on the main page. A link worded as Work Experience is much shorter and more succinct than a link worded as Page that explains more about my work experience; the former link text is also more useful in part because it mentions the important information first. Likewise, Work Experience is more informative than just Experience because it specifies what kind of experience will be described; the reader will not confuse it with possibly being about teaching, educational, volunteer, or computer experience.

So, what can you use instead of click here? Clear, specific, and informative text like UMUC home page or AAHE Fall Conference Schedule or even research procedures will suffice. Such examples mean that you may have to change the way you write your text when you add in links. The following table lists some ways you can improve link text. (Note: The underlined textexamples shown throughout this articleare for demonstration purposes only; they are not active links.)

Instead of this link text:	Use link text like this:
A transcript is available.	Read the Lesson 1 video transcript.
I have prepared a number of writing tips for you to review when you compose your paper. Read them now.	Take advantage of these writing tips as you compose your paper.
Guidelines are available for the term papers that are due next week. More information	Be sure to review these important term paper guidelines before you turn in your paper next week.
I have posted answers to the quiz here.	I have posted answers to the quiz on a separate page.
Stephen D. has some interesting video about distance learning on his Web site. Watch videos here.	Stephen D. has some interesting videos about distance learning on his Web site.

URLs as Link Text

Generally speaking, using a URL for link text, as described in the introduction to this article, is not recommended for a variety of reasons. If you ever look at products on a Web site such as amazon.com, you know that the individual URLs are quite long and contain various amalgamations of letters, numbers, and special characters that make no sense to the average reader (although they do make sense to specific programming scripts and databases). For example, the following URL points to the Amazon Kindle e-reader device:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=amb_link_6369712_1/103-6672350-0066213?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DERpf_rd_s=center-1pf_rd_r=1VKAZEKEARQ8ZBQZ7HWCpf_rd_t=101pf_rd_p=379103301pf_rd_i=507846

If you wanted to direct readers to this item, it would be perfectly fine to have this URL mentioned in your HTML code, but to have this URL be the actual link text might present a few problems.

First and foremost, the URL is long. WebAim, an organization that deals with Web site accessibility, notes that long URLs do not wrap over to the next line in some browsers, so links may get cut off from visibility or may change the intended width of the viewing area of the Web pageeventually rendering the page unattractive. Second, the URL as written just doesnt make sense to people who are looking at the screen. While it is fairly simple to see that it points to something on the amazon.com site, what exactly it is pointing to is another story. Third, if you were to use a screen reader to listen to a Web page that includes this URL as link text, the information voiced to you would be an essentially useless conglomeration of letters, numbers, and symbols that would also take too long to listen to. A much better way to name the link text in this case would be Amazon Kindle device, which meets the three requirements of being short, descriptive, and able to stand alone.

That being said, however, it may be acceptable to use a URL as link text in limited circumstances. For example, an uncomplicated short URL such as www.umuc.edu is certainly preferableand understandableover the long amazon.com URL listed above. But dont take this instance as a go-ahead to use URLs as link text in your online documents; youre still much better off (as are your readers) creating link text that is concise, informative, and context independent.

Link Text + URLs

But I want to provide the entire URL to my students in case they print everything in the classroom to read offline. If I use only meaningful text as the link, the URL will be invisible to them!

The commentary above makes a valid point. As someone who has been an online student with a dial-up connection in the past, having URLs printed out is very handy indeed. Based on the best practices discussed here, it is possible to combine these two separate ideals without ruining the appearance of a Web page or making it difficult, if not impossible, for screen reader users to understand.

One possible solution is to make use of the WebTycho Webliography in a way you may not have before. The Webliography allows you to enter the name of a Web site, its URL, and a brief description. Some faculty fill this area at the start of the semester, others add items as the semester moves along, and others encourage students to contribute to the list. By filling the Webliography with the sites you want students to visit as they are noted in your main text (whether in Class Announcements, Course Content, or even Conferences), you can keep the meaningful link text in your main text and reserve the spelled-out URLs for the Webliography, reminding students periodically to check it for updates.

A second option is to provide the URL directly after the link text, as demonstrated in the following example:

Check out the courses on the UMUC Web site (http://www.umuc.edu).

In this example, the words UMUC Web site are the link text, which follows the three rules and works well for screen readers. The URL which follows is not a link, however, and that may initially confuse some readers. It does add some clutter to the page and may detract from readability. Even so, this method would work fine if the URLs are more or less short. However, when URLs start to get long, they take up page space (sometimes in an unwanted manner) and may get in the way of efficient reading and scanning of information.

A third option, depending on where the text links are in the classroom, is to prepare your text as you normally would with appropriate link text, and then at the end of the document list all the links mentioned on that page and put the corresponding URL next to it. For example:

Links in this document:
UMUC Web site (http://www.umuc.edu)
UCEA Web site (http://www.ucea.org)

This method might work for individual pages in, say, Course Content. But it would be difficult to implement this in an area like Class Announcements unless you were to include this information at the end of each announcement (rather than the end of the page itself).

If you use the Webliography method, your main text pages will be neat and clean, and students will have one-stop access to all the important links you want them to visit. The key issue, though, is to be consistent and use the same approach throughout your classroom.

References

Electronic Reserves for Fall, Second Session

Do you need to add reserved readings to one of your upcoming WebTycho classes? ILSs E-reserves service provides a convenient way for you to make course materials available to students online. Our staff takes care of scanning and posting the requested readings and obtaining all necessary copyright permissions. In addition, if full text articles are available via the librarys databases, direct links to the articles or detailed instructions on locating them will be provided.

What we can do for you:

Process electronic Reserved Readings and post them in your online or web-enhanced classes in WebTycho
Obtain copyright permissions for Reserved Readings
Provide PDF files, instructions or direct links to Reserved Readings through library research databases

What we need from you:

Your requests as soon as possible before the beginning of the session, so we can have them ready by the start of your class. If this is impossible, please contact us and we will do our best to fulfill your request in a timely manner.
If you have used E-reserves in the past, please indicate whether you would like to use the same readings again.

What to do:

First, visit our E-reserves FAQ
Then, fill out the E-reserves Web Request Form

For an overview of how to use UMUCs Electronic Reserves Services see:

Audio-Visual Version (Requires Flash Player)
Text-Only Version (Transcript of the audio-visual version)

Questions? Please contact Yu-Hsiu Wang at ywang@umuc.edu or 240-582-2970 (x2970 within UMUC).

Information Literacy in the Natural Sciences Workshop a Success!

Twenty science faculty members participated in a CTL online workshop, Information Literacy in the Natural Sciences, from September 29 through October 8. ILS contributed course content and helped to facilitate the workshop, along with stateside and Asia Division natural sciences instructors.

To help their students learn critical information literacy skills, participants in the workshop explored and discussed:

UMUC information literacy goals for undergraduates, and how they can be integrated into the science curriculum
How students can effectively and efficiently use library science databases
How students can critically evaluate scientific information on the free Web
Sample assignments that go beyond the traditional research paper

Each workshop participant had the opportunity to design an assignment incorporating information literacy goals. Participants then critiqued each others assignments in a supportive, collegial atmosphere. The result was the development of many creative assignments that will assist with science instruction and to improve students ability to find, evaluate, and use information in a thoughtful way.

Similar workshops are planned for the future, so that ILS can continue to work with faculty on enhancing the information literacy skills of our students.

Instant-Message-A-Librarian Service Expands With MeeboMe

You dont have an instant messaging (IM) account? No problem! You can now IM a UMUC librarian using MeeboMe. This innovative application allows users to IM using a tool imbedded directly within ILSs Instant-Message-A-Librarian page. No software downloads are necessary. For more information and a chance to try MeeboMe, please visit ILS web site.