Training and Resources
We offer training courses and useful resources to support in all aspects of online content creation.
How to Create an Online Course
We encourage all Academic Teams who develop a short online course with us to complete our own self-paced course 'How to Create an Online Course' before the design process begins.
This two-week, self-paced online course created by digital education experts in the University's Educational Design and Engagement team, provides guidance on how to create online learning materials that are open, accessible, and engaging
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Create personas to gain a clear understanding of target audiences for short online courses.
- Describe the value of active learning and narrative in digital education, and write concise content using appropriate language and tone.
- Identify suitable formats for creating engaging online materials in line with accessibility and open licensing guidance.
Evaluate a range of current digital education tools and explain some of their benefits and limitations.
- Video: How to Create Video for Online Courses trailer
- Trailer for How to Create Video for Online Courses
This two-week online course created by Media Production experts at the University offers key knowledge, tutorial demos and practical exercises on how to create engaging videos that complement your online learning materials while also making the best use of time, equipment, and cost.
The course is split into three sections - Pre-production, production, and post-production - to give you the opportunity to practise the whole media production process from beginning to end.
The course also covers key areas of accessibility and Creative Commons licensing to support you in creating open educational resources that are accessible to a worldwide audience.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to:
-
Create a pre-production plan (scriptwriting, storyboarding and sourcing footage).
-
Demonstrate the basics of filming including lighting, audio, and basic post-production skills.
-
Explain relevant legislation including accessibility and copyright in media production.
-
Improve learner engagement through effective use of media.
-
Identify and create video as responsible and sustainable open educational resources.
Resources offer support and guidance for writing for online, creating media content, and making your content open and accessible.
Understanding Your Learners
- FutureLearn learner archetypes.
- Personas guidance.
- Personas user research.
- University of Edinburgh student persona examples.
Course Design
- ABC learning types and activity examples.
- Active learning in online courses.
- Bloom's Taxonomy.
- Decolonising SOAS learning and teaching toolkit.
- Diversifying the curriculum.
- Keele’s manifesto for decolonising the curriculum.
- Professor Diana Laurillard’s six learning types.
- University of Edinburgh ABC Learning Design workshop.
- Whose W.O.R.D.D counts? (The Open University).
Content and Media Production
- Content writing cheat sheet.
- Digital tool wheel.
- Drivel Defence Tool readability checker.
- How to write in plain English.
- Media guidance and resources.
- Writing Learning Outcomes.
Accessibility
- Alt-texts: the ultimate guide.
- Creating accessible materials.
- How to write good alt-text.
- Microsoft document accessibility checker.
- SensusAccess alternative accessible formats converter.
- Top 10 accessibility tips.
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Open Educational Resources (OERs)