Maximize Course Development with

External Content   Using the National Repository of Online Courses (NROC)

Mary Schlegelmilch, Omaha Public SchoolsDr. Roni Huerta, Omaha Public SchoolsTerri Rowenhorst, Monterey Institute for

Technology and Education

Mission OPSThe mission of the Omaha Public Schools is to

provide educational opportunities which enable all students to achieve their highest potential.

AIMS1. High Student Achievement2. Safe and Secure Learning Environment3. Professional Work Force4. Partnerships5. Effective and Efficient Use of District Resources

The Goals of NROCTo create a repository of high-quality undergraduate,

high school, and AP courses and distribute them at little or no cost to students and teachers worldwide.

In pursuing this goal, NROC achieves other important outcomes: increasing access to high-quality content designed for online helping establish content and technical standards for online content fostering collaboration among content developers and users promoting the scholarship of teaching addressing the needs of underserved students supporting the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement

NROC Course Structure

Course elements are formatted and organized in a systematic structure to…

• Import into a variety of CMS

• Import into content repositories

Designed to be Adapted

Faculty or staff may customize the courses within the CMS

• Reorganize• Add or delete

content• Modify

assignments or assessments

Enhance an Existing Course

Use NROC content to enhance your existing course.

Or to supplement hybrid or classroom content for students.

• High-quality and diverse usually beyond the means of institutions

• Multi-modal learning experiences• Allows instructor to focus on designing

the learning experience• Saves time and money

Why Use External Content?

What is a Learning Object?

“An assembly of learning media, including text, graphics, animation, video, audio, simulations, hyperlinks, and assessments, to present a specific concept(s) and achieve defined learning objectives.”

WWII Learning Object

Interactive Exercise Documents

NewsreelDocumentary Video

Text

Graphics

NROC History Demo

Building Courses

The Home Front

US History, Semester 1

Reassemble Learning Objects

InstructorPresentation

Advanced or Remedial Study

Offered Course

NROC Course

OPS Example

Physics Standard 4 Lesson 110

US Government Standard 2 Unit 3.1 Standard 2 Unit 3.4

2006-07 NROC Courses

To achieve course learning outcomes What content adds value?

Multi-modal or media-rich Activities, assignments, assessments utilizing CMS Simulations and interactivity

And is appropriate? Bandwidth and Accessibility Support and Reliability Design and Usability Rights of Use and Costs

Selecting Content

Sources of 3rd Party Content Commercial

Print publishers (ePaks and Course Cartridges) Course vendors (Thinkwell) Supplement providers (WebAssign)

Non-Profit & Open Educational Resources (OER) Course Developers (Telecourse providers) Repositories (Wisc-Online) Referatories (Merlot) OERs (NROC)

Institutions/Communities of Practice Local Initiatives (Maricopa Learning Exchange)

Yes

Do I want to use 3rd party content?

No Continue building course on my own

How do I plan to use the content?

Augment existing content

Start with all new content

Replace existing content

Augment

Replace

New

Solo

Time and Cost

External Content:A Decision-Making Model

What sources do I want to use?

Augment existing content

Start with all new content

Replace existing content

Community of Practice

Publishers & non-profits

Repositories/referatories

CoP

Reposi

Publish

Cost

CoP

Reposi

Publish

Time

Time

The Ecology of External Content

Augment existing content

Start with all new content

Replace existing content

What computer-aided strategies do I want to utilize?

terminology research design

theories

Vocabulary Drill

Access to tools

MultimediaPresentation

Simulation Podcast

Pedagogical Strategy

Evaluate search results

Design Integration

flexibility• Color• Editing/CMS• Navigation• Detachable/target• Plug-ins

Technical Integration

reliability• Linked location• Embedded location• IP/storage• SCORM• Support

Implementation

Quality Standards

Continuous Improvement

Evaluating Effectiveness Student Engagement Levels and Performance Learning Outcomes and Achievement Using CMS Tools Networking and Sharing in Communities Feedback loop with the developer Course evaluation tools like OCEP or cEval

OCEP: Categories and Process

The Evaluation Team• Project Director ● Instructional Design Evaluator• Academic Evaluator ● Technology Evaluator

OCEP categories - 7 major divisions • Scope and Scholarship• User Interface• Course Features and Production Values• Assessments and Test Items• Instructor and Learner Communication• Technology• Distribution Model

www.edutools.info/ocep

Access this presentation at the NROC Network!

Omaha Public Schools

Mary Schlegelmilchmary.schlegelmilch@ops.org

Dr. Roni Huerta

veronica.huerta@ops.org

Monterey Institute for Technology & Educationwww.montereyinstitute.org

Terri Rowenhorsttrowenhorst@montereyinstitute.org

http://www.nrocnetwork.org/nroc_commons?go=1548863