7. Three steps
1. Search the discovery layer
from within the Learning
Management System.
2. Click “Add to Reading List”
and your selections are saved.
3. Annotate reading list items
with instructions for your
students.
14. You can…
• Add external websites you
want students to visit
• Write notes to students about
each document
• Change the sort order of
readings
• Remove and replace readings
20. The Curriculum Builder
reading list is used as
the basis for a class
project to build a
shared glossary of
scientific terminology.
Class collaboration
27. • LibGuides, videos, training materials
• Workshops at Professional
Development days
• Partnerships with Distance Education
training
• One-on-one “for credit” sessions
• Instructors make their reading lists
public and share them
Opportunities to collaborate
Curriculum Builder is a tool instructors can use to search for library materials and select content for inclusion in reading lists.
The curriculum builder allows instructors to locate and bring information directly from their discovery layer into their online classroom.
Most instructors now have access to a learning management system, such as Moodle or Blackboard and use these systems in both online and blended teaching approaches.
The curriculum builder make it easer to bring library materials into this online or blended context by reducing the electronic barriers the instructor and student face.
For example, it eliminates requiring knowledge of permalinks, proxy strings, and other authentication related exchanges that normally occur when accessing fee-based materials.
Let’s take a look at how an instructor would use the Curriculum Builder.
There are three steps involved. All occur within the Learning Management System. The formula is as easy as SEARCH to find an article, CLICK TO SELECT an article and ANNOTATE to give instructions to students.
The Learning Management System must use the Learning Technology Interoperability protocol. This protocol creates a standard way of integrating applications with learning platforms. Most learning management systems already support this protocol.
Now let’s look a bit more closely at what the instructor does to set up the reading list. I’m using screenshots of Moodle, since this is our college’s Learning Management System.
The instructor simply selects “External Tool” from a list of activities, gives it a name, and selects the “Reading List Tool” from a dropdown menu on the next screen.
Once these actions are done and the tool is saved, the discovery layer can be searched.
The search and retrieval functionality of the college library’s discovery layer is pulled into a customized interface for the instructor to search.
Using an Application Programming Interface, the information from the EBSCO Discovery Layer is pulled into what appears to be a Moodle interface. Notice the full search and retrieval functionality that exists.
Including the familiar facets and limiters to manipulate a search.
The instructor has built in flexibility to include additional instructional elements in the reading list…
The instructor can add websites for students to visit, write comments and instructions to students, change the sort order of materials, and at any time can remove or replace readings.
What does the Curriculum Builder look like to a student?
The student sees a list of links to materials selected by the instructor. These links may or may not have additional notes included.
When the student clicks on the link, he or she is taken directly to the material. The full text loads without authentication. All students need to do is click and start reading.
Now that we’ve seen how the Curriculum Reader is constructed by an instructor, and how it is used by the student, let’s explore some ways it is being used in the classroom.
The Curriculum Builder has been integrated into many of the instructional tools that exist as standard components of Learning Management Systems.
One life science instructor at our college increases class understanding of complex terminology by asking students to build a shared glossary with terms students find in assigned readings.
Another instructor holds weekly discussion forums based on assigned readings to build class community and keep students engaged.
An instructor can build a shared study guide by asking each student to provide an annotated summary to an assigned reading. Or use a wiki as a way for students to present summary evaluations from a reading list of websites or other resources.
An English instructor uses the Curriculum Builder to have student analyze news headings and study their initial perceptions of events, followed by a deeper investigation of facts. The reading lists are a natural tool for building reading and writing lesson plans and create a wonderful opportunity for liaison work between the library and the humanities and social science disciplines.
Departments and disciplines not traditionally associated with library research have been attracted to the reading list tool because it presents a portable, accessible way to provide instructional material to students in classes previously not conducive to building a research component. The Kinesiology, Aquatics, and Dance department was seeking a way to incorporate more research materials into non-traditional classroom settings. Using reading lists in Moodle allowed this department to direct students to literature online, at any time.
We noticed some unanticipated uses for the Curriculum builder that were not limited to articles, e-books and websites. Physical library resources in the library catalog receive new exposure by virtue of being integrated into the EBSCO Discovery Service. One instructor created a Reading List of videos located in the library that she wished her students to see. Note: This is possible because the library catalog records are integrated into the EBSCO Discovery Service.
The Curriculum Builder has given our librarians an opportunity to collaborate with discipline and classroom faculty. On the next slide I’ll highlight some of the ways these collaborations have occurred.
We have used the Curriculum Builder to forge partnerships with instructional departments and with our distance education team. We also notice that instructors use the tool to share their own reading lists, offering a nice way to ensure that library materials are shared and used in classrooms directly by and among instructors as well.
