Curating eLearning Content: Top 5 Online Resources To Consider
In eLearning, curating eLearning content means gathering relevant information and collating it in a learner-friendly manner. It’s the process eLearning developers use to generate online training materials. It can also be used to develop reference texts and supplementary online resources. Nowadays, almost everything is readily available on the Internet. The abundance of material can be overwhelming, though, and it’s rarely sorted into consumable chunks. Effective content curation sifts out the sections that online learners need, and breaks them down into palatable portions. It translates minutiae, repackaging it to suit the level and requirements of your online learners. Here are 5 online resources that you may want to consider for curating eLearning content.
1. Find Free Course Materials At iTunes U
A lot of eLearning courses parallel the kind of classes taught at universities. They may include generic courses like PR basics, public speaking, or negotiation skills. These are online lessons commonly offered to university freshmen and sophomores as part of their general knowledge units. As you start curating eLearning content, mine iTunes U for supporting material. iTunes U offers eLearning courses from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Open University, and many more academic institutions. Some of this material is free for public use, so you can adapt it to your needs. You can find audio lectures, video clips, photos, and documents that can be annotated. You can access the online training materials on any compatible Apple device, or install iTunes on your PC and download materials that way.
2. Get Up-To-Date Context By Harvesting News Feeds
One of the best ways to teach a new skill is through contextual examples. Ideally, these should be drawn from real-life situations, and the more current, the better. While there are millions of news stories published every day, only a select few will be relevant to your online learners. Subscribe to a news feed that offers this kind of content. Some feeds are professionally curated by a team of in-house editors. In such cases, subscribe your online learners directly. Alltop is a good source of pre-curated feeds. If it’s still too busy, curate it further and share relevant links with your online learners. Keep the volumes limited to avoid overwhelming them. You can also have online group sessions to dissect these materials. It helps online learners understand why it’s relevant to their studies. In addition, you can use news feeds to create online resources that are more relevant for your online learners. For example, real-world examples that help them see the connection between the subject matter and practical applications.
3. Sharpen Practical Language Skills With Duolingo
Most foreign language courses have a good amount of pedantry. The average online learner may not be interested in grammar, spelling, or verbal conjugation. Unfortunately, these are key parts of academic language lessons. To ensure your online learners remain interested in the duller parts of their classes, give them something fun to do. Duolingo is a free app that will allow online learners to practice conversing in their newly acquired language. Lessons are offered in bite-sized chunks, so you can dip a dose of Duolingo to closely every virtual classroom session. Give them something to look forward to. It also makes an interesting interlude at points where their focus may be waning. Duolingo is fully immersive, with audio, video, text, translations, and pronunciation cues.
4. Pick A Free eBook At Hubspot
Some online learners do well with visual learning, while others prefer to read material and absorb it on their own. Even for online learners that prefer their teaching "live", it helps to have some reference material that they can review later. Hubspot offers online training and certification. It also has a wealthy library of eBooks that you can pass on to your online learners. It has user guides on everything from starting a blog to organizing an effective meeting. Give your class social media guidance, or teach them to write the best emails. A lot of Hubspot information is in direct reference to Hubspot tools and partners. However, some of it is ideal for curating eLearning content, as it can be adapted and co-opted for your specific needs, so take a look and see.
5. Involve Your Corporate Team Through Crowdsourcing
The corporate world can be dangerously competitive. Team members are all jockeying for the same perks and positions. So they might not be willing to help each other out. Unfortunately, this combative spirit can sometimes lead to in-house sabotage. This behavior affects overall performance and might mess with the bottom line. Still, this race to the top means certain employees have tips, tricks, and online resources that others don’t. Invite them to share their advantage. They can submit them to a private message board or an email address specifically set up for that purpose. To encourage knowledge sharing, develop a reward system for the most useful materials. It could be bonus points that they can redeem for cash, or corporate benefits like free parking for a week, or lunch with the higher-ups. Even a leaderboard may give them enough incentive to participate.
Online resources are everywhere. The trick is knowing how to use them effectively in your eLearning course. As you source relevant materials for your virtual classroom, there are several tools you can tap. Adapt credible university content from iTunes U. Find contextual real-world examples from curated newsfeeds. Offer language practice with Duolingo. Download and tweak eBooks from Hubspot. Do some in-house crowdsourcing in exchange for free food and parking. With these 5 tips and more, you can easily bulk up your eLearning course within budget.
Do you know how to analyze and organize curated eLearning content? Is there a thorough way to curate eLearning content into learner-friendly formats? Do your curated online resources make the grade? Are they relevant, relatable, and reliable? Are they helping online learners absorb the information more effectively? Download our free eBook The eLearning Professional's Guide To Becoming A Content Curation Hero to discover tips to analyze and organize your assets. You’ll also learn the key criteria to consider when evaluating online content, as well as tips to help you automate the content curation process.