• Free Text Area

The majority of a learning resource will be establishing context, delivering instructions and providing general information. This provides the framework within which the learning activities are built and delivered.

• Note

• Preknowledge

Prerequisite knowledge refers to the knowledge learners should already have in order to be able to effectively complete the learning. Examples of pre-knowledge can be:

• Learners must have level 4 English
• Learners must be able to assemble standard power tools

• Objectives

Objectives describe the expected outcomes of the learning and should define what the learners will be able to do when they have completed the learning tasks.

• Activity

An activity can be defined as a task or set of tasks a learner must complete. Provide a clear statement of the task and consider any conditions that may help or hinder the learner in the performance of the task.

• Case Study

A case study is a story that conveys an educational message. A case study can be used to present a realistic situation that enables learners to apply their own knowledge and experience to. When designing a case study you might want to consider the following:

• What educational points are conveyed in the story
• What preparation will the learners need to do prior to working on the case study
• Where the case study fits into the rest of the course
• How the learners will interact with the materials and each other e.g. if run in a classroom situation can teams be setup to work on different aspects of the case and if so how are ideas feed back to the class.

• Reading Activity

Provide learners with structure to their reading activity. This helps put the activity in context for the learner. It is also important to correctly reference any reading materials you refer to as this models best practice to the learners. Not always essential if covered in the course content but providing feedback to the learner on some of the main points covered in the reading may also add value to the activity.

• Reflection

Reflection is a teaching method often used to connect theory to practice. Reflection tasks often provide learners with an opportunity to observe and reflect on their observations before presenting these as a piece of academic work. Journals, diaries, profiles and portfolios are useful tools for collecting observation data. Rubrics and guides can be effective feedback tools.

• Cloze Activity

• DropDown Activity

• Multi-choice

Although more often used in formal testing situations MCQ’s can be used as a testing tool to stimulate thought and discussion on topics students may feel a little reticent in responding to.

When designing a MCQ test consider the following:

• What are the learning outcomes are the questions testing
• What intellectual skills are being tested
• What are the language skills of the audience
• Gender and cultural issues
• Avoid grammar language and question structures that might provide clues

• Multi-select

• SCORM Quiz

• True-False Question

True-false questions present a statement that requires the learner to make a determine whether or not the statement is true or not.

• External Web Site

• File Attachments

• Image Gallery

• Image Magnifier

• Java Applet

• RSS

• Wiki Article

There are many wiki sites that allow a community to colloborate in developing content.  Perhaps best known of these is Wikipedia which is a free online encyclopedia being developed by contributions from the web community. The wiki article idevice takes a snap shot of an article and embeds it into the content. Changes made to the article will not automatically be updated to the wiki so changes made in your copy should be submitted to the wiki as well.