Overview
Effective OER DESIGN should integrate principles from across various design frameworks to ensure the resulting learning object allows the 5R activities (retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute), minimizes any barriers to access, and engages multiple learning styles. Instructional design ensures that the content is pedagogically sound and aligned with specific learning objectives and standards. Accessibility by Design (AbD), proactively ensures that OER are inclusive and usable by all learners, including those with disabilities, instead of relying on reactive accommodations. Applying principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) drives creation of inclusive learning environments by offering multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression to accommodate learners' diverse abilities, learning styles and levels of prior knowledge. Modular design facilitates ease of adoption and the creation of derivative works, discretely chunking content into self-contained units that are comprehensively documented technically interoperable from a systems perspective.
- UDL On Campus guide to designing OER - A short primer on how to think broadly about designing an OER, and identifies the following 7 key factors to keep in mind: metadata, accessibility, standards, bias, efficacy-based research, assessments, and visioning
- Universal Design, Accessibility, and Usability for OER - Chapter with practical design guidance from the The OER Starter Kit for Program Managers
Open Learning Design Topics
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN steers the development and delivery of academic technologies by systematically crafting educational experiences that are effective, engaging, and accessible. Instructional designers excel at building relationships and are experts in both learning science research and academic technology, bringing to bear a dual focus on both functionality and user experience in the creation of learning objects.
Instructional Design Relevance to OER
Assessment Design
- development of appropriate ancillaries, which are sometimes hard to find for OER and may need to be produced in-house, that measure student learning and provide feedback
- Assessments chapter from Introduction to Instructional Design
Learning Theory
- for structuring and sequencing content
- for ensuring content aligns with standards-based learning objectives and outcomes
- Learning Theories Overview from Instructional Design Central
Technology Integration
- for technical compatibility and platform integration
- for designing interactive and multimedia-rich learning activities for engagement and UDL
- How Are Instructional Design and Technology Connected? from the Digital Learning Institute
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
- for understanding the needs, backgrounds, and challenges of learners to tailor OER to support diverse students and learning styles
Systematic Planning
- for providing structure and additional motivation to the OER creation process
UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING (UDL) is a framework that aims to create inclusive and flexible learning environments by accommodating the diverse needs of all students. UDL is built on three core principles: offering multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression. These principles ensure that content is presented in various formats, allowing students to perceive and comprehend information in ways that suit their individual needs. It provides students with different ways to engage with material, which recognizes that motivation and interest vary widely. Additionally, UDL encourages offering multiple options for students to express their knowledge, enabling them to use methods that align with their strengths.
More Info
- UDL Guidelines 3.0 (via CAST)- Includes visual matrix covering the 3 principles offering a wide variety of suggestions for how to put UDL into practice
- 5 Tips for Redesigning Your Reading Assignments with UDL in Mind (via Novak Education)
- Seeing UDL in Action in the Classroom (via Neurodiversity Resource Center)
ACCESSIBILITY BY DESIGN (AbD) is a proactive approach that prioritizes the creation of educational resources and tools accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. AbD integrates accessibility features from the outset, such as screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and alternative text for images, ensuring equity-minded digital content that is usable by everyone.
How to design for accessibility
This video is a 30-minute nuts and bolts primer for beginners and those in need of a refresher:
MODULAR DESIGN involves developing educational resources as distinct, self-contained units that can be easily adapted, reused, or updated to fit specific instructional needs, making the content more flexible and adaptable across different teaching styles and learning environments. Modular design also facilitates continuous improvement, enabling updates to specific parts of the resource without requiring a complete overhaul, which is particularly important in dynamic fields where content must stay current.
Modular Design Principles for OER
- Modularity: design the content to be able to operate both as a self-contained unit or as a part of a larger module
- Granularity: include and link at least one learning objective and align to one or more teaching standards for each modular unit
- Non-self-referential: limit references to other parts of the book; limit callbacks from earlier examples in the book
- Documentation and Metadata: include learning objectives/standards, licensing information, attributions, keywords, and technical specs, so future users know how they can use, modify, and share the resource
- Interoperability and Long-term Sustainability: use widely supported, standard formats (e.g., H5P, Common Cartridge, SCORM) and avoiding proprietary tools or systems
- Reusability: apply open licenses and document attributions to ensure that the resource will be usable by others
Further Reading
- Modular Online Learning Design: A Flexible Approach for Diverse Learning Needs by Amanda Nichols Hess (ALA Editions)