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Course Material in Electronic form
Providing course material in electronic form is probably the simplest
way to begin using educational technology. But is there any benefit beyond
saving photocopying costs? I believe there are several.
Having material available online provides access to learning materials
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Notes cannot be forgotten or lost. And
today's busy learners can study anywhere they have Internet access.
Furthermore, material in electronic form is easily searchable. Thus learners
working on assignments or revising for exams can quickly find all relevant
content. Searching can also serve to identify connections between different
topics, eg by demonstrating that a phrase appears prominently in several
different and seemingly unconnected sections.
A further advantage is that electronic material supports accessibility.
If material is provided electronically learners can choose to view it
in the font, size and colours that suit their particular needs. It may
also be delivered through assistive technology such as screen readers.
A useful enhancement to electronic provision of course material is the
facility for the learner to annotate material and to search personal annotations
along with course content.
Bear in mind that the easiest way to absorb text-heavy material is from
the printed page. It is best to provide such material in PDF form (for
printing) as well as HTML for online viewing. By holding material in a
form such as XML the same material can easily be output to different formats,
thus avoiding different versions of the same material.
It's probably still a good idea to provide printed handouts at face-to-face
sessions. They give learners something to hang what's being said onto,
and avoid complaints of penny-pinching.
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