How do I build lessons in OWL?
Building Your Lesson in OWL
After you have planned your lesson (see this article for guidance on lesson planning), you can begin build the lesson online. The lessons tool in OWL can be used organize and assemble your lesson content.
Begin by adding the lessons tool to your site:
1. Site Info
2. Manage Tools
3. Select Lessons
4. You will have the option to rename your lessons tool or add multiple instances of lessons
5. You can now add content to your lessons page
1. These features allow you to add text to your site using a Rich Text Editor, embed content such as videos or PDFs, add links to course content or add subpages for individual lessons.
2. If you create assignments, quizzes and forums, you can link these to your lessons pages, such that students can access all of the required materials for the lesson in once place
3. Add checklist: Prepare students for class with weekly tasks and remind students of deadlines.
Add Question: Embed a multiple choice or short answer question.
Add Comments: Allow students to enter comments on the lessons page.
Add Student Content: Students can add page with their own content.
Upload Zip File: Add content from a zip file, either from the Resources folder or add a new file.
Add External Tool: Add OWL plugin tools to your lessons page
The Sakai 11 documentation on Lessons can provide more in depth descriptions of how to set up various tools in your lesson pages.
Adding Multimedia to Your Lesson Page
There are components of your lesson in which you may choose to use multimedia content to facilitate learning. For example, you may choose to show a relevant YouTube video to Bridge-In or Summarize your lesson. You may also choose to to create your own videos to deliver course content or make an interactive learning module to enhance participatory learning.
See this article for help with embedding multimedia content into OWL. For help with video production or tools to facilitate multimedia learning in your classroom, see the following tools in Western’s eLearning Toolkit:
- Video and Audio Basics
- EDPuzzle
- Explain Everything
- Learning Modules and Learning Objects
- Screencast-o-matic
Participatory Learning Resources
There are many resources that can be used in your online classroom to encourage participatory learning, and many of these resources can be embedded into your OWL lessons page.
