Building a User Centered Online Curriculum Center: A Better Filing Cabinet

Concurrent Session 2

Session Materials

Brief Abstract

The transformative potential of the internet has been largely focused on speed and supply to a large number of participants over quality of content.  In 2014, Texas A&M University developed www.myimsservices.com to serve secondary education programs by improving connections to content standards, assessment, management tools and the ability to customize content.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Roger Hanagriff, Texas A&M University

Dr. Hanagriff has been involved in higher education since for over 18 years and has taught courses in agricultural economics, finance, management and marketing. In 2012, Dr. Hanagriff joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in the department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications (ALEC) and focuses on experiential learning, online course development and the co-manager of the departments online curriculum center known as the Instructional Materials Service (IMS). He has also lead in the development of an online experiential learning that is currently used by over 900,000 students in secondary agricultural education in 48 states.

Co-presenter: Robert Strong Jr, Texas A &M University

Dr. Strong is an Associate Professor in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications (ALEC) Department at Texas A &M University. Dr. Strong's research focuses on technology-enhanced learning and cyber learning technology delivery applications.

Additional Authors

Kirk Edney, Texas A&M University - College Station

faculty member ALEC - TAMU 1998 - present program director Texas Education Agency 1994 - 1998 educational specialist TEA 1989 - 1994 agricultural science teacher 1975 - 1989

Tags

OLC Accelerate 2017 Innovations Tools and Technologies Collaborative learning Content E-portfolios Instructional design Instructional technology Knowledge management Learner achievement Technology Technology applications Learning communities Learning management systems

Extended Abstract

In our technology driven world, the use of online resources has increased but it is crucial and timely to improve the process for users versus over supplying content in an unorganized platform.  The transformative potential of the internet has been largely focused on speed and supply to a large number of participants over quality of content.  Some curriculum content providers have focused on supplying innovative content, but that content seldom allows for users to integrate their own content, which in some cases can alienate users and move away from technological opportunities.

In 2014, Texas A&M University developed an online curriculum platform (www.myimsservices.com)  to serve secondary education programs with four specific goals.  First was to develop a structure that aligned to state and national content standards to assist teachers in the adoption of educational standards.  Second was to create a platform to share content and follow a specific path for complete topics, which include the content and related lesson plans, presentation materials and assessment materials. A third goal was to provide teachers the ability to create their own custom content area to encourage supplemental materials or complete topic development.  A final fourth goal was the develop an online management area for teachers to organize content into their own folders and manage their students to complete task such as content sharing and online testing.

The primary focus of this educational session is to share the development of the site and lessons learned as the new features were added. This session will provide a review of the entire online educational system and related educational resources.  The primary focus is the online management area and online testing (MyIMS), which offer the uniqueness of the site, especially considering the handling of custom content loaded by teachers. This unique platform provides a methodology that could be used in other educational areas or professional development to improve user engagement, assist in developing of similar sites and how to embed assessment tools that can help track use.