The development of online learning environments (OLEs) at The University of Auckland Library: collaboration, integration and usability testing

Abstract

In order to meet the learning needs of a large number of in-house, flexible learning and distance-learning students from a variety of disciplines, The University of Auckland Library has enhanced the provision of information and academic literacy instruction through the design of online learning environments. Learning Services Librarians, learning designers and subject librarians from The University of Auckland Library have collaborated with faculty, Centre for Academic Development staff, graphic design professionals and web developers to design online courses and tutorials, such as: • Academic Integrity - stand-alone online academic integrity course, compulsory for all new students at the University of Auckland from Semester I 2013; • COMLAW 101: New Zealand’s Legal Framework - curriculum- integrated information literacy online tutorial designed for COMLAW 101: Law in a Business Environment academic course with 2000 students each year; • POPLHLTH 701: Research Methods in Health - curriculum- integrated online information literacy learning environment for postgraduate students completing the POPLHLTH 701: Research Methods in Health course and compulsory assessment activity bearing 15% course mark; • FTVMS 100: Assignment Research Path – curriculum-integrated information literacy online tutorial and compulsory assessment activity (10% course mark) designed for FTVMS 100: Media studies first year undergraduate course with 1000 students each year; • Understanding Your Reading List - generic information literacy online tutorial designed for all first year undergraduate students. The focus of the paper will be on the development framework of online courses, curriculum-integrated and generic tutorials and the analysis of different stages of each project, their collaborative nature and usability testing practices applied (user observation, focus group interviews, surveys) and outcomes. It will introduce CourseBuilder as a web-based tool for the design of online learning environments and activities, its features, functionalities and published outputs. CourseBuilder, developed by the University of Auckland’s Centre for Academic Development, is an authoring tool that provides customisable templates to develop online interactive activities (eg, case studies, reflections and quizzes), import text, insert media, monitor student responses and more. Finally the paper will describe issues and challenges during each development stage, as well as benefits and limitations of using an online learning environment development system.