Adding OER content from xpLor

Blackboard xpLor is an advanced learning object repository that contains Open Educational Resources (OER). In today’s post I am going to discuss how to use xpLor to pull OER resources into your Joule courses. All Joule users have free access to a basic xpLor license. Site administrators just need to enable it on their sites by going to Administration > Site administration > Cloud services > xpLor.

Searching

When xpLor is enabled on your site you’ll see “Add from xpLor” as an available activity to add to your Joule courses. Select this activity and you’ll jump onto the xpLor interface. Watch this video to learn how to search in xpLor. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8h9LhgDheA&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

Adding

Complete these steps once you find a resource you would like to use in your course:

1. Use the “Add” button to add the resource to your course. “Add to Course” is the default action for the button unless you choose a different action to perform. A dialog box appears allowing you to select the course and add the item to a specific section/topic/folder within it.
2. Select a course from the drop-down menu. The current course is selected by default.
3. Select the section/topic/folder of the course where the resource should be added.
4. Click the “Add” button.
5. Navigate back to your course by clicking its name in the upper right-hand corner of the xpLor interface. The activity displays in the course.
6. Click the activity name to view it in the course. Notice there is a toolbar above the resource.

Once you have added an xpLor resource you can configure its delivery settings by clicking the “Activity settings” icon in its toolbar. Here you can control features available for the activity such as the discussion feature.

If you are interested in learning more about xpLor enroll in our online course titled “Using xpLor in Moodle™ and Joule”. Learn how to easily add Open Educational Resources to your courses; share your resources with teachers around the world; and share content across your school county or district. This course not only includes use cases but best practices for using the xpLor system within Moodle™ and Joule.

~Rebecca DeSantis, Senior Instructional Designer