IV.1 Instructional materials support learning objectives with sufficient breadth & depth for the student to learn the subject
IV.2 Materials are presented in a format appropriate to online environment
IV.3 Purpose of content, instructional methods, technologies & course materials is evident
IV.4 Instructional materials are consistent in organization
IV.5 Resources & materials used are appropriately cited

Instructions should provide meaningful content in a variety of ways, including the textbook, PowerPoint presentations, websites, lecture notes, outlines, and multimedia.

Decisions on this standard may be particularly difficult for individual reviewers whose expertise is not in the course discipline. Reviewers should consult with the SME (subject matter expert) and use common sense to determine if the content is robust enough to support the course.

Alignment: This standard is included in Alignment. (Critical course components work together to ensure that students achieve the desired learning outcomes.)

Students who have the required technical equipment and software can view the materials online.

If some of the course resources, including textbooks, videos, CD-ROMs, etc., are unavailable within the framework of the course website, determine how students would gain access to them and examine their ease of use.

Examples:

• Textbooks and/or CDs, if used, include titles, authors, publishers, ISBN numbers, copyright dates, and information as to where copies can be obtained.
  A navigation button is devoted to “Resources” and appropriately tied in with the overall course design
• Required software plug-ins are listed, along with instructions for obtaining and installing the plug-ins

Examples of some visual format problems:

• Text size may be too inconsistent for typical View/Text Size setting
• Large text files are presented without table of contents or unit numbering
• Multimedia files require plug-ins or codecs students do not have
• Science lab courses may include learning activities that are not easy to format for online learning

Students can easily determine the purpose of all materials, technologies and methods used in the course and know which materials are required and which are recommended resources.

For example, a course may be richly garnished with external links to Internet resources, but it is not clear whether those resources are for background information, additional personal enrichment, or required for an assignment.

Examples:

• Links to external web sites indicate the purpose of the links or are completely self-evident.
• The functions of animated games or exercises are clearly explained or are completely self-evident.

Online courses often use multiple types of instructional materials. Students can easily understand how the materials relate to each other. The level of detail in supporting materials is appropriate for the level of the course.

For example, a course requires students to use the following materials: a textbook divided into chapters, video segments ordered by topics, a website organized around specific skills, and a tutorial CD-ROM that has an opening menu consisting of “practice quizzes,” “images,” and “audio examples.” Reviewers would need to determine if such diversely formatted course materials are integrated well enough to be useful to the uninitiated student.

Example:

• An introductory Gen Ed course does not require materials meant for upper level intensive study in a major.

Decisions on this standard may be particularly difficult for individual reviewers whose expertise is not in the course discipline. Reviewers should consult with the SME (subject matter expert) and use common sense to determine if the materials are appropriate to this course.

Materials created by the instructor and those borrowed from other sources are distinctly identified. Text, images, graphic materials, tables, videos, audios, websites, and other forms of multimedia are appropriately referenced according to the institution’s copyright and intellectual property policy.

Courses that use an e-pack or course cartridge may provide a blanket statement acknowledging that a significant portion of the course materials came from the publisher rather than include individual citations for each instance of publisher materials.