Learning content can be presented to learners in a number of ways, most often this will be via the virtual learning environment (VLE) such as Blackboard, but may be as a live presentation on a screen or handouts given to learners in lectures and seminars. Content may be paper-based or media based such as videos, images and podcasts. Whatever and however materials are provided for learners, it is important for them to be readily accessible.
Benefits of well-structured content
- If learners can locate materials easily and quickly, they will readily engage with them.
- Both instructors and learners will be able to track progress. Learning progress is saved along with results for tests and assignments via the VLE.
- This gives a positive student experience and should lead to better outcomes for the student.
What do our learners think?
In the 2023/4 survey many learners indicated that it was difficult to find materials on the VLE. Respondents highlighted the fact that the organisation of Blackboard modules were difficult to navigate:
“I find it can be difficult to navigate [Blackboard]. The content pages have too much to look through.” (Arts and Humanities)
“It would be useful if there were standardised practices for teachers/lecturers’ utilization of Learn Ultra. It would also be useful if all required info for a module was on its Learn Ultra page rather than split across Learn Ultra and various sections of SharePoint.” (Arts and Humanities)
“Unnecessarily complicated and difficult to find resources for all modules/tutors. Keeping track on assessment questions can also be difficult as there is no official area where the assessment questions are available.” (Arts and Humanities)
“Courses on blackboard are not consistently organised which makes learning resources confusing to navigate.” (Business)
“Content organisation should be standardised, office hours should be clear on lecturers’ profiles.” (Sciences)
“Different module use different layout, for some it’s easy to miss the quiz.” (Sciences)
“Some lecturers do not organise files in anything close to useful manner. The website as a whole has a load of junk features that aren’t needed – we just need an online file storage solution.” (Sciences)
“The organisation of course content varies in style between modules, so finding a particular resource in one module may be in a completely different place to another, making them difficult to remember and trace. I would prefer a uniform storage box for course guidance materials, and a consistent style for course content.” (Sciences)
“Every professor organizes their own, so information is found in separate places for each module, I also find it difficult to locate handbooks for each school as well, there seems to be no centralised efforts to make information easy to find.” (Social Sciences)
“My professors don’t always organize things in a way that is well organized I cannot access the recordings of lectures.” (Social Sciences)
“It would be nice to have more continuity in module layout between the different modules. It can be confusing when they are all organised differently.” (Social Sciences)
Steps to well-organised learning materials
The pages below will guide you through the steps needed to ensure that learning materials are accessible and readily available through Blackboard.
