Selecting Supplemental Resources: Personal Experience Insights

In our Personal Experience Insights series, members of the Everspring Learning Design department share first-hand accounts of creating online learning content and meaningful takeaways from their professional experiences.

Kyle Nicholas is an Associate Director of Faculty Engagement on the Learning Design team at Everspring. He has a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate from the University of Virginia. In addition to his 3+ years of experience supporting faculty in online learning environments, he also serves as an adjunct professor of ethics and religious studies. He resides in the Chicago suburbs.

I am an online adjunct instructor at a state school in the Midwest. In this part-time role, I spend a lot of time deciding when to create my own resources and when to curate material created and hosted by others.

Once I decide I want to use a third-party source, I’m faced with even more questions. Where should I look? How long should it be? How should I integrate the resource into my online course space?

In this piece, I will outline my approach to selecting and curating supplemental resources from third-party sources, which for me most often includes videos and podcasts.

First, shouldn’t I always create the content myself if I have the time? Well, I often don’t have the time. But even if I did, there are several reasons why curating content can add value to a course beyond what I could ever create myself. Videos made by others allow me to introduce perspectives, expertise, and lived experiences that I simply do not have.

In one course that I teach, for example, I include a fascinating video about the initiation ceremony of a Jain nun into her new life of monasticism in Southeast Asia. There is only so much that students can visualize when reading the textbook about this ceremony, and I have no lived experience with this topic. Including this video in the class helps reinforce the module learning objectives, provides a different mode of representing course content than text, and allows students to glimpse into traditions and people that are most likely very different from themselves.

In addition to diverse perspectives, I’ve found that curating content from others makes more sense when there are plenty of outside resources that cover the topic thoroughly, when they are free or low-cost, or when they require frequent updates. The example I always think of is Microsoft Excel. You want to embed videos from Microsoft if you’re looking to teach simple formulas because Microsoft, not you, will be responsible for updating those resources. For an extended explanation of these considerations, visit our more technical Envision piece Developing Instructional Materials.

My approach to selecting supplemental resources is all about finding a balance. I want to make sure students engage with a variety of materials and mediums without being overwhelmed. Here’s how I try to strike this balance:

Before I include any video or podcast in my courses, I make sure to watch or listen to it fully. Even if the first few minutes look promising, the content could take a turn that doesn’t align with my objectives (or worse, teaches something I actively disagree with). Listening to podcasts and videos on double speed will help you quickly establish if you’d like to include the resource. This check for credibility and relevance ensures that I’m providing students with the best possible resources. After all, as the instructor, I am the thread that weaves these sometimes disparate voices and perspectives together into a coherent learning experience.

Additionally, I try to boost my credibility by drawing from unbiased sources. In the case of video, for example, third-party sites like YouTube are full of biased videos, or even more sneakily, decent videos from questionable channels. Especially as an instructor of courses with topics such as religion, political violence, and social issues, I always click on the channel in addition to viewing the video to make sure that I am not pulling from a source that is controversial, offensive, or infamous for any particular reason. Often, I’ll pair my check of the channel with a Google search about the organization or person producing the videos.

One tip I have found immensely helpful is not searching video sites first but rather searching for credible books from top-tier publishers about a certain topic. I will then go to a video hosting site such as YouTube and search for the name of the author who wrote the book. I am often delighted to find a short interview or spotlight the author has done on the topic. Usually, these resources will not come up if I search YouTube by topic, because they may not be prioritized by the algorithm.

I’ve learned that shorter videos (4–8 minutes) are much more effective for keeping students engaged. Long videos can be tempting since there is no difference in effort if I decide to embed a 3-minute video or 53-minute video. However, students tend to quickly lose interest in these long videos. If I do use longer videos or documentaries, I make sure they are directly connected to specific learning goals or assignments in the module and not just filler content. Then, I acknowledge the fact they are long and explain why I’m including them anyway! Recently, I embedded a 35-minute mini-documentary into my course and said, “I recognize this is longer than most videos I ask you to watch, but there is a real lack of solid video resources on this topic, so the rest of this module is lighter on video content. Feel free to take a break halfway through if needed.”

I’ve also learned that it is integral to learn how to filter my YouTube searches by length, and how to begin YouTube videos at specific timestamps. So, instead of uploading a 58-minute video and hoping students watch as much as possible, I’ll review the whole video, and then I’ll begin the video at a specific time (let’s say the 12:58-minute mark) and ask students to watch “8 minutes from where I’ve started the video.”

I like to mix up the formats of the resources in my course to cater to different learning preferences and to vary the visuals. I’ve found that it is possible to have too much of anything: too much text, too many videos, too many supplemental articles, too many infographics, etc. This means I try to balance videos, articles, podcasts, and even interactive elements like quizzes or infographics.

For example, if a module is heavy on text-based content, I try to intersperse short videos, relevant images, and tables among the text so students never lose motivation before a giant wall of text.

I also make explicit how “important” each supplemental resource is. At the end of one text- and video-heavy module, I included a podcast episode of an interesting author interview that was very relevant to the material we just covered. However, since students had already encountered most of the content, I encouraged them to take a walk, sit in a comfortable chair, or clean the house while listening to the author interview. I also told them the interview would not be part of any course assessments because my goal with this one particular resource wasn’t memorization but student motivation and interest. For other resources, the goal definitely is memorization, and it’s good to be clear about where each resource stands.

When I’m looking for supplemental resources, I don’t just want another video that defines a concept in the same way as my lecture or the textbook. Instead, I look for resources that showcase how that concept is applied in real-world scenarios or from a unique perspective. Thinking back to the previously described example of Jainism, I didn’t want a resource that consisted of a scholar in their office explaining a particular ritual. I wanted visuals of the actual event, possibly with interviews from her family and friends.

In the past, I have also found two videos from different perspectives, both discussing the same topic, and asked students how they believe the presenters’ background or worldview plays into how they are addressing the topic.

Additionally, I often incorporate my own perspective on videos in the form of specific “viewing questions” or “things to keep in mind” while students engage with a video or podcast made by somebody else. The questions often reflect my own concerns as a subject matter expert. For example, I might say, “As you watch this video, keep the following three questions in mind and think about how they are connected to the last module’s content...”

Finally, I try to embed these podcasts, videos, articles, tables, and even interactives like flashcard decks directly into the learning management system (LMS) whenever possible. This keeps students in the learning environment, reducing the inevitable distractions that come with linking to an external site. Once the resources are in the LMS, I do my best to ensure that all content is accessible, which for podcasts and videos means captions or transcripts. If I can’t possibly ensure full accessibility for a resource within a given timeframe, I make the resource optional or let students know they can reach out to me for an alternative resource.

Curating third-party content can be a powerful way to enhance your online course, save time, and bring fresh perspectives into the virtual classroom. By carefully selecting and integrating these resources, I create a more engaging learning experience, reduce cognitive load, and accommodate different learning preferences. I try to remember that my role as the instructor is to guide students through these materials. To this end, I’ve found that it is essential to carefully select and incorporate third-party supplemental resources.