Instructional Materials
Developing instructional materials can be a daunting project. For assistance on developing instructional materials please visit the Teaching Consultations & Support page to schedule a consultation. To view a repository of instructional media projects produced by TLED in collaboration with ACC faculty and staff, please visit our Learning Depot.
Faculty librarians are also available to assist with materials needed to support courses via chat, email, and phone through the Ask a Librarian page. You can also find the Faculty Librarian at your Campus.
Faculty Librarians by Area of Study and Faculty Librarians by Subject Expertise are also available.
TLED Guide to Generative AI
The Austin Community College (ACC) Teaching and Learning Excellence Division (TLED) Academic Technology Advisory Committee created an online guide to provide guidelines on teaching and learning with generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
The Guide includes a plethora of resources to help you get started learning about AI and also how to implement it into your teaching and learning.
Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources (OER) are low-cost or free resources in the public domain that are used for teaching, learning, and research. They include a variety of content and formats under Creative Commons or open use licensing, from textbooks to simulations to assessment tools.
OER are an option for faculty to teach their courses. OER offers reduced or zero cost to students when it comes to course books and other materials.
First Day
First Day is a program where the cost of digital course materials is included with class fees for a particular class or program. Students receive digital versions of the physical textbook that may include additional educational resources such as workbooks, problem sets, tutorials, video, simulations, and interactive software.
Digital textbooks have many features that allow students to interact with your class content like never before. Standard features include highlighting, annotation, search functions, and multimedia links. All First Day materials are easy to access through our Blackboard learning management system.
Resources
Textbooks
The Adoption & Insight Portal (AIP) is Barnes and Noble’s textbook selection software (B&N manages ACC’s brick and mortar bookstores). It offers a more streamlined integration between ACC’s textbook selection process and B&N’s order management system. Using AIP will also help students view the correct information (textbook and associated costs) when they click on the ‘Textbooks’ links provided in ACC’s online Course Schedule and ensure that B&N has the correct books/materials available for students.
Access the Adoption and Insight Portal
Need help? Contact the Office of Academic Technology by submitting this request form.
All staffed sections are required to have materials/textbooks ordered by the first day of registration for each semester.
For specific instructions on ordering textbooks, please contact your department.
ACC Library Services for Faculty
ACC Library has a variety of resources available to faculty for instructional materials.
You can contact Faculty Librarians for assignment and syllabus collaboration to fit your student learning outcomes and request hands-on information literacy sessions for your class. Faculty Librarian Subject Experts are also available to assist faculty.
Part of Library Services is access to databases:
A-Z Databases – Listed by database name alphabetically. Databases can also be browsed by subject.
You can also search the Library.
Library Resources:
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- Faculty and Library Toolbox
- Place materials on reserve
- Add library materials for your class
- Library Instruction – Single class sessions, series of sessions, short sessions on focused topics and Blackboard integration.
- Information Literacy Option for Faculty – Find subject guides, and online tutorials useful for your courses among other Faculty Librarian support.
- Assignment Collaboration – Partner with a Faculty Librarian to design an assignment for your course.
- ACC Library resources for your course – Request a class guide, link to an item in the library, find resources in another language, request a class guide, and so much more.
Copyright & Fair Use
A critically important of developing or using instructional materials in your teaching is to become knowledgable about Copyright & Fair Use at ACC. We have an ACC Copyright Officer to help with questions and resources.
Contact
Courtney Mlinar, ACC Copyright Officer
Phone: (512) 223-9433
Email: courtney.mlinar@austincc.edu
Location: Elgin Campus Library
Instructional Video
Lecture Capture
ACC offers the Lecture Capture tool Panopto to help faculty develop instructional videos as part of their course materials. Panopto can be used for recording lectures and then making them available online for students.
Panopto can be used to record a welcome video for your students and sharing your recorded course lectures.
Training & Support
To request help for using lecture capture tools, please submit the following form:
Streaming Video and Audio
If you already have a video or audio in mind that you’d like to show your students but need to stream it online or request permission to share it from the owner, please submit the following form to request help:
Request Streaming for Video and Audio
See Examples
To view a repository of instructional video projects produced by TLED Academic Technology in collaboration with ACC faculty and staff, please visit our Learning Depot.
Captioning Services
All media used in teaching and learning should be captioned. Captioning services are available to faculty and staff. Submit the following form to request these services:
Development Tools
Faculty can use the following tools to provide information to students about their courses and also to support student learning.
Blackboard can be used to add course content to online, hybrid and face-to-face classes. Blackboard includes discussion forms, wikis, quizzes, and journals as well. An online gradebook is helpful to students so that they know their progress in your course.
Respondus 4.0 is a software tool to develop and manage exams and is available free to ACC faculty for both your office and home computer. Respondus also enables instructors to upload exams into Blackboard without having to retype those questions in Blackboard. Then, in Blackboard make the exam secure using the Blackboard Respondus LockDown Browser tool.
Google Sites is an easy way to create an online presence for yourself and the courses you teach. Use google sites to create a webpage about yourself, and upload course syllabi and your biography. This is a great way to let your current and prospective students become familiar with your expectations.
Panopto is a lecture capture tool that help you record videos for your courses.
Micro-Credentials at ACC
Did you know that Austin Community College offers faculty, staff, and students the opportunity to earn a micro-credential? Short, flexible micro-credentials from ACC can add relevant skills to your students’ accomplishments. Micro-credentials are a student-facing units of learning validated through an instructional program (credit and continuing education alike). Digital badges are digital/graphic representation of skills, achievements, or micro-credentials earned by an individual.
As a faculty member, you can develop a micro-credential or badge for your students. Student facing badges fall into one of three different categories: micro-credentials or participation and achievement badges. All departments can offer badges, though different types of badges require different approval levels.
Visit the Micro-Credential Process page.
Request a Discovery Meeting
Are you interested in learning more? Or are you ready to develop a badge? Please request a Discovery meeting!
Discovery meetings can support faculty and staff who would like to determine what kind of micro-credential or badge meets the needs of their program to learn more about the approval processes for micro-credentials or badges at ACC, and to discuss the process for publishing a micro-credential in Suitable, ACC’s badging host, once your micro-credential is approved.