October 2020
Alignment of Digital Resources using Kolibri Studio
WWW.LEARNINGEQUALITY.ORG
Introduction
Part 1: Creating an aligned channel structure
Part 2: Vetting content
Table of Contents
Part 3: Adding resources to the channel
Part 4: Review and Publish
Introduction
Kolibri Studio for content curators
We created the Studio tool for content curators to present diverse digital resources in a way that allows teachers and learners to most easily find those which relate to their official school curriculum.
How do we prepare resources to share offline with learners on Kolibri?
We present resources in the form of channels. A channel is a collection of learning materials (exercises, videos, audio files, and documents) and the associated metadata, selected, prepared, and organized on Kolibri Studio (with internet) for sharing on Kolibri (without internet).
Before sharing on Kolibri, it’s helpful to know or have on hand:
Remember that we use Kolibri Studio to:
Browse through the available public resources
Choose the resources which meet your learning objectives
Reorganize them into learning pathways
Add exercises and your own learning materials
Share your channel for Kolibri use and collaborators
What do we mean by curricular alignment?
OER collections
Country repositories
Digital textbooks
Set of clearly defined learner needs and conditions
Digital library of multimedia learning objects
matched to...
then used in...
Digital platform which shares content in approved way
Official national curriculum standards
International learning objectives
matched to...
then used in...
Learning management systems
National learning “portals”
How is material organized into an aligned channel?
Open educational resources from contributors or the Kolibri Content Library (previously integrated onto Kolibri Studio)...
How is material organized into an aligned channel?
Open educational resources from contributors or the Kolibri Content Library (previously integrated onto Kolibri Studio)...
...are selected, organized, re-ordered, described, and arranged (often corresponding to the national curriculum) by appropriate parties using Kolibri Studio...
How is material organized into an aligned channel?
Open educational resources from contributors or the Kolibri Content Library (previously integrated onto Kolibri Studio)...
...are selected, organized, re-ordered, described, and arranged (often corresponding to the national curriculum) by appropriate parties using Kolibri Studio...
...into a “channel” which can be accessed offline via Kolibri Learning Platform
How does Studio enable curriculum alignment?
Browsing the Kolibri content library of global sets of content items organized by publisher
How does Studio enable curriculum alignment?
Browsing the Kolibri content library of global sets of content items organized by publisher
Creating your own individual channel to present content in a preferred way to Kolibri users
How does Studio enable curriculum alignment?
Browsing the Kolibri content library of global sets of content items organized by publisher
Creating your own individual channel to present content in a preferred way to Kolibri users
Add, re-describe, and re-organize content into whatever structure you prefer
Part 1: Creating an aligned channel structure
Step 1 - Gather curriculum standards
In order to prepare an aligned curriculum on Studio, you need to have a copy of your curriculum standards available. It’s preferable if this is available in digital format, but you can also use whatever you have in hard copy.
If you don’t have one, you may want to try using an official textbook and following its table of contents.
Step 2 - Create a channel
Step 3 - Set up the topic tree structure
In an aligned channel on Studio, the headings and sub-headings of the standards you have will form the topic and subtopics of the Studio topic tree, and the actual learning objectives could form the descriptions.
Step 3 - Set up the topic tree structure
You can see an example here, where the headings and sub-headings of the Kenyan curriculum have been converted into folder and subfolder titles for the topics. This creates continuity between experiences in the virtual learning environment and off it.
Step 3 - Set up the topic tree structure
To create folders, click on “add” and then select a “new topic,” remembering that you can create as many folders within folders as you like, going as many levels deep as your curriculum reflects.
Step 3 - Set up the topic tree structure
Click on “edit” to edit the title and description for any of these folders, and type or copy and paste the headings you see in the curriculum into the Studio topic tree.
Step 4 - Collaborate with others
If you’re collaborating with others, feel free to use the “invite” button to enter your collaborators’ email addresses here.
They’ll receive an invitation to create a Studio account and view or edit your channel, depending on which you select.
Part 2: Vetting content
Questions to consider
Step 1 - List categories
In a separate document, write out the categories on which you’ll be evaluating content. In our alignment projects across multiple countries and languages, the ones we’ve seen used most often are:
By making notes of your considerations under each of these categories, you can narrow down the entire library quickly, so that the alignment process will take less time and be more accurate.
Step 2 - Choose languages
Under language, your primary filter, you’ll think about the languages needed for this curriculum. It might seem self-evident, but when it comes to second language and mother tongue instruction, it can be good to include several options.
Step 3 - Choose level
Within the grade and age level, it’s helpful to come to an understanding of how rigid your age and grade level will be. It’s important to define this within your group or by yourself, as some materials may be labeled, for instance, “second grade,” but this may not apply to your country or setting.
Reflection
How would you tell what age or grade level material is appropriate for if it isn’t labeled? Share any specific thoughts or strategies you might use about the vocabulary, level of sentences, and concepts covered.
Step 4 - Evaluate production standards
Think about the standards in the formats of materials: written materials, videos, exercises, etc.
Make sure that you understand what each resource truly is--what it’s asking, what it provides, and what it can and can’t be used for--to best evaluate it. You can add suggestions for users to engage with it in certain ways in the description as well, which can be an excellent method of teacher professional development.
Step 5 - Evaluate Accessibility
In a textbook or other classroom package, you might already receive materials with different formats to promote accessibility: but in a digital resource collection, you combine individual materials yourself to achieve this.
Be sure to evaluate digital content with this question in mind: can it be combined with something else in order to fulfill quality standards?
Step 5 - Evaluate Cultural Relevance
Would you reject materials because:
Reflection
What do you think it means for materials to be culturally relevant? What would you do if you and another educator had a disagreement about it?
Step 6 - Apply your criteria to the channel
Now it’s time to browse through the materials available, and apply your preliminary criteria at the channel level--that is, applying these judgments to entire channels, rather than individual content items.
You have two options to fill your empty aligned channel: use materials publicly available from the Kolibri Content Library, or upload your own materials.
Available video tutorials for reference
If you’re working with the Kolibri Content Library, please refer to ‘Case 1 - Managing Resources’ about discovering and managing these materials on Studio.
If you’re uploading your own materials, please refer to ‘Case 3 - Uploading Resources’ about uploading your own files to Studio as part of an existing or new content channel.
Part 3: Adding resources to the channel
Add resources to topic folders
Once you’ve identified materials that you think could be appropriate, it’s time to align them by placing them into the relevant folders within the empty topic tree structure.
You can do this in two ways:
Tips
Note: If you’re finding this process too difficult on Studio, if you prefer to take extensive notes on each of the content items you’re accepting or rejecting for the topic tree, or if you are working with more than three collaborators, you might want to use our Excel template for curriculum alignment on Studio. This can be found in the Kolibri Studio Training Workbook.
Simply make a copy of this document and collaborate or take notes there, then engage in the process of moving and reorganizing on Studio when you’ve achieved consensus within the template.
Part 4: Review and publish
Edit titles and descriptions
Edit the title and description of the content sources to match the vocabulary of the curriculum standard.
Address cultural mismatches in content produced around the world, like ensuring units are reflected correctly, changing the spelling, or replacing a less common term with one more common.
If the resource you selected may have an unusual connection to the curriculum standard--for instance, the topic only appears halfway through the video--write a note to your learners or coaches in the description.
Review and publish!
You’re now ready to review and publish your aligned channel.
Remember that publishing on Studio doesn’t make the channel public, which only the Learning Equality team can do, but simply saves it in the Studio database.
Review and publish!
When you publish, you’ll receive a token, a string of unique characters you can utilize on the import screen in Kolibri to download the channel and make it available for use offline.
Thank you for aligning materials using Kolibri Studio! We want to congratulate you for taking one of the most impactful steps you can take to make digital resources an easy transition for your learners and teachers.
We’re always interested in making aligned channels public, with the permission of their creators, to connect those working in any given country or language with the best options for content on Kolibri. If you’d be willing to make your aligned channel public, and share it with more users in need, feel free to contact us at content@learningequality.org.