What is the Interactive Content Builder (ICB)?
The ICB, previously known as the Content Template, is a content delivery tool, enabling the development of engaging and usable content as web pages. It offers a consistent user experience and, therefore, assists students in navigating your pages. You may use the ICB to paste in page components, such as activity boxes, images, and tables. You may also paste in interactive components, so that students can engage in activities to enhance their learning experience.
Why was the ICB developed?
The ICB was first developed for a Faculty of Health postgraduate unit in 2012, and was developed further to deliver content in the Understanding Dementia MOOC in 2013. Since then, it has evolved to become a more complete solution for web content delivery, allowing staff to take control of the presentation of their material, without having to understand the underlying technicalities.
Is it a part of MyLO?
No. The product is a set of web pages, and can theoretically be used on any web platform. It is not an extension or plugin to MyLO, but can be used in MyLO, in the same sense that PowerPoints and PDFs can be used in MyLO.
What happens if the ICB server goes down?
It degrades gracefully. That means that the ICB won’t be at its best, but it will retain its structure. All your content will remain in MyLO and be visible to students, it just might not look quite as good.
How much does it cost?
There is no cost associated with the ICB. The ICB may be used for free.
Keep in mind, however that the ICB is provided by the Faculty of Health. Should other faculties wish for the Faculty of Health staff to offer services beyond the provision of the ICB (e.g. implement customisations, or deliver substantial staff training), then the Faculty of Health may request for the cost of their time to be covered.
The ICB is currently being considered for centralised support.
Do I need a licence to use the ICB?
As a University staff member, you are granted permission to use the ICB. The ICB components, including all the images such as icons and the backgrounds, were either designed by School of Medicine staff or have been purchased and modified under a standard royalty free licence that allow use for educational, and other, purposes.
Is it accessible?
Accessibility is a measure of how effectively all people are able to access web pages, including people with disabilities. The University is mandated by the Australian Government to meet WCAG 2.0 AA standard. The accessibility of the ICB is currently being evaluated by TILT.
Will my units look just like anyone else’s using the ICB?
With uniformity comes easier navigation, but it is still important to reserve some individuality, especially when students need to readily recognise your unit. Design elements, such as the background, are uniquely designed for your unit or set of units.
Won’t a template restrict my teaching?
There is always a tension when providing a template solution. Proponents of templates can sometimes be criticised for assuming that one size fits all; that somehow all learning experiences can be codified and contained within parameters. We don’t support that view.
The ICB can be used to present your content consistently. The fonts, the icons, the colours, etc. will be uniform. This in no way restricts what content you may deliver.
Uniformity in presentation allows students to navigate your pages easily. Students who study units with the ICB can recognise straight away which content is an activity, which is a quote, which is a warning, for example.
Isn’t this all a bit technically complicated?
No. The technically complicated bits are hidden away. You don’t need to understand anything about coding web pages. Copying and pasting is about as difficult as it gets.
All the other features of the MyLO content editors are still available so, if you can use Word, you can build these pages.
Will this cover me for quality assurance?
Not entirely. You still need to make sure that your online design and delivery meets the University’s quality expectations.
The ICB allows you to present high-quality content, however, it doesn’t ensure that you do. And although you might present high-quality learning resources and opportunities for high-impact learning experiences in your content, there is more to a quality online learning experience than just content.
There is a new online teaching guide (request access) to assist you with using the ICB to achieve best practice outcomes. You may also email TILT for advice and guidance about quality assurance of your online unit design.
Can I use the ICB for assessment?
The ICB is primarily a content delivery tool, but some components can be added to the page to introduce interactivity. That interactivity might involve sorting or grouping activities, hints and instant feedback, or informal self-test activities. You cannot use the ICB for formal assessment, as no record of your students’ choices or use of the interactive components is recorded within MyLO.
How much does the ICB cost?
There is no cost associated with the ICB. The ICB may be used for free.
Keep in mind, however, that the ICB is provided by the Faculty of Health. Should other faculties wish for Faculty of Health staff to offer services beyond the provision of the ICB (e.g. implement customisations, or deliver substantial staff training), then the Faculty of Health may request for cost of their time to be covered.
The ICB is currently being considered for centralised support.
Is the product still under development?
Yes. The Digital Innovation Team is improving the ICB based on feedback from its users. If you have any feedback to give, please contact the team at Digital.Team@utas.edu.au.
The ICB is not a centrally-supported product. Support services are provided by the Digital Innovation Team.
Is it being piloted just within the Faculty of Health?
No. The ICB is used mostly within the Faculty of Health, and is also being delivered in some breadth units and in other units beyond the Faculty of Health.
The word ‘pilot’ is used to describe the evaluation conducted by TILT to determine whether central support is feasible.
Is it a requirement to use the ICB?
The University of Tasmania does not require that online unit content is delivered with the ICB. The decision to use the ICB is made by the Course Coordinator, or by a particular School or Faculty.
Does the ICB increase the support burden for UTAS staff?
The ICB is currently deployed in more than 80 units across the University. There are online support resources to assist staff in using the ICB to minimise support requests. There is, to date, only anecdotal evidence that the ICB does not pose a significant burden on support staff. Surveys are being conducted now and the results will enable a greater assessment of what impact – increase or decrease and to what extent – using the ICB has on staff.
Does the ICB break easily when editing?
No, it is quite robust but occasionally it breaks when editing tricky bits. This is a trait shared by all template solutions in MyLO, not just the ICB. The strength of the ICB, however, is that broken components can be repasted back in without you requiring to recreate the whole page. Pages created with the ICB can easily be moved and copied to other locations without breaking.
What are the ICB surveys?
The developers of the ICB, in conjunction with TILT are evaluating the impact that the ICB has on both learning and teaching. Separate surveys for students and staff have been created to assess those impacts. By default, a link to the ICB student survey is imported into all units using the ICB. Staff who teach into units that use the ICB will be sent an email at the end of the semester asking them to participate in the staff survey.
More information about the ICB surveys can be found on the ICB Evaluation and Surveys page.
