TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
- 1 Library levels and permissions
- 2 Supported content types
- 3 Adding content to the Library
- 4 Searching for content
- 5 Adding a Library resource to a course
- 6 Creating your own copy of a resource
- 7 Publishing and metadata
- 8 Co-authors
- 9 Your Collection
Introduction
The Library in itslearning is a shared resource hub for managing, finding, and sharing educational content. It allows you to manage content that is used across several courses, find and use content from other teachers or vendors, and share your own content with other teachers.
Changes made to a Library resource — for example, correcting a spelling error — are automatically reflected in all courses where that resource is used. This makes the Library especially useful when working with template courses.
Prerequisite: The Library requires the user right Enable library, which is available for teachers by default. If you do not see the Library option in the top menu, contact your system administrator.
1 Library levels and permissions
The itslearning Library is organised into four levels. The ability to search and add content at each level depends on permissions set by your system administrator.
Note: Sharing permissions control who you can share content with. They do not affect your ability to access the Library itself.
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Your Collection | Contains files, links, pages, or assignments you have added. |
| School Library | Contains elements shared by members of your school. |
| District Library | Contains elements shared by members at the district level. |
| itslearning Community Library | Contains elements shared by global itslearning users. Content shared at this level may also include resources from vendors (publishers) made available for your school or site. |
2 Supported content types
The following content types can be created in, or moved into, the Library:
| Content type | Notes |
|---|---|
| File | If Office Online is enabled, this includes Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files. |
| Link | — |
| Page | — |
| Crossword | — |
| LTI | — |
| Assignment | — |
| Test 3.0 | — |
Note: Third-party developers or subsidiaries may offer additional tools for creating Library content. The availability of these tools can be restricted by country. Click the cog icon in the top right corner of the Library to see additional tools available to you.
3 Adding content to the Library
There are two ways to add content to the Library: creating it directly in the Library, or moving existing course content into the Library. In addition, content appears in your collection automatically when another teacher adds you as a co-author (see 8 Co-authors).
3.1 Creating content directly in the Library
- Open the Library.
- Click the Add resources button in the upper right-hand corner.
- Select the tool (or app) you want to use to create the content.
- Complete the resource content.
- Publish the resource and add metadata (see 7 Publishing and metadata).
Once you have created the content, you can share it with other teachers or add it to a course by searching through the Library.
3.2 Moving course content into the Library
To move an existing resource from a course into the Library:
- Go to the individual resource page within your course.
- Click the extended menu (three dots).
- Select Add to Library.
Note: Only the teacher who originally added the content to the course can move it into the Library. If you collaborate in a course with other teachers, co-teachers cannot move content created by another teacher.
Important: If you cannot create a particular content type directly in the Library, you also cannot move that content type from a course. For example, Registrations cannot be created in the Library, so they cannot be moved into the Library from a course either.
▶ Moving content when sharing template courses
When sharing a template course, you can choose to move all course content into the Library. This is particularly useful because changes made to Library resources are automatically reflected in all courses that use them.
4 Searching for content
You can search for content in the Library or from the Add page of a course. To use content with students, it must first be added to a course.
4.1 Search criteria
To search, enter at least 3 characters in the keyword field. When searching from the planner, there must be at least 1 learning objective connected to the plan.
A keyword search matches content where the search term appears in any of the following fields:
| Searchable field |
|---|
| Title |
| Description |
| Keywords |
| Learning objectives |
| Author name |
4.2 Filter options
You can use filters to narrow results and bring the best matches to the top. Content that does not fully match the applied filters is shown under the heading These results might also be interesting.
| Filter |
|---|
| Learning objective |
| Grade level |
| Assessment type |
| Format type |
| Language |
| Author |
| Provider |
5 Adding a Library resource to a course
You can add resources from the Library to your courses, plans, or personal collection.
- Open the Library and type a keyword into the search field (minimum 3 characters), then press Enter.
- Select a resource from the search results. A dialog opens with the following options: View resource, Add to…, and Mark as favourite.
- Click Add to… and select one of the following options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Add to a course | Adds the resource to a course folder. The resource remains linked to the Library version — changes to the Library resource are automatically reflected in the course. |
| Add to a course plan | Adds the resource directly to a plan within a course. |
| Add to your collection | Saves the resource to Your Collection for later use. |
Note: Clicking View resource opens the resource in a new browser tab. Clicking Mark as favourite adds the resource to the Favourites section of Your Collection.
6 Creating your own copy of a resource
If the author of a resource allows it, you can create your own independent copy that you can modify.
To create your own copy:
- Open the Library resource within a course.
- Click the cog icon.
- Select Create own copy.
Important: Creating your own copy breaks the connection with the original Library resource. Any future updates to the original will not be reflected in your copy.
Note: If the Create own copy option is greyed out, this means one of the following: the author has chosen not to allow copies of the resource, or the tool used to create the content does not support copying.
7 Publishing and metadata
When you publish content in the Library, you are asked to provide metadata to help other teachers find your resource.
7.1 Basic information
As a minimum, you must provide the following when publishing:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | A short description of the resource. |
| Keywords | One or more keywords to help other users find the resource through search. |
| Available to | The sharing scope: school, district, or itslearning Community. A user right may limit which options are available. |
7.2 Advanced options
Click Show advanced options to access additional metadata fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Grade level | The intended grade level(s) for the resource. |
| Learning Objectives | Align the resource with standards for mastery and recommendations. |
| Language | The language of the content. |
| Allow copies | Whether other users can create their own editable copy of the resource (see 6 Creating your own copy of a resource). |
| Intended for | The target audience (students, teachers, mentors, etc.). |
| Format | The content format: audio, video, image, text-based, or interactive. |
Click Publish to share the resource with the selected audience.
7.3 Creative Commons licensing
Content shared with the itslearning Community is published under the following Creative Commons licence:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
This licence allows others to share and adapt your content for non-commercial purposes, provided they give credit and distribute any derived work under the same licence.
Full licence details: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Note: Once a Library resource has been added to a course, you can view its Creative Commons licence by hovering over the Library icon in front of the resource title.
8 Co-authors
As part of the sharing settings of a resource, you can add another teacher as a co-author. When someone adds you as a co-author, the resource automatically appears in your collection.
Important: If you are removed as a co-author, the resource is also removed from your collection.
9 Your Collection
Your Collection is accessible from the Library menu bar and contains your personal Library content.
Your Collection is divided into the following sections:
| Section | Content | Filter by | Sort by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recent | Recently accessed content | All, Test, File, Link, Microsoft PowerPoint | — |
| Favourites | Resources marked as favourite | All, Test | Date of modification, Title, Author name |
| Created by me | Resources you have created | All, File, Link, Microsoft PowerPoint | Date of modification, Title |
| Shared with me | Resources shared by other users | — | Date of modification, Title, Author name |
| All | All content in your collection | All, File, Link, Microsoft PowerPoint | Date of modification, Title |