Online resources for content

For this week’s post, the first resource that I explored was MIT Open Course Ware. As we all know that this was initiated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001 with the aim to make their education materials available for both undergraduate and graduate levels. As of today the site has published study materials for 2340 courses and have been visited by almost 200 million visitors.

Since I wanted to design course for biology at undergraduate level I focused and explored more life science department courses. I was amazed to find out the number of courses that MIT open Course Ware offered in Life Sciences. There were 19 main divisions under life science department, and under each department there were many courses that were offered, which is not offered in most of the universities.

For this course I am interested in designing, a course in biology concentrating in genetics at undergraduate level. In MIT Open Course Ware I found enough content that can be used, especially the problem set. What I found that most of the study material consists of reading material, there are some lecture videos also, but there were no power point slides. I think power point slides are wonderful way to introduce the subject, as through power point the content can be shared in small and concise way.

When I am designing a course, my aim would always be to integrate biology curriculum with social issues so that students can make connection between classroom and real world, thus preparing biology majors to take social responsibility in the future. For this aspect I found materials or documentaries that I can use in YouTube.

For example, to explain the Genotype-Phenotype relationship and expression and transfer of heritable information, I would like to use the case of Sickle Cell Anemia and its public health policies in American history, which suggests that there is difference in cultural attitudes toward this illness especially in African-American community.

I then explored Khan Academy to see if I can find more resources. I found that Khan Academy do have couple of lecture videos and power point presentation on my topic. But those are very basic and I do not think I can use it to teach at undergraduate level.

I would like to mention that apart from Khan Academy, MIT Open Course Ware and You Tube, there are more resources that can be used to design course. There are many stimulation games, which acts as great experiential tool for students, for example, http://www.marketplace-simulation.com/capstone-simulations.

Another place where I found stimulation game for biology is https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/

Looking at all the option available I feel that there is so much content available that teachers can use to teach students with different learning style, but again it is an educators work to utilize the resources carefully to design course to facilitate learning.