Xerte Online Toolkits
Xerte Online Toolkits (or Xerte, usually pronounced Zertee) is an interactive content creation tool for making web-based learning objects, without the need for programming skills. The University has its own installation of this software which is available for staff and students to use. A learning object is a digital resource consisting of a collection of content and activity, with a clear educational purpose.
The software was created and developed by the University of Nottingham and below you can see example content showing the various page types that can be used. Use the arrows, or the menu icon, in the bottom right of the object to navigate through the pages.
How might I use it?
Xerte provides you with the opportunity of delivering content online for self-study or revision purposes. Self-contained digital resources are often used to provide instruction in commonly taught concepts or skills. Additionally Xerte can be used for student content-creation where, for example, students could prepare a resource to teach others what they have learned.
Xerte is a content authoring tool that lets you bring together different types of material in order to present information on a topic. You can include text, images, video, audio as well as embed web pages or web widgets. In addition to you can add activities which allow the viewer to interact with the content.
Examples
- Reflective Writing Resource for students at the University of Bath
- Social Media training for Faculty of Engineering & Design staff at the University of Bath
- MANTRA – managing digital data in a research project, various examples created in Xerte by the University of Edinburgh
- Future Teacher 3.0 – online webinar session (Working with Rich Media 3 – Video) delivered using Xerte
- Communicating Online – Open University branded use of Xerte
- Critical Appraisal of Clinical Trials in Dermatology University of Nottingham
How do staff and students use it effectively?
Staff and students can create an account, in the Bath version of Xerte, by logging in with their University username and password. Once a user is logged in, they have access to an editor which lets them create learning objects by adding pages of content (text, images, videos etc.) and interactivity (quizzes, drag and drop, timelines etc.). The final object is published onto a University web server which allows it to be linked to via its URL (web address)or embedded into another webpage (using an iframe embed code) such as Moodle or Mahara.
- Learning objects should deal with a single educational problem to solve or issue to learn.
- Content should be updated as necessary, for example checking web links still work (e.g. YouTube videos).
- Information should be ‘chunked’ into small pieces of learning, as too much content could make it difficult for learners to reach the end.
- Staff can collaborate on the creation of a learning object.
- Learners can also collaborate on the creation of a learning object.
- Learners can share their creations, learning from each other.
What are the pros & cons?
Pros
- Built with accessibility in mind
- The majority of page types are easy to follow
- There are in-built ‘themes’ to change the display – including a Theme Bath version
- A common text editor is used to create content, including font-awesome icons and theme-based formatting
- There are variety of page types and templates including a bootstrap template that produces a responsive website
- Learning objects can be worked on collaboratively or shared
- Content can be responsive which makes it possible to view content on different devices (such as tablets and smartphones)
- Content can be viewed online or exported for offline viewing, or it can be embedded into other web tools such as Moodle or Mahara
- Learning objects can be reused or repurposed for additional uses in different courses or different disciplines
Cons
- The newest version of Xerte relies on users understanding how to use the accessibility tools of modern browsers
- Some page types may require training to use fully – please contact the TEL team
- The themes available may not suit you and you may need to use an additional tool such as Xhibit to develop the theme you want