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MERLOT’s mission is to improve the effectiveness of teaching
and learning by increasing the number and quality of online
learning materials that are available to faculty. To
accomplish this goal, MERLOT provides a directory of over
22,000 online higher education resources and services to
assist faculty in creating additional resources.
MERLOT’s collection of resources can be searched by keyword
browsed by type. Resource types include animation, simulation,
assessment tool, open textbook, and online course. Each
resource has information about its author, who submitted it to
MERLOT, when it was added to the MERLOT collection, whether it
has been peer reviewed, user ratings, and comments. Most
MERLOT resources are available under a Creative Commons
by-nc-sa license. This means that you are free to use and
modify these materials, as long as you provide appropriate
attribution to the owner and distribute any derivative works
under a similar license.
Here’s an overview of what you’ll find at the MERLOT website:
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Communities |
The
MERLOT collection can be accessed through
discipline-specific community portals. Each portal
provides users with learning materials for that
field, as well as discipline-specific exemplary
teaching strategies, journals, conferences, and
professional development.
For example, at the
MERLOT Information Technology Portal you’ll
find a section on
Teaching Information Technology, a
community of IT educators, a
directory of IT learning materials, and a “showcase”
where outstanding IT education resources are
highlighted.
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Learning Materials
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You can
access discipline-specific directories of MERLOT’s
learning materials without going through a
community portal. Within each directory you can
search for resources by keyword, find resources by
type, or navigate to a more specific sub-directory
with a more focused list of resources. For
example, you can go from the
Science and Technology directory (>8700 items)
to the
Computer Science sub-directory (>500 items) to
the
Computer-Human Interaction sub-directory (>25
items).
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Member Directory |
Signing up for membership in MERLOT is free.
MERLOT’s members are listed in a
directory that is categorized by discipline
and searchable by keyword in the same way as the
collection of learning materials.
Once you
become a member you can contribute materials,
assemble a personal collection of resources, and
rate and comment on materials. College faculty
members can become more involved in MERLOT by
serving on editorial boards, as peer reviewers,
and as participants in MERLOT’s virtual speaker’s
bureau.
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Faculty Development
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Helping faculty integrate technology into teaching
and learning is a vital part of MERLOT’s mission.
Through MERLOT’s
Faculty Development Community, you can receive
advice and suggestions, learn about best
practices, and find resources to support your
implementation of technology-enhanced pedagogical
practices. MERLOT’s
faculty development services also include
workshops, conferences, online courses, and
consultations.
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About Merlot |
MERLOT sponsors the
Journal of Online Teaching and Learning, and
is involved in a variety of innovative
programs and projects.
You can
contact MERLOT and get the latest
news about their learning materials collection
and programs at the
About MERLOT website.
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