Digital Catalogs for Remote Learning
January 26, 2021
Most colleges and universities have recently put substantial thought into supporting online learning, whether it's through video, remote LMS, online test proctoring, or more. Your course catalog, though, might not have been the first thought, but with a little effort (and help from Clean Catalog) you can turn your catalog into a great support for virtual learning.
Improve Accessibility
Anyone who's coordinated remote learning knows that everyone's device is different, and getting technology to work on every laptop, smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer can be a huge barrier to online learning. Clean Catalog software ensures that your online catalog will be fully responsive to all screen sizes and provides students with a more convenient interface for locating information. Rather than scrolling through a several-hundred-page PDF file, students can use the search bar inside our digital catalog to find specific information more quickly. For remote students, this level of accessibility allows them to spend more time on their studies rather than on navigating clunky, outdated resources.
Make Course and Degree Information Easy to Find
Clean Catalog’s course catalogs hold enormous potential since they can be fully customized to fit your institution’s needs. They can be used to fill gaps created by a lack of in-person interactions or crafted to complement your school’s Learning Management System. Whether your institution uses Blackboard, Canvas, or other LMS, you will be able to reference specific pages in your digital catalog through direct links.
We can customize your course catalog to allow you to easily integrate syllabi, instructor CVs, curriculum guides, and more. Whether that information lives within your catalog or on another system, we can help you provide a seamless way for students to find the information they're looking for. By interconnecting your educational resources online, your institution will make online courses more organized, convenient, and coherent for students.
Let Faculty and Staff Manage Content Remotely
Virtual learning also calls for rethinking how faculty and staff collaborate. Instead of using a paper-based process, or even an email-based process, using a modern system built around workflows and permissions can allow faculty and staff to make catalog and curriculum updates from wherever they're working, and still ensure that everything is going through proper approvals.
When the catalog is in PDF form, it requires more coordination to have updates published. This typically involves sending all changes to one individual, who must then edit and export a large InDesign file anytime a change is made. Clean Catalog's course catalog software, on the other hand, allows faculty to edit their own department’s content remotely from whatever device they're using. User workflows and permissions allow admin to control what content is being revised or added, and revert unwanted changes. This not only adds convenience, but mitigates the risk of data loss or miscommunication between faculty members while working remotely.
Migrating your institution’s catalog content online is a logical step when your institution offers online courses. Clean Catalog software is designed to bridge the gap between virtual and in-person learning by catering to both types of classroom settings. If you’d like to hear more about our solutions to curriculum management, syllabus management, and course catalog software, feel free to reach out to us.