Choosing Course Materials | Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS)

Selecting accessible course materials helps shape learning. When selecting materials, how will students access textbooks, articles or other course material? How might instructors choose resources that support access for students while aligning with copyright regulations? With these questions in mind, the resources below can help with selecting accessible course materials that support flexibility and engagement with students.

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Sharing Course Materials

Resources

Course Materials Checklist

Sharing Inclusive & Accessible Course Materials

York University offers a range of tools and resources that can support more inclusive and accessible course materials.

The Accessibility Hub provides tips for creating accessibility documents and presentations, as well as further tools and resources.

York Library Accessibility Services provide a range of services and resources to support equitable access, such as Transcription Services and Captioning Media.

Student Accessibility Services provide faculty information on academic accommodations and requirements. It also offers a Faculty Resource Guide.

Educator’s Accessibility Toolkit was created by the Council of Ontario Universities in partnership with York University, the University of Guelph, the University of Toronto, and the Government of Ontario. The toolkit supports the accessible delivery and instruction of courses and offers teaching tips for accessible learning environments.

Teaching Commons – DEDI Part 3: Diversity in Teaching and Learning (PDF)

This resource shares some considerations and additional resources to support diversity in the classroom.

students using laptop with their teacher

Additional Resources

The mid adult female teacher leaning against the table leads an informal group discussion with the diverse group of students.

The York University Bookstore can support instructors by sourcing required course materials. The Bookstore also helps instructors identify costs for required textbooks and materials and source them at reasonable prices. The bookstore usually requires between 8 to 16 weeks’ notice for course materials and for materials coming from overseas. To quickly locate costs of course materials, instructors can review information posted to the publisher’s website. To make course materials accessible and available to students before the first day of class, please ensure that textbooks and course packs are submitted by the deadlines posted on the York University Bookstore faculty page.

The York University Bookstore may offer a Day1Digital (D1D) e-book, which provides students easy access to e-books through eClass. Explore the Bookstore’s Day1Digital page to learn more.

If desk copies are required, please contact the publisher directly. The Bookstore does not help source desk copies.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are available free of charge to students and can help remove financial barriers to post-secondary studies. To explore available OER, York Libraries offer an Open Educational Resource: OER 101. Please also consult eCampus Ontario’s Open Library if interested in using Open Educational Resources (OER).

Copyright Support staff are available to help instructors with questions related to course material. Staff can be reached at copy@yorku.ca and more information can be found at the Copyright @ York website.

Copyright @ York also provides guidance on choosing and using different types of course content on the following webpages: Using Content in Your Course and Guidelines for Choosing Digital Content on York LMS. Review York’s Fair Dealing Guidelines before posting content to the LMS (eClass).

Create permanent links to York University Libraries’ e-resources.

Facilitate a transactional license or permission from the copyright holder as needed.

Assess whether assigned readings fall within Fair Dealing Guidelines.

York’s Fair Dealing Guidelines permit copying or showing short excerpts of a film, television program or video during live lectures or in lecture recordings. The Guidelines also permit making the excerpts available on eClass to students for educational purposes related to research and private study. A short excerpt is defined as up to 10% of a copyrighted work. If using longer excerpts or the entire work, please consider the following:

Linking to legally posted online content from video sharing platforms, such as YouTube.

Connecting to pre-existing licensed streaming video collections through York Libraries that can be used in course(s). Students can independently access streaming films in these collections. York Libraries may also be able to purchase streaming access for additional media. Please send film requests and inquiries to imagelib@yorku.ca.

For more information, please download and review the Application of the Fair Dealing Guidelines for Universities to Audiovisual Works (PDF).

Generally, in the absence of another agreement, instructors at York University own the intellectual property for the teaching materials they create. To communicate clearly with students about expectations around this intellectual property, consider including an intellectual property notice in the course outline. The reuse of teaching materials by students page provides recommended language for a copyright notice.

If an instructor’s intellectual property is being shared by a third-party website in Canada or the US, please consider using the take down notice templates written by Copyright @ York for issuing a takedown notice.

Accessible Course Materials Checklist

Are more affordable or OER textbooks available?

What materials might be available in the York Libraries?

Are course materials accessible and available in a range of formats?

Are course materials available for downloading or streaming?

Do course materials include diverse representations of voices, experiences and contexts?

Diversify Asian college students listening to female tutor in library discussion

Learn More

Reid, P., & Maybee, C. (2022). Textbooks and Course Materials: A holistic 5-step selection process.

Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Diversifying course content through an EDI perspective.

UDL on Campus. (n.d.). Media & Materials.

Questions?

Reach out to lapsteach@yorku.ca to connect with the Teaching & Learning team.