Search and Filters

By far the most useful functions to find instructional content on Open Space are search and filters, also known as limiters. These functions can be used in most areas of the platform, including the landing page, collections, hubs, and groups.

 

Search

Perhaps the most easily understood concept in finding content is search. Type a few keywords that relate to what you'd like to find and press enter. For example, type "active passive" when looking for an activity related to active and passive voice. Open Space will look through all text data to find records related to your keywords, including titles, descriptions, tags, and other metadata.

Did you know? Clicking the Search button without any keywords will return all instructional materials. This allows users to apply filters so they can see everything for a given subject or grade level.

 

Filters

Filters, or limiters, can help narrow down search results to specific materials. Popular filters on Open Space include: 

  • Subject Area. Science, Mathematics, Computer Science, Social Studies, for example
  • Education Level. Preschool, Lower Primary (K–2), Upper Primary (3–5), Middle School (6–8), and High School (9–12)
  • Material Type. Lesson plan, module, textbook, activity/lab, interactive, for example
  • Education Standards. Returns records that have been aligned to one or more of Ohio's Learning Standards

Material Types

To help decide which options to use when filtering by Material Type, here is a description of each:

Material TypeDescription
Activity/Lab Supplemental, student-facing resource requiring students to provide answers or feedback based on taking specified steps
Assessment Student-facing question or prompt that measures understanding of a topic or idea
Homework/Assignment A learner activity for acquiring certain skills, concepts, or knowledge, whether guided by an instructor or not
Student Guide A student-facing supplement to a course that provides additional content and tutorial instruction for another course or topic
Syllabus An outline of the contents and requirements of a course
Catalog Organized collections of learning resources, often accompanied by a dedicated search platform or database, providing easy access to a large amount of content from a provider or about a subject area.
Full Course A series of units and lessons used to teach the skills and knowledge required by the curriculum
Lecture Recording or transcript of an educational speech
Lesson Organize content within a course, and may cover one or more concepts or topics 
Module Organize content within a course and may cover one or more concepts or topics
Unit of Study A plan of instruction on a particular concept, containing multiple lessons that are related
Bibliography Includes curated lists of books, articles, and other resources, guiding learners to explore relevant and credible sources on a specific topic
Lesson Plan A teacher-facing description of a course of instruction
Teaching/Learning Strategy Method or strategy to achieve effective teaching and learning
Audio/Video Includes podcasts, audio books, recorded webinars and lectures, and video tutorials and lessons
Diagram/Illustration Visual media, including pictures, graphics, diagrams, figures, illustrations, charts, and maps
Game A game designed with an educational purpose
Interactive A visual tool in which students can move items around, enter variables, and/or answer questions
Simulation Imitation of a physical process over time
Case Study When actually occurring events or scenarios are used to illustrate scientific or academic principles
Data Set A collection of related sets of data
Lecture Notes Instructor-created notes to support student understanding of lectures
Primary Source Original document or object created at the time of the period of time being studied, for example, newspaper article or government document
Reading The body of a printed work, to include reading passages
Textbook A book used in the study of an academic or scientific subject

 

Search Example

An 8th grade English Language Arts teachers wants to find a supplemental, interactive learning activity for students to practice forming and using verbs in the active and passive voice. This topic is covered in Ohio Learning Standards for ELA L.8.3a and L.8.1b. The teacher should enter the keywords active passive in the search box. After the initial results appear, the teacher can refine the search on the left side of the page by applying the following limiters: 

  • Education Standards: Ohio Standards for English Language Arts
  • Grade: Grade 8
  • Material Type: Interactive

The remaining results are now filtered to show only interactive items that are aligned to grade 8 ELA standards. Scan through the list of results to find the perfect supplement to your lesson. Then click on the title or image to explore the details of the resource.

Open Space Search large

 

 

Pause and Do

Before continuing in this class, test Open Space's search and filters by looking for certain instructional materials. Then, reflect on the following questions:

  • Which filters do you anticipate using when looking for content?
  • Which materials types are most important to you currently?
pausebutton

 

 

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