Therefore, such materials must be carefully planned, selected, organized, refined, and used in a course for maximum effect. This is especially true for online courses, which rely on a thoughtful and complete collection of instructional materials that students will access, explore, absorb, and reference as they proceed in a course. They hold the power to either engage or demotivate students. Instructional materials provide the core information that students will experience, learn, and apply during a course. The best instructional materials are aligned with all other elements of the course, including the learning objectives, assessments, and activities. These materials can be used in both face-to-face and online classrooms however, some must be modified or redesigned to be effective for the online environment. These include the lectures, readings, textbooks, multimedia components, and other resources in a course.
Instructional materials are the content or information conveyed within a course.