TOPIC:

Hi,

I'm trying to get into the field of Instructional design/digital accessibility, focusing on universities as an ideal employer. Xerte is a new software to me, and I'm aware that it's used by many universities. I recently interviewed for an entry-level role and the feedback I got was that I didn't have experience of all their technologies, and the main one was Xerte, so I was hoping to teach myself how to use the tool so that I'm better prepared for future roles.

The problem is, I'm not part of an organisation so I don't really know where to start or what to frame my learning around. I found Xerte guides on the 'learning xetre' page, which look useful, but I would like to be able to gain experience in actually using the toolkit as an individual outside an organisation. Are there any courses perhaps? It would be nice to evidence to employers that I can do it.

Thanks!

Hi
a few quick comments...
Firstly I think you need to be clear about exactly what experience a university is looking for e.g. these might include one or more of the following:
Use of Xerte via a web browser to create learning resources and technically knowing how to get the most out of Xerte
Use of Xerte via a web browser to create learning resources and getting the most out of the tool from a teaching and learning/pedagogical perspective
Use of Xerte as a developer and getting the most out of as well as possibly extending the functionality available

In terms of being able to use Xerte:
You can download and use Xerte locally for free by running a local webserver like xampp and then installing xerte onto that webserver.
You could purchase hosting and install Xerte onto that hosting
You could sign-up for an individual paid for account on a shared installation - I run such an installation where individuals sign up for an annual account.

In terms of learning
there are lots of linked resources and video recordings from conferences on this site and if you browse the news section you'll find some of those including a conference we have coming up in November

Realistically though Xerte is only one tool in a 'learning designer's' toolkit and the knowledge and skills required should be mostly transferrable between tools even though there will obviously be some differences if an organisation is using a specific tool and ultimately effective use requires a mix of both the technical and the pedagogical.

HTH
Ron

Hi Ron,
Thank you for this! :) I think the roles I'm interested in would be mainly interested in skills to your first two points, Creating learning resources and getting the most out of Xerte from both technical and pedagogical perspectives.

I'm still trying to get into the field, so while I have academic experience using LMS/VLEs, my experience beyond that is limited when it comes to Learning design-specific tools, so I think it would be valuable for me to learn. Thank you for your tip re the news section, and I'd be interested to learn more about your installation. I'll also look into Xampp too, so thank you for that tip!

You might also want to explore all the Future Teacher resource which are presented via Xerte but with lots of other tools and resources embedded or linked including specific sessions on learning design and accessibility and other related topics xot.futureteacher.eu/play.php?template_id=4#home
HTH
Ron

Many thanks. I truly appreciate your help.

Hi

Earlier this year I ran a course in authoring in Xerte for people working in language education who were either completely new to the tools or had very limited experience of using it. It was a 5-week course, and it needed participants to commit to a minimum of 3 hours a week on the course.
I'm thinking of offering the course again in early 2025, and if you'd be interested in participating, you can contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I've attached the course description for the first course; in 2025 the course is likely to have a similar format and content. In the course description there are links to some useful resources.

Best wishes

Jonathan Smith
English language teaching specialist and Xerte enthusiast.