Now that you know a little more about Niche Academy, you might now be wondering how you can use it.
Niche Academy is available to the whole SRC community outside of Canvas through this link: https://my.nicheacademy.com/src. or by searching the Library's A-Z database page. From the main page on Niche Academy, you can browse through all the tutorials the Library currently has available. Clicking on a tutorial opens it for viewing and provides the URL for directly linking to that specific tutorial.
Niche Academy is also available as an external tool in Canvas so that tutorials can be embedded directly into courses. You can require students to enroll in tutorials, which allows you to track their progress as they complete a tutorial. The Spoon River College Canvas Academy can be found at: https://my.nicheacademy.com/src-staff. and it is recommended to use this link to explore some of the tutorials available in Niche Academy before you access the external tool in Canvas to embed a tutorial in your course. Faculty will also be sent invitations to add/create/modify content upon request.
Niche Academy tutorials walk students step-by-step through how to search within a database. They include interactive components throughout that require students complete searches in the database. They are a great alternative to in-class library instruction and can be integrated into your Canvas course with autograding.
These tutorials can integrate directly into Canvas grade books. When you integrate them into your Canvas course they auto-grade upon completion making it easy to hold your students accountable for completion. Alternatively, you can simply send students a link to the tutorial and ask them to complete it.
**Note: The tutorials found on the community-facing side of Niche Academy may not be found in the version that is used in Canvas and vice-versa. If you find a tutorial that you're interested in using but cannot find it within the Canvas version, please let me know and we can make that available.**