Navigating the IRIS Resource Locator

Transcript: Navigating the IRIS Resource Locator (IRL)

Hello and welcome to the IRIS Center! The purpose of this video is to acquaint you with the IRIS Resource Locator, or IRL, which we’re looking at now. But first I’m going to show you two different ways to get to the IRL from our home page.

One way to get to the IRL is to click on the Resources tab in the fixed navigation header, then click on the first option in the drop-down menu. A second way to get to the IRL from the home page is to scroll down to the IRIS Resource Locator box and click on the Get Started link.

Once you’re on the IRL page, you’ll see a searchable list of topic areas on the left and the full list of topics in green subheadings on the right. Click on any checkbox on the left to narrow your search options. For example, when I click on “Behavior and Classroom Management,” only that topic remains on the right. All of the IRIS resources related to Behavior and Classroom Management appear below the green subheading, including modules, case studies, fundamental skill sheets, activities, information briefs, interviews, and video vignettes.

Another option is to click directly on the topic of interest using the list of green subheadings on the right, which will open a drop-down menu of all the related resources below. I can click on any of these resource types to get more information. For example, if I click on “Modules,” a list of module titles appears, with each one accompanied by a brief description and the estimated time it takes to work through the module. The “Show Available Elements” link that appears below each module lists any included media elements such as audio clips, videos, and interactive activities. The “Module Outline,” pulls up a section-by-section, page-by-page listing of the key components of the module, including descriptions of the media in the list we just viewed. This outline is a fillable file, so you can take notes as you work through the module.

Returning to the IRL, I’m going to close the Topics option in the left navigation bar and click on the Resource Types option directly below it, which will provide a drop-down menu to sort resources by modules, case studies, and so on. Note that not all topics have every resource type.

You can also search for specific audio, video, and activity elements within modules. This comes in handy for those situations when, say, you remember listening to an audio interview with a particular expert but can’t remember which module the interview is in.

Additionally, you can narrow your search to include only resources that have been translated into Spanish.

As we return to the top of the IRL, you can see that it’s also possible to sort resources using the Topic, Resource Type, and Module Element filters above the green subheadings. Finally, at the top of the left navigation bar, you can also search by key word.  Let’s type ‘UDL’ to get a listing of all the resources we have available on that topic.

Well, that’s a brief tour of our IRIS Resource Locator. Thank you for watching this video and, as always, we encourage you to explore the site on your own.