The web of plenty: Leveraging the abundance of free, on-demand online forensic content

The move to online instruction forced many educators towards the task of producing recorded content, many for the first time. The result was that many instructors, usually those with limited or no remote-teaching experience, produced 60- to 90-minute audioonly lectures, recorded using Powerpoint or a conferencing platform, and posted them to a Learning Management System (LMS). Instructors more well-versed in online pedagogy or those who utilized instructional design best-practice training, produced video content more in-line with established research, which states that videos should be no longer than 6 to 15 min. Regardless of video length and quality, creating recorded content is time-consuming, resource-intensive, and arduous even for experienced educators. The alternative to self-created content is to mine the wealth of freely available forensic science videos, webinars, and web-based resources already posted to the internet. Prior to the move to remote instruction, some forensic educators integrated YouTube clips into lecture material. Post-pandemic, the quantity, and often quality, of online content has greatly increased. However, on-demand resources are spread widely across the internet. Whilst some repositories of material, such as webinars from individual organizations exist, other sources of content require more intentional searching. Identified content is meaningless unless integrated into a course or module's learning objectives. Instructors may need to shorten lengthy webinars or edit extraneous material in order to maintain educational best practice. Finally, once content is captured and posted to a course LMS, an instructor must set up an accountability structure to ensure students are viewing and digesting required material. The first half of this paper will outline the types and locations of free, on-demand online forensic materials and resources. As forensic science education looks to the future, the creation and use of web-based resources is likely to increase. The second half of this paper will address what to do once content is identified and how to effectively utilize it within the framework of remote instruction best-practice. Existing content can help the educator work smarter, not harder. The wealth of online forensic resources can help illustrate concepts and add variety to LMS-posted content, leading to a more enriching experience for the student.