OWL Educator Resources
Learn how to use the OWL for a variety of situations and purposes.
- Tips for using the OWL in different classroom arrangements.
- Tips for using the OWL to deliver feedback on writing assignments.
- Ideas for course activities that make use of the OWL.
Take a four-part training series on Writing in the Disciplines.
- Part 1: Introduction to Writing in the Disciplines.
- Part 2: Creating Effective Assignments.
- Part 3: Peer Review & Revision.
- Part 4: Effective Feedback & Rubrics.
Take a look at commonly used assessment rubrics for writing and reading, and see how OWL resources align with the skills assessed in these rubrics. The OWL can be matched with these rubrics to improve learning in these areas.
- AAC&U Written Communication VALUE Rubric.
- AAC&U Reading VALUE Rubric.
OWL activities, videos, and other multimedia content can be embedded on your site quickly and easily. Learn how by reviewing these instructions.
Learn how to create your own custom OWLs–what we call Owlets.
- Create as many Owlets as you like.
- Use your Owlets as free online textbooks.
- Integrate reading and writing content from the OWL.
- Create and keep track of your Owlets with a free OWL account.
The Quick Reference Guide provides an alphabetized index of the most commonly used OWL topics with links to relevant pages in the OWL. Use the Quick Reference Guide to quickly and easily find what you need for a course activity or student feedback.
Looking for an activity, video, or other multimedia resource in the OWL? Search the index of activities to locate what you need.
- Search an index of writing activities.
- Search an index of reading activities.
Search a list of OWL resources alphabetized by topic.
The Excelsior OWL is designed to provide support for writers as they begin the process of writing for college and as they transition to writing outside of their introductory writing classes or programs.
The Excelsior OWL is unique in its multimedia support for writers. It offers a wide variety of interactive multimedia activities, quizzes, videos, interactive PDFs, and games – all designed to help writers understand important concepts about writing.
The Reading Lab is the first completely free, comprehensive, online open education resource for college-level reading. It offers a variety of multimedia materials—instructional videos, online exercises, and handouts.
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Welcome to Educator Resources for the Excelsior OWL & ORC.
Watch this video to learn more:
- Completely redesigned and expanded Educator Resources
- Groundbreaking new Writing in the Disciplines training modules for educators
- All PDFs updated for accessibility to work with screen reading software