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Formatting Guidelines

Teachable.net has many types of resources to suit different teaching styles, class abilities and ICT equipment. We do not have a 'house style', but we do ask you to keep to some simple guidelines to ensure everyone can use your files.

General guidelines

File size
To make sure everyone can download in reasonable time, please keep all files under 2 megabytes. This may mean reducing the size of images embedded within Word or Powerpoint files (instructions here), or splitting presentations into more than one file. Please email us us if you need help with this.
MS Office Versions
Unfortunately, files saved with Word or Powerpoint 2007 are not completely compatible with previous versions. Please save your files in '97-2003 compatible' version. All files on this site (and their animations, embedded objects etc) are designed to work in both Office 2003 and later editions.
Use of images and diagrams

Most images and diagrams on websites are not royalty-free. Please make sure your image is royalty-free, and attribute the source if the image came from an academic / educational library.
Use of English
Our resources are used by teachers around the world, so please try not to use regional slang or obscure abbreviations. If English is not your first language, you may find the online Guardian Style Guide useful.

Powerpoint specific

Leaving space around the edge

Most projectors are not perfectly aligned, so make sure you leave lots of blank space around the edge of the slide to enable everyone to read the text. Leaving adequate space around the text also makes it easier to read. If you've run out of space on a slide you probably need to start a new one.
Font size

For an A4 slide/ page, please make sure all the fonts are more than 20 point. Titles should be larger that 36 point. For documents designed to be printed, we would recommend more than 12 point text.
Introducing one point at a time

The rule of thumb is that each new item presented should take no more than 7 seconds to read. If you want to introduce lots of points on one slide please animate them to come in one-by-one. On the other hand, don't make the teacher have to click too many times - having up to six elements that appear in sequence on a page is probably enough.
High contrast backgrounds

Generally we prefer plain colour backgrounds that are highly contrasted to the text (white on navy blue or dark red on white). If you want to introduce more colour, do it by putting images next to the text, not behind the text.
Limit the use of distracting animations

Some transitions (from slide to slide) or animations of particular text or diagrams are useful to emphasise a point; constant emphasis just distracts from the message. Likewise sound effects such as typewriter noises for every paragraph or screeching brakes on each transition are very annoying. Please also avoid using the 'random transition' feature as it makes for unpredictable and distracting presentations.

Putting the file on Teachable.net

Useful descriptions
Please try to make your descriptions useful, full of key words and unique. Descriptions are factual: subjective comments and praise should be within the review. You may want to include sub-topic keywords (e.g. an ecological resource might include ‘pyramid of biomass’, ‘energy transfer’ etc), key activities included and any ideal companion material – if it is designed to be used in conjunction with a particular experiment, video, or reference book.
Tagging
Every resource on this site needs to be tagged to allow users to search by age range, topic, pupil ability and type of resource. You may tag the resource for use in more than one subject or topic, so please look at all appropriate categories.

Fitting in with our file categories

We certainly don't want to limit your creativity, but we think that a lot of teaching resources fall into a number of core categories. We would encourage you to include a few different types of file with each resource, but try to be clear about the intended use for your file:

Starter / Introduction
These are designed to introduce a new topic and should be limited in their scope and the number of new ideas introduced. Since starters are designed to engage the class they should be especially graphical, stimulating and preferably with some interactivity (mini-quiz etc). Less text is often better, as the teacher will be talking through it anyway.
Class Activity
The meat of a lesson; something that the teacher can run through with the whole class. It might lead the pupils through an offline / practical activity, or rely solely on information on the screen or on paper in front of the class. Please pay special attention to the logical flow of these kind of presentations / worksheets.
Individual learning
These files are designed for the pupils to go through on their own. Most commonly they are worksheets, but other videos and Powerpoints can also be customised to make them suitable for viewing without a teacher. Generally these files need more explanatory text to make them useful.
Revision
Likely to be denser with facts and ideas and designed specifically to re-cap a topic. As with individual learning files, they may need more explanatory text.
Quiz
Something specifically designed to get feedback from the class. Multiple choice works well in Powerpoint, and you can display the answers back on the screen by using the 'trigger' feature within the Custom Animation menu. Click here for a demonstration and template file. Alternatively some contributors have created quizzes structured on popular TV quiz shows.