UNM-LA Online Course Template User Guide – BETA-0513
Compiled by the UNM-LA eLearning Committee: Carol Furchner (Chair), Susan Schauer, Tracy Thompson, Renae Mitchell, DeBray Bailey
This document covers the UNM-LA Online Course Template. Its sections include:
Overview: UNM-LA Online Course Template User Guide
1. Getting Started: Import the UNM-LA Online Course Template
2. Setting up your course
3. Modifying template files for your course
4. Other things to consider adding to your course
5. Final checklist: Am I done?
Appendix A: Access course examples in CourseSites
Appendix B: Some useful (and mostly free) software tools
Begin with 1. Getting Started Guide, which takes you through the process of installing the template in your online course.
Then work through 2. Setting up your course, which describes steps you need to take in order to set up your course using the template, adding your own materials and modifying some of the template contents. Section 2 also contains tables that list and describe the contents of the template.
Overview: UNM-LA Online Course Template User Guide
This course template for UNM-LA has been designed with the following objectives:
1. To make it easier for instructors to get started building online courses by providing a template and a structure.
2. To provide materials and templates for information, such as netiquette, that are included in most/all online courses and that many instructors are re-inventing for their own courses; this will decrease the amount of work and reduce duplication of effort needed to build an online course.
3. To present a more consistent interface to online courses making it easier for students to move from one UNM-LA online course to another.
4. To help instructors get started on building courses that are compliant with the Quality Matters[1] rubric and similar rubrics which are becoming standards as evaluation criteria for the design of online courses. Meeting QM or QM-like standards is increasingly a criterion for offering an online course. These standards are also being adopted as an accreditation standard.
Regarding Quality Matters (QM):
1. This template, in combination with the course syllabus template, will fulfill several of the QM standards. It will also fulfill several of the new UNM online course standards which are based on QM.
2. This template does not, and cannot, address 100% of the QM standards. Those that it satisfies or helps to satisfy are identified in the tables below. Using the template will help your course to meet, or nearly meet, the QM standards that are listed in the tables below, especially those in QM Sections 1, 6.3, and 7. There are other QM standards regarding the design of the course and alignment of course elements that are not and cannot be addressed in the template. However, the template does provide some structural underpinnings for meeting these standards. Training is available that deals with these aspects of online course design.
What is the UNMLA Template? What does an instructor do with it?
The UNMLA Template itself is a course shell that was built in Learn. It embodies several elements of an online course, in a particular organization. The template file is stored in the UNMLA TemplateBox (see below). The instructor downloads the UNMLA Template from the TemplateBox and then imports it into a new course shell. After importing the template, the instructor then adds course materials to the template. Instructions for completing these steps are found below.
NOTE: This template is primarily designed for use in instructor-designed courses that run in Learn, not for courses that primarily or exclusively use publisher course packs or serve as a pass-thru to publisher sites. However, courses that use publisher materials still need to meet course quality standards, and the elements contained in this template and User Guide should be of use in achieving that goal.
1. Getting Started: Import the UNM-LA Online Course Template
BEFORE YOU BEGIN IMPORTING THE COURSE TEMPLATE:
You must have a Learn course shell, in which to build your course. You may obtain a course shell in one of two ways:
(a) Send an email to and request a Learn course development shell for your course. You will need to specify your course number, semester that you plan to teach it, and your UNM NetID. You may do this any time. You can copy everything that you do in your development shell into the “real” course after it becomes available.
(b) Use the Learn course shell that is set up for your online course automatically after registration opens for the semester in which that course will be taught, usually within 2-3 days. This is the “real” course shell from which you will deliver your course.
You need to have a working familiarity with Learn. At a minimum, you will need to know how to upload files into Learn, modify the course menu, add items and tools to a folder, and modify the text on items in a folder. You should know how to hide or unhide items and folders from students.
Import the UNM-LA Online Course Template into Learn
If you are very familiar with using Learn already, you can follow the simplified, brief instructions in Figure 1.1: Getting Started. More detailed instructions are given below, but these also refer to Figure 1.1. You may want to print out Figure 1.1 and refer to it as you go through the detailed instructions.
In this section you will
1. Obtain a copy of the UNM-LA Online Course Template (“the template”) and store it on your computer.
2. Import the template into your new Learn course shell.
3. Make a few changes to the course menu that couldn’t be included in the template.
In the instructions for importing the template, numbers in blue refer to steps in Figure 1.1: GETTING STARTED.
1. Download the Template to your PC
You will find the template in the UNMLA TemplateBox. The link to TemplateBox is http://tinyurl.com/Templatebox (or http://www.unm.edu/~itc/UNMLA/UNMLA_Template/UNMLA_Online_Course_Template_File_Access.htm). Click on this link or click on UNMLA TemplateBox in the course menu. When it opens, you will see a list of UNMLA folders. One will be called “Template Package.”
Click on Template Package
1.1. You will see only a single file, which begins with TemplatePackage and is followed by other letters and numbers. Its name ends in .zip
Click on the file that begins with TemplatePackage and ends in .zip, and then click on Download.
1.2. What you see next will depend on which browser you are using. Take the necessary steps to save this file on your computer in a location that you will remember, e.g., on your desktop. DO NOT OPEN THIS FILE. (You will not need to keep this file after you complete this section.)
2. Login to Learn
2.1. From your browser, login to Learn at http://learn.unm.edu using your NetID and password.
/ Figure 1.2: Brand new course shell screen2.2. Find your new course shell in the center column, and click on the course name. This will open the nearly empty course shell for your course. It should look like Figure 1.2.
2.3. Scroll to the bottom of the course menu, into the Course Management section, and
Click on Packages and Utilities
Click on Import Package / View Logs
3. Import the Template into your course
3.1. This will open a window called “Import Package / View Logs”. Find the red button called “Import Package” and click on it:
Click on
3.2. This will take you to the “Import Package” form. In this form, section 2 is called “Select a Package.” Here, you will specify the file you just downloaded, which begins with “TemplatePackage”.
Click on the “Browse My Computer” button.
3.3. This will bring up a form that allows you to navigate to where you saved TemplatePackage on your computer (e.g., Desktop), select that file, and complete the action in the form to upload the file. (What this looks like depends on your browser.) On the Import Package form, you will see a confirmation that the TemplatePackage file has been selected.
3.4. In Section 3 of the form, “Select Course Materials,” click on radio button “include starter posts,” click on the “Select All” button, and then click on the large red “Submit” button in Section 4:
Click on Select All and on radio button Include Starter Posts
Click on Submit.
3.5. WAIT. You will see a yellow or orange box with a confirmation that your package has been imported. IT IS LYING. DO NOT INTERACT WITH YOUR COURSE. It can take up to 30 minutes for the import process to complete.
WAIT. Wait until you receive an email in LoboMail (or forwarded from LoboMail) stating that the course import is complete. THEN click on the Home icon next to the name of your course. The home page should look similar to Figure 1.3.
4. The main things you will notice in the UNM-LA Template are that the Dashboard has been replaced with a Course Number-Course Title home page, with instructions in yellow, and that there are more items in the course menu.
Remove some items from the course menu.
4.1. To delete an item from the course menu, hover with the mouse pointer on the item, and then click on the little gray circle with a white “V” at the right of the item. This brings up a menu which will include the term “Delete.” Click on Delete to remove the item. You will be asked to confirm the deletion twice; yes, you want to delete the item. (These items are duplicated in other parts of the template; you have not lost them.)
Delete the following items from the top two sections of the course menu, as shown in Figure 1.4
/ Figure 1.4. Items to delete from the course menu.
Delete
-“Course Information ”
- “Instructor Tips ”
- “How to Use Learn”
- the 1st and 2nd horizontal divider bars, and
- “University Libraries.”
DO NOT DELETE “Create a Support Ticket”
1.1. When you have completed your deletions, the top section of the course menu should contain “Course Dashboard” and “Create a Support Ticket,” followed by a bolded label, Course Information, and additional menu items.
2. Rearrange the course menu
2.1. You will drag two items to other positions on the course menu. To do this, position the mouse pointer in the left side of the course menu, next to an item. You will see a 4-arrow cursor, similar to this: . Click and hold while you move the cursor up or down in the left margin (it must remain 4-arrow the whole time). This will drag the item to a new position. When it is in position, release the mouse button.
2.2. Drag Course Dashboard down from the top of the menu into the “Course Information” section of the course menu until it is just below “Announcements.”
2.3. Drag Create a Support Ticket down into the “Support and Resources” section of the course menu until it is below “Technical Support.”
2.4. When you have completed steps 5.2 and 5.3, the Course Information section of the course menu should look like Figure 1.5, and the Support and Resources section should look like Figure 1.6.
Figure 1.5. Course Information section of course menu. / Figure 1.6. Support and Resources section of course menu.Now you are ready to begin setting up your course. In Section 2, below, follow steps 1-8 in order.
2. Setting up Your Course
Overview of steps
Conventions used in the template
Examples using this template
Step 1: Examine the template
Step 2: Find and explore the UNMLA TemplateBox
Step 3: Decide on course organization, and folders vs learning modules
Step 4: Decide on course activities and tools
Step 5: Add your syllabus, schedule and welcome letter
Step 6: Course Orientation and Resources setup
Step 7: Set up Home Page and other Course Menu links
Step 8: Create course materials in Course Units
BEFORE YOU BEGIN SETTING UP YOUR COURSE:
It is assumed that you have completed the steps in described in Section 1: Getting Started. That is, you have:
o Obtained a Learn Course Shell
o Imported the UNM-LA Course Template into that course shell
o Made minor changes to that shell to move, hide, or remove a few of the basic template elements provided by UNM, as instructed.
If you have completed all of these steps (as detailed in 1. Getting Started), you are ready to begin using the template to build your own course.
Overview of steps for setting up your course. You will:
1. Log in to your course and look over the template to see what it contains.
2. Find the TemplateBox, which contains all of the template files.
3. Decide how you will organize your course and whether you will group course unit materials using folders or learning modules.
4. Decide what activities you plan to require of your students (e.g., discussions, assignments, tests, blog posts, wiki, use of an external publisher site, etc.), and plan the structure of your course on paper (or in your head).
5. Add your syllabus, schedule, and welcome letter to the course.
6. Work through Course Orientation and Resources and add/modify/delete items according to how you will use them in the course.
7. Set up (change, add, delete) other links in the Course Menu.
8. Create and upload your course materials, place them in course units, and add them to the Course Menu.
Conventions used in the template
As you look through the course template, you will notice that all items don’t look the same.
· A RED TITLE means that you need to look at the item and decide whether or not to use it, to modify it, or to delete it. Items with RED TITLES are hidden from students; if you edit the item, you will see that in “Standard Options,” “Permit Users to View This Content” is checked “No.” If you are going to use the item, you must select "Yes".
· Instructions for the instructor are highlighted in yellow. Most items containing highlighting are hidden from students. In a few items, you need to make the change/decision suggested in the highlighted material and then remove the highlighting or delete the highlighted text from the item.