Course Builder
This article explains how to use the Course Builder tool.
This article covers the following topics:
Course Builder homepage
- Navigate to Course Admin in the navbar of the course.
- Click Course Builder under Site Resources.
3. The Course Builder is useful for designing your course, even if you haven’t created all activities yet. You can create modules and add content to these modules. It’s also possible to create empty items (placeholders) to design your course more precisely. The structure you build here can be found under Content, and everything you add under Content will appear in the Course Builder.
4. Using the Course Builder gives you a clear overview of your course structure.
5. The Course Builder has three sections. In the middle, you can find the tree structure of the course. This field is empty if you haven’t added anything yet. The grey block at the top of the tree structure shows the course name. Below this, you will find the modules and sub-modules.
6. Under Build Outline, you can create placeholders for modules, files, discussions, assignments, quizzes, and links.
7. Under Add Content, you can add content directly to the desired location in the course. You can add hyperlinks, files, discussions, assignments, quizzes, grade items, etc.
8. Previously created content can be selected and added via Browse Tools.
9. If you select a component of the tree structure, you will find the settings for this component in the menu on the right (published or not).
Hover over the different icons in the menu on the left for more information about their functionalities.
Tree structure
The tree structure in the middle column shows the structure of the course.
The plus and minus signs in each section show the underlying structure.
- The grey sections are modules and sub-modules, the blue sections are topics within the (sub)modules.
- The light blue sections with a dotted line are Placeholders (in the example above ‘Discussion on reading week 1’). If the section is dark blue with a solid line, it means content has already been added (in the example above ‘Group assignment’). If a section shows ‘Draft’, it means the section is set to hidden.
- Click the arrow next to a (sub)module, a content section, or a Placeholder:
- Select the section (Select)
- Cut or copy (Cut or Copy Placeholder) the selection before you can paste (Paste) it elsewhere in the (sub)module.
- Move the section within the (sub)module (Move Up, Move Down) or select Move To. You can also move a section by clicking it and then dragging it to the desired location.
- Remove the section by clicking Remove.
Build Outline
You can easily create the structure of a course (via Build Outline) without filling it with content. It’s important to know how you want to structure the course before you start.
The advantage of creating an empty structure with placeholders is that you can set up one module and then copy it for other purposes.
Example: you want to divide a course over weeks, where the modules of each week have the same topics: literature, quizzes, discussion forum, and assignments.
Select one of the icons to add modules, links, files, discussions, assignments, or quizzes. This adds placeholders to the tree structure, resulting in a structure without content. When you click an icon, you can choose under which (sub)module you want to place this item. You can also drag placeholders to the desired spot in the tree structure.
When you create a placeholder, you can give it a name and description. Then click Create. Note: Brightspace automatically assigns a title and description based on what you can do with an activity.
Placeholders are not visible in Content as long as they contain no content.
Add content
You can click the icons to create a new hyperlink, HTML file, discussion, submission folder, quiz, or Grade Item. You can also drag the icon to the desired spot in the structure. When you select an icon, you must first choose where in the structure you want to add it. Then you are directed to the screen where you can change settings. In the articles about Content, you can read how to add documents and activities:
Under Add Content, you can create new content and then add content to a (sub)module or Placeholder.
Content
You can add content to a Placeholder by dragging an icon when the icon and placeholder match. Or click the placeholder and select “New [tooltype]” in the column on the right.
It is easier to create content via Tools and then add it to the Course Builder. This offers more options regarding restrictions and grading.
Browse Tools
You can add previously created files via Browse Tools.
- Select the arrow related to the correct content type.
- Click the arrow to see the details of the item.
- Select the desired item and click Add to Course to add it to the tree structure. Then select where you want to add the item.
- From left to right, the icons will:
- Create a new document or activity. Note that with Course Files there is an extra icon that allows you to download files from your computer.
- Reload the page (for example, if you created a new document in another screen and it is not yet visible).
- Open manage Files to open the file overview.
- Click Browse Tools to return to the browse tool overview.
You can find all files previously used under Course Files. If you have a more extensive file structure, there may be different ways to find the desired document.
If you use Safari as a browser, it is possible that certain items (such as Submissions) cannot be opened due to browser settings.
Information column
On the right side of the screen, you will find an information column with details of the (sub)modules or the selected tree structure.
- Click Edit Notes to add or edit notes. These notes are not visible to students, but can be used for your own purposes. They can only be read and changed in the Course Builder.
- Select Edit [tooltype] to modify the module or item. Note: there are limited options. It is easier to change the component itself.
- Change the status of the item from Published to Draft (or vice versa).