Model Course Module part 2: Cloning a model course

Module: Getting started on the OpenLab with Math Model Courses
Part 1: Before you begin
Part 2: Cloning a model course
Part 3: Customizing your course
Part 4: Updating Posts
Part 5: Updating other elements of your course

Model Courses have been peer reviewed to meet recommended Distance Education and Continuity Best Practices and are considered an open education resource (OER) that lets others use, edit, and remix the material. You need an account on the OpenLab before you begin, and you should be logged in to your account (Join the OpenLab).

Note that an abbreviated version of the steps below, along with general information about Model Courses at the college, can be found in Working with Model Courses.

1: Select a model course from the list on the previous page and click on it (you may wish to right-click and open the link in a new tab, so you can continue to refer to these instructions).

2: In the model course, scroll down the page until you see the heading “Sharing” in the right hand sidebar (about halfway down the page). Click the link “Clone this Course” to start the cloning process.

3: Complete the page, titled “Create/Clone a Course, Step One: Create Profile and site” by filling in information as follows:

• Create New or Clone Existing? In this box, the second option “Clone an Existing Course” should already be selected, and “MAT XXXX Model Course” should appear in the box next to it. If so, leave this area alone.
• Course Name (required). Type in a name for your course. You can use any name you like but bear in mind that students will be using the name to identify your section – we suggest including the course number, section number, semester, year, and faculty name. For example “MAT1375 D011 Precalculus Fa2020 Reitz”
• Course Description (required). Replace the description (which is about the Model Course, and is aimed at faculty) with a description of the course you are teaching. You can use the description from Course Catalog if you wish.
• Sharing Settings. Click the box if you’d like other people to be able to clone your course, once you have created it.
• Faculty/Primary Faculty. You OpenLab name should already appear here, below the box. No need to make changes.
• School (required). The boxes for Arts & Sciences and Mathematics should already be checked. No need to make changes.
• Course Information. Fill in the Course Code, Section Code, Semester, and Year.
• Site Details. The checkbox “Set up a site” should already be checked. The option “Name your cloned site” should be selected.
• Name your cloned site: This can be a short version of your Course Name (above), but remove spaces and change to lowercase: “mat1375d011fa2020reitz”
• Scroll to the bottom of the page (past the copyright note) and click “Create Course and Continue”

4: Complete the next page, titled “Create/Clone a Course, Step Two: Privacy & Member Role Settings” by filling in information as follows:

• Privacy Settings: Course Profile. Use this box to choose privacy settings for your Course Profile (Public is selected by default).
• Privacy Settings: Course Site. Use this box to choose privacy settings for your Course Site (“Public/Allow search engines” is selected by default – this setting makes it easiest for students to find your site and for you to share work that you and your students are doing with the world.)
• Member Role Settings:
  • You will need to change first setting, “Course members have the following role on the Course site”, to “Author” (select “Author” from the dropdown).
  • The other two settings can be left alone.
• Scroll down and click “Next Step” to continue.

5: Complete the next page, titled “Create/Clone a Course, Step Three: Avatar” as follows:

• The avatar is a visual image that represents your course on the OpenLab. You can skip this step (or come back and make changes later), but we highly recommend changing your avatar to help students identify your section.
• Click “Choose File” to select an image from your hard drive, then “Upload Image”.
• After the image uploads, you will have a chance to “Crop”, or select a portion of the image to display. Drag the corners and edges of the box to change the selection, then click “Crop Image”.
• Click “Next Step” to continue

6: Complete the next page, titled “Create/Clone a Course, Step Four: Invite Members” as follows:

• If you wish, you can search for your students names and invite them to the course. Alternatively, when you are done setting up your course you can simply send your students an email with a link to your course (you will need to get their email addresses from CUNYFirst).
• Click “Finish” to continue.

Congratulations – you have cloned a model course! Right now, you are looking at the Course Profile page – you may not use this page much, unless you want to change any of the settings that you selected in the process above (to change the settings, click “Settings” in the menu on the right). Most of the action during the semester will be in the Course Site – you can reach the Course Site by clicking the link “Visit Course Site” on the right. Go and explore!