Step 3: Add Activities
Standards addressed in this section include: Course Content, Communications & Interactivity, and Assessment & Evaluation.
Activities Menu Categories & Organization
The Template uses posts to publish dynamic content in the Activities section, including class outlines, announcements, discussions, assignments, surveys & quizzes. These are linked in the menu using preset menu category items and are displayed as category archives in reverse chronological order.
If you prefer the term Projects or if you require additional categories, such as Homework, feel free to edit or add additional child categories and associated menu items under Activities. Remember to limit your top-level menu navigation and keep content organized in logical sections using categories and page links.
A few introductory and example posts are included in the Course Template for adaptation. Depending on your approach you may wish to create posts for some or all of the following categories.
As with Course Info pages, remember to identify the unique areas of a post (those to be edited by faculty) using a highlight or similar. And include any additional instructional content in a gray box at the top of each post.
Class Meetings / Agendas
It is recommended that you provide a basic structure for each class meeting post with topics and links to relevant readings or references.
Suggested outline: Class 1 (Example)
Announcements
This category is defined to provide a place for announcements outside of regular class meeting posts. For example, if appropriate, you might provide a series of pre-made, universal announcements about Advisement, Student Clubs, Midterm or Final grades, or other relevant student information.
Example: Your City Tech Email
Assignments
The Assignments section is defined to provide assignment guidelines or instructions for students. Add a selection of fully developed, suggested Assignments to make it easier for faculty teaching the course for the first time.
- Suggested Outline: Assignment 1 (Example)
- Example Assignment: COMD1100 Project
If your Department utilizes a Course Hub, you may which to link out to the course Assignments on the Course Hub. You may choose to add links to the Course Hub or Course Hub Lessons under the Assignments section and also in each Class Meeting Agenda.
The example below demonstrates one way to add links to specific lessons in a Class Meeting Agenda:
- Link to Course Hub Lesson: MAT 1275CO
Class 1 Agenda links out to the MAT1275 Course Hub Lesson > Lesson 1.
Discussions
The Discussions category is defined to provide a place for post and comment discussions, created by the faculty or students. If particular readings or discussion topics would be helpful to prepare for other faculty teaching this course, consider creating prepared Discussion posts. These may be linked to a Class Meeting post in order to meet the class learning objectives and requirements for active participation.
When developing Discussion posts, include clear instructions for student participation. This might include a recommended comment format, number or length of comments, links for sources or visual references, attribution, responding to other student’s comments, posing related questions, and a deadline.
An introductory Discussion post is included in the Course Template. This is a helpful activity for the first class meeting to get students comfortable commenting and interacting on the Course Site.
Suggested Activity: Discussion: Introductions
Survey & Quizzes
This category is defined to provide a place for surveys and quizzes or other types of assessments.
The use of regular assessments, such as short quizzes at the end of a project or topic, is helpful to measure student engagement. Providing students with feedback or reflective learning surveys is also useful.
Example Grade Survey: COMD3504 Grade Survey
An introductory, anonymous Student Survey is provided to help you learn about your student’s ability to participate in the course. You may add questions about software or materials by editing the Form > Student Survey. Visit OpenLab Help to learn more about creating quizzes and surveys forms.
Suggested Survey: Onboarding Student Survey
