If you haven't already done so, it is recommended that you view the tutorial on how to create & modify course designs before reviewing this tutorial.
While this article covers most course builder features, it does not cover setting up automated communication plans. Please refer to this article for those instructions.
Update as of June 10, 2021: It is now possible to add images to courses using an integration with Unsplash. See below for more information.
Update as of September 14, 2021: Three new features have been added to the course builder. The Assignment Upload feature includes the ability to allow learners to submit completed assignments to Blanchard Exchange. The Post on Wall feature introduces an activity to allow learners to share files with other learners in their project/cohort. Lastly, the Selected Components feature allows you to set individual assignments as optional within activities. See below for details.
Course Builder Introduction
Review the video below as an introduction to the course builder. You'll get an overview of general features and navigation.
Course Builder Activities
The course builder's Activities section serves as the main experience of the course. The video below will show you how to structure your content and add new content.
Adding Images Using Unsplash
Unsplash is an image repository filled with user-submitted images that are free to use for commercial purposes, with no attribution required.
To add images from Unsplash, navigate to an activity in the course builder where the image will be added, followed by selecting the "+" icon on the page. Next:
- Select the "Image" option on the left.
- Select the "From Unsplash" tab.
- Use the search feature to find and locate images. Once you have identified an image, mouse over the image, and you'll see two icons appear:
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- The "square" icon will allow you to crop the image before adding to the activity.
- The "+" icon will allow you to add the image without modification.
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- Once the image is on the page/activity, you can modify the image further by hovering over the image with your mouse. The pencil icon will allow you to re-crop the image, while the square icon will allow you to adjust the image zoom level as well as image alignment. The icons for copying, deleting, and moving the images are also present.
Assignment Upload
The assignment upload feature allows course builders to add assignment submissions to courses. For example, learners may have an interactive PDF that must be completed as an assignment. The assignment upload feature makes it possible to have the learner upload their completed PDF into Blanchard Exchange. This can be a simple submission for the purposes of tracking completion, or can be configured to run through an evaluation process where the submitted content is reviewed by a facilitator or administrator before the assignment is considered complete.
To add the Assignment Upload feature to a course, enter the course builder, locate or add an activity, and select the "+" sign listed on the activity. On the left-hand side, select "Assignment Upload".
Figure 1
Once the assignment upload feature is listed on the page, you can insert both a title and a description (Figure 1-1 and Figure 1-2). Additionally, note the Evaluation check mark (Figure 1-3). Selecting this check mark enables the review process so that an administrator or instructor must review the file submission and grade it in order for the learner to achieve completion.
Once learners start submitting their assignments, the submissions can be reviewed under the Assessments tab of the project. Locate the assignment upload activity, and you'll see a series of stats indicating the number of submissions and their status. You can select any of the totals listed for additional information.
To review the submitted files, select the total for "All", "For Review" or "Reevaluate" (if applicable). One the participant list loads, select the check box(es) for the appropriate learners, followed by selecting the Download button (Figure 2-1). You'll be prompted to download a ZIP file containing the file submissions.
Figure 2
In addition, if you've using the evaluation feature, you can begin the grading process by selecting one or more users, followed by selecting the Evaluate button (Figure 2-2). Selecting one individual allows you to apply a unique evaluation, while selecting multiple users allows you to bulk evaluate using the same grading and optional comments.
On the evaluation screen, you have the following options in the drop-down menu:
- Not Started: Reset the assignment submission status for the learner(s)
- For Review: Applied once the learner has submitted their assignment.
- Reevaluate: Allows the assignment to be sent back to the learner, allowing them to submit a new file. This can be used if the assignment was not completed correctly and the learner should have an additional chance for submission.
- Not passed: Indicates that the learner did not pass the assignment.
- Passed: The learner successfully completed the assignment.
Additionally, a comments field is included to supply additional information to the learner(s) regarding the grading.
Post On Wall (Social File Sharing)
An activity can be added to the course builder allowing learners to share files with others in their project/cohort. For example, this could be an icebreaker activity where all learners share an image that they feel best-represents them.
Figure 3
Figure 4
To add this feature to a course, open the course builder, locate or add an activity, followed by selecting the "+" sign on the page. On the left-hand side, select the Post on Wall option. The feature can include both a title (Figure 3-1) as well as a description (Figure 3-2).
An example of how this activity appears on the Learner Portal can be seen under Figure 4.
Selected Components (Optional Assignments)
If you have an activity/page with multiple assignments, it is possible to mark specific assignments as optional. This allows to to provide one or more required assignments, while separately introducing supporting materials that are optional for the learner to download or complete.
To set specific assignments as optional, open the course builder, locate the activity, followed by mousing over the activity on the left-hand side. Select the "three dots", followed by selecting Settings:
Figure 5
- Change the "Completion Criteria" drop-down to Selected Components (Figure 5-1).
- All of the individual assignments on the activity will now be listed with a selected checkbox, indicating that the assignment is required.
- Locate the individual assignment(s) that should be marked optional, and select the checkbox to the left of the assignment(s) (Figure 5-2). The assignment(s) will no longer count towards both the activity completion as well as the course completion.
Course Builder Resources
Resources are generally optional or supporting materials that do not require completion. For details on adding resources, see the video below.