The system comes installed with course categories. By default, they are:
- Online. This category is meant to include asynchronous (self-paced) courses that do not require an instructor. They generally include videos, reading material and asynchronous assignments, but no face-to-face nor video conferencing activities.
- Classroom. This category is meant to include synchronous (instructor-led) courses. They generally include a face-to-face activity and in some cases, video conferencing.
- Blended. This category is meant to include blended courses - a term used for courses that contain both synchronous and asynchronous learning activities.
- Templates. This category is meant to include templates that can be used by the Course Creator to create new courses. Rather than creating a course from scratch each time, the Course Creator can duplicate a template, which results in a pre-configured set of activities and resources in the course.
As a Course Creator, you can create, modify, archive, delete, and re-order these categories. You can also create sub-categories.
Step-by-step Guide
To create a new category of courses:
- Go to Site Administration > Courses > Add a category
- Specify the parent category for the new category you are about to create
- Give the new category a name
- Optionally give the category and ID Number and Description
- Click on the "Create category" button at the bottom of the page
To modify a category:
- Go to Site Administration > Courses > Manage Courses and Categories
- Click on the "Actions" icon (cogwheel) next to the category in question and select "Edit"
- Make the appropriate changes
- Click on the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page
- There are general 4 icons next to each category as per the screenshot above:
- The eye icon allows you to hide / show categories
- The up arrow allows you to move a category up in the list
- The down arrow allows you to move a category down in the list
- The cogwheel allows you to edit a category. When editing a category, you can change its parent category, as well as its name, id number, and description,
- If you need to delete the category, you can click on the "Actions menu" icon next to the category in question (e.g. the cogwheel icon) and click on "Delete")
- If you hide a category, all courses within that category are automatically hidden as well and will not be available to your learners.
- If you add a category with courses in it, the category it will automatically appear in the course catalogue. (If the category exists but has no visible courses in it, then it will not appear until at least one (1) course becomes available.)