Course Organization

When teaching remotely, course site organization is crucial. Content should be organized in a way that matches with your delivery method and that allows students to easily find the information they need. Consider organizing your content into small, self-contained sections that facilitate students’ movement through the course.

Organize your Course

Start by simplifying the structure of your course. One of the biggest impacts you can make is also the simplest. Consider each link your student sees and ask yourself if your students need all these links, or will they just add confusion? Students shouldn’t be confused when it comes to finding what they need; there should be a clear and linear path through the material.

Consider simplicity and consistency when organizing your course so students know what to expect week to week, or module to module. Students will appreciate a repetitive structure and will spend less time asking administrative questions like “When is this due?” or “Where can I find this reading?"

Consider importing OpenEd's Remote Learning - Start Here module (located in the Tools section below) into your CourseLink course site. This module will orient students who are learning remotely to the CourseLink environment as well as introduce them to some unique attributes of online remote learning and strategies that can help them succeed in their courses. An Import/Export/Copy Components for Instructors video can be found in the Resources section below.

Additional Resources

Tools
	Remote Learning - Start Here module (zip) CourseLink Content Tool CourseLink Course Creation Tool Daylight HTML Template - Brightspace
Use Cases
	Use a standardized course template. By registering into our pre-structured course template site you will be granted instructor-copy permissions. This will let you copy the layout into your own course as a starting point, and let you modify it to fit your needs. Please note that you will need to log into CourseLink before accessing the template. For your convenience, the Remote Learning - Start Here module has already been imported into the standard course template. Organize content by week and type. Create modules for each week of content and activities so that students can easily find the information they are looking for. A week-by-week organization also allows you to take advantage of module descriptions to give students an overview of their learning path for the week. Selectively release content to students to structure their learning pathway. There may be instances where you want students to complete certain content before moving onto the next section. This guidance can be created by harnessing Release Conditions within CourseLink.
Resources
	Import/Export/Copy Components for Instructors (Brightspace video) Using CourseLink Release Conditions Import and Apply HTML Templates to Content (Brightspace video) Enable HTML templates in Content (Brightspace Community) Apply an HTML template to a new document in Content (Brightspace Community)

Interactive Content

As technology grows and develops, instructors are gaining more and more ways to successfully engage their students. Interactive learning content—such as SCORM e-learning content, videos, online quizzes, infographics and forum discussions—can be an excellent way to increase the depth of learning and provide students with a method for approaching independent practice.

H5P is a free and open-source content collaboration framework based on JavaScript. H5P is an abbreviation for HTML5 Package and aims to make it easy for everyone to create, share and reuse interactive HTML5 content. Interactive videos, interactive presentations, quizzes, interactive timelines and more have been developed and shared using H5P.

Additional Resources

Tools
	H5P CourseLink Video Assignments Microsoft Stream Microsoft Forms
Use Cases
	Embedded quizzing within lecture video: Embedded quizzing allows students to check their own understanding as they watch an asynchronous lecture. If you’re hosting your lecture on Microsoft Stream, you can add surveys, polls, or quizzes from Microsoft Forms throughout your video. Improve engagement: Add interactive pieces from H5P into your content pages.
Resources
	Add a survey, poll, or quiz to a Microsoft Stream Video eCampus Ontario H5P Studio - Getting Started eCampus Ontario H5P Studio Catalogue Video Assignments - Interactive Video Overview Video Assignments - Set Up Interactive Video

Copyright & Intellectual Property

When adding materials to your course site that are not created by you, be mindful of University policies surrounding copyright, intellectual property and fair use. All universities and libraries in Canada are required to comply with Canadian copyright law, and with the international copyright conventions.

Additional Resources

Tools
	Fair Dealing Tool (Use this tool to guide you when assessing whether the fair dealing exception might apply to you.)
Resources
	Copyright - University of Guelph Library Creative Commons License