6.2. Developing Your Course Outline

As you develop your course, you work primarily in the edX Studio course outline. This section includes the following information about working with the course outline.

See the following sections for information about working with the course building blocks in the course outline.

6.2.1. Open the Course Outline

To view the course outline, follow these steps.

  1. Log in to edX Studio.

  2. In the My Courses page, select the course you want to develop.

    The course outline opens by default when you open a course.

When working in a course, to open the outline, from the Content menu, select Outline.

The first time you view an outline for a course, it contains no content.

An empty course outline.

You must create the first section.

6.2.2. Understanding a Course Outline in Studio

The following example shows a partial course outline in Studio, with indications for sections, subsections, and units. As you develop your course, it will begin to look like this example.

An outline with callouts for sections, subsections, and units.

As this example shows, the course is organized into the following levels.

  1. Sections
  2. Subsections
  3. Units

Components are not shown in the outline. You add or access components by selecting the units that contain them.

Use the links above for more information and instructions on working with each type of object in the course. The topics in the rest of this section provides more detail about the course outline.

6.2.3. View the Course Organization as a Learner

The content you see in the outline in Studio is displayed to learners in the Course page in the LMS. The following image shows how a learner sees your course content.

Course content from learner's point of view.
  1. Sections are listed in the course navigation pane. Learners select a section to see the subsections that it contains.

  2. Subsections are listed in the course navigation pane after a learner expands a section.

  3. Units appear in the unit navigation bar, represented by icons, after learners select a subsection. A tooltip with the unit’s name appears when learners move the pointer onto an icon.

    Learners select icons in the unit navigation bar to access course units. They can also use the Previous and Next options at either end of the unit navigation bar to move back to the previous unit or forward to the next unit.

6.2.5. Add Content in the Course Outline

You add sections, subsections, and units directly in the outline.

  • To add a section to the outline, select New Section. This option appears at both the top of the page and below the current sections in the outline. For more information, see Create a Section.

  • To add a subsection to the end of the section, expand the section and select New Subsection.

    The outline with the New Subsection button circled.
  • To add a unit to the end of a subsection, expand the subsection and select New Unit.

    The outline with the New Subsection button circled.

    The unit page opens.

Note

If you want to require an entrance exam for your course, you also create the exam in the course outline. Before you can create an exam, you must set your course to require an entrance exam in Studio. For more information, see Require an Entrance Exam.

6.2.6. Modify Settings for Objects in the Course Outline

You modify settings for sections, subsections, and units in the course outline. Specifically, you can complete the following tasks.

To modify settings for a section, subsection, or unit, select the Configure icon for that object. In the following example, the Configure icon is circled for a section, a subsection, and two units.

Configure icons in the course outline.

For more information, see the links above.

6.2.7. Publish Content from the Course Outline

You can publish new and changed units for an entire section or subsection. You can also publish individual units.

To publish new and changed units, select the Publish icon for a section, subsection, or unit. In the following example, the Publish icon is circled for a section, subsection, and unit.

Publishing icons in the course outline.

Note

The Publish icon only appears when there is new or changed content within the object.

For more information, see the following topics.

6.2.8. Reorganize the Course Outline

You can reorganize your course content by dragging and dropping sections, subsections, and units to new locations in the outline.

To move a section, subsection, or unit, move your cursor over the handle on the right of the object’s box until the cursor changes to a four-headed arrow. For example, in the image below, the handle for the subsection Lesson 1 - Getting Started is selected.

A subsection handle selected to drag it.

Then, click and drag the object to the location that you want.

If you expanded the section or subsection you are moving the object to, when you move the object, a blue line indicates where the object will land when you release the mouse button. For example, in the image below, the subsection Lesson 1 - Getting Started is being moved to the end of the section Introduction.

A subsection being dragged to a new section.

If you did not expand the section or subsection you are moving the object to, the outline of that section or subsection turns blue when you have moved the object to a valid location. You can then release the mouse button. For example, in the image below, the subsection Lesson 1 - Getting Started is being moved to the collapsed section Introduction.

A subsection being dragged to a new section.

Note

When you move a subsection to a different section, the release date and time for that subsection does not change.

6.2.9. Delete Content in the Course Outline

You delete sections, subsections, and units from the course outline.

Warning

You cannot restore course content after you delete it. To ensure you do not delete content you may need later, you can move any unused content to a section in your course that you set to never release.

Select the Delete icon in the box for the object you want to delete.

The outline with Delete icons circled.

You are prompted to confirm the deletion.

Note

When you delete an object, all objects that it contains are deleted. For example, when you delete a subsection, all units in that subsection are deleted.