Building and Running an Open edX Course¶

edX Learning Management System¶

The following table shows operating system and browser support for the edX Learning Management System, which students and course staff use to interact with course content.

edX Studio¶

The following table shows operating system and browser support for edX Studio, which staff use to build a course.

edX Insights¶

The following table shows operating system and browser support for edX Insights, which staff use to review and download data about their courses and students.

Overview¶

This chapter describes the tools you use to build an edX course, and how to create your first course:

• What is Studio?
• Create Your First Course

What is Studio?¶

Studio is the edX tool you use to build your courses.

You use Studio to create course content, problems, videos, and other resources for students.

With Studio, you can also manage your schedule and course team, set grading policies, publish your course, and more.

You use Studio directly through your browser. You do not need any additional software.

Create Your First Course¶

When you receive notice that you can create courses, log in to Studio.

You see the following page, which is your My Courses dashboard:

1. Click Create Your First Course.
2. Enter course information as needed and click Create.

Note

Enter new course information carefully. This information becomes part of the URL for your course. Because this information becomes part of your course URL, the total number of characters in the following three fields must be 65 or fewer.

• For Course Name, enter the title of your course. For example, the name may be “Sets, Maps and Symmetry Groups”. Use title capitalization for the course title.
• For Organization, enter the name of your institution. Do not include whitespace or special characters.
• For Course Number, enter both a subject abbreviation and a number. For example, for public health course number 207, enter PH207. For math course 101x, enter Math101x. Do not include whitespace or special characters in the course number.

3. Click Save.

Your new course opens to the Course Outline page. Because you haven’t created any content yet, this page is empty.

In your browser’s address bar, notice that the URL of your course includes the course organization, number, and course run.

The rest of this documentation describes how you now build and run your course.

Supporting Learners with Diverse Needs¶

Almost one-fifth of the world’s population has some kind of disability. Online courses can reduce many barriers to education for these learners by providing access to courses from any location, at any time, and through the use of assistive technologies.

EdX is dedicated to creating a platform that is not only itself accessible, but also enables course creators to create accessible content. If you encounter platform issues that you believe may affect your ability to provide accessible course content, please contact us at accessibility@edx.org. We also welcome your comments and questions.

In the following sections, we outline guidelines for creating and delivering course content that allows students to use built-in accessibility functionality (such as magnification and zoom features), assistive technologies, and alternative formats. These practices consider learners such as the following:

• Blind learners who use a screen reader, which reads page text aloud, or a Braille display device, which renders page text in Braille.
• Low-vision learners who use screen magnification software to enlarge text and other onscreen content.
• Learners with vision impairments, such as difficulty seeing in low-light conditions, who modify their browser or operating system to change background colors and text settings to make text easier to read.
• Learners with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, who use text-to-speech technology that reads page content aloud.
• Physically disabled learners who use switching devices, voice recognition software, or eye-gaze activated technology instead of a standard mouse or keyboard to control their computer.
• Learners who modify their operating system settings to make the mouse or keyboard easier to use.
• Learners with hearing impairments who cannot access audio content and need the equivalent information in an alternative format, such as captions or a transcript.

We highly recommend that you implement the best practices shared with you in this document and other widely available resources (some of which are referred to herein). As mentioned above, if you cannot easily address these barriers, we recommend that you consult with any disability-related resources at your institution (Disability Services, Assistive Technology, or Accessibility). While your ability to support students in the MOOC context may be different from supporting on-campus students, we encourage you to develop a plan to respond to students who inform you of accessibility barriers to learning. However, given the large numbers of learners enrolling in many of the courses, you will quickly see how important it is to address accessibility concerns when creating a course.

Accessibility Best Practices¶

• Best Practices for Universal Design for Learning
• Best Practices for Readability
• Best Practices for Accessible PDFs
• Best Practices for Custom Content Types
• Best Practices for Describing Images
• Best Practices for Accessible Media
• Best Practices for HTML Markup

Conclusion¶

At edX, the heart of our mission is to provide global access to higher-level learning with only a computer and the Internet. We have designed a platform that enables course creators to reach thousands of learners, some of whom will lack the typical backgrounds and resources of resident students taking traditional courses on college campuses. We hope that these guidelines prove useful to you as you work with your institution’s disability support services and information technology resources to comply with applicable accessibility laws. As we are all on this learning venture together, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us at accessibility@edx.org.

A¶

A/B Test

See Content Experiment.

About Page

The course page that provides potential students with a course summary, prerequisites, a course video and image, and important dates.

See Providing a Course Overview for more information.

Advanced Editor

An XML-only editor in a Problem component that allows you to can create and edit any type of problem. For more information, see The Advanced Editor.

Assignment Type

The category of graded student work, such as homework, exams, and exercises.

For more information, see Establishing a Grading Policy.

C¶

Certificate

A document issued to an enrolled student who successfully completes a course. Not all edX courses offer certificates, and not all students enroll as certificate candidates.

Checkbox Problem

A problem that prompts the student to select one or more options from a list of possible answers. For more information, see Checkbox Problem.

Chemical Equation Response Problem

A problem that allows the student to enter chemical equations as answers. For more information, see Chemical Equation Problem.

Circuit Schematic Builder Problem

A problem that allows the student to construct a schematic answer (such as an electronics circuit) on an interactive grid.

See Circuit Schematic Builder Problem for more information.

Cohort

A group of students who participate in a class together. Students who are in the same cohort group can communicate and share experiences in private discussions.

Cohorts are an optional feature of courses on the edX platform. For information about how you enable the cohort feature, set up cohort groups, and assign students to them, see Using Cohorts in your Courses.

Component

The part of a unit that contains your actual course content. A unit can contain one or more components. For more information, see Developing Course Components.

Content Experiment

You can define alternative course content to be delivered to different, randomly assigned groups of students. Also known as A/B or split testing, you use content experiments to compare the performance of students who have been exposed to different versions of the content. For more information, see Creating Content Experiments.

Content-Specific Discussion Topic

A category within the course discussion that appears at a defined point in the course to encourage questions and conversations. To add a content-specific discussion topic to your course, you add a discussion component to a unit. Students cannot contribute to a content-specific discussion topic until the release date of the section that contains it.

For more information, see Working with Discussion Components and Creating Discussion Topics for Your Course.

Course Accordion

The left-hand navigation bar in the courseware that shows the sections and subsections for a course. The word “accordion” is intended to evoke the folding and unfolding of an accordion, because when you click a section, the section expands to show subsections.

Course Catalog

The page that lists all courses offered in the edX learning management system.

Course Handouts

Course handouts are files you make available to students in the Course Info page.

See Add Course Handouts for more information.

Course Info Page

The page that opens first every time students access your course. You can post announcements on the Course Info page. The Course Handouts sidebar appears in the right pane of this page.

Course Run

The term in which your course takes place. You set the course run when you create your course. For more information, see Create a New Course.

Courseware

The page where students access the primary instructional materials for your course. Sections, subsections, units, and components are all accessed from the Courseware page.

Course-Wide Discussion Topic

Optional categories that you create to guide how students find and share information in the course discussion. Examples of course-wide discussion topics include Announcements and Frequently Asked Questions. Students can contribute to these topics as soon as your course starts.

For more information, see Creating Discussion Topics for Your Course.

Custom Response Problem

A custom response problem evaluates text responses from students using an embedded Python script. These problems are also called “write-your-own-grader” problems. For more information, see Write-Your-Own-Grader Problem.

D¶

Data Czar

A data czar is the single representative at a partner institution who is responsible for receiving course data from edX, and transferring it securely to researchers and other interested parties after it is received.

See the edX Research Guide.

Discussion

The set of topics defined to promote course-wide or unit-specific dialog. Students use the discussion topics to communicate with each other and the course staff in threaded excahnges.

See Managing Course Discussions for more information.

Discussion Component

Discussion topics that course staff add directly to units. For example, a Video component can be followed by a Discussion component so that students can discuss the video content without having to leave the page. When you add a dicussion component to a unit, you create a content-specific discussion topic.

See Working with Discussion Components for more information.

Dropdown Problem

A problem that asks students to choose from a collection of answer options, presented as a drop-down list. For more information, see Dropdown Problem.

E¶

edX101

edX’s online course about how to create online courses. The intended audience is faculty and university administrators. It is also the first course ever to have been developed entirely using edX Studio.

edX Edge

A less restricted site than edX.org. While only consortium members can create and post content on edX.org, any users with course creator permissions can create courses with Studio on studio.edge.edx.org, then view the courses on the learning management system at edge.edx.org.

edX Studio

The edX tool you use to build your courses.

See What is Studio? for more information.

Exercises

Practice or practical problems interspersed in edX course content to keep the learner engaged. Exercises are also an important measure of teaching effectiveness and learner comprehension.

F¶

Forum

See Discussion.

G¶

Grade Range

Thresholds that specify how numerical scores are associated with grades, and the score required to pass a course.

See Set the Grade Range for more information.

Grading Rubric

List of the items that a student’s response should cover in an open response assessment.

See Rubric for more information.

H¶

HTML Component

The component where you add and format text for your course. An HTML component can contain text, lists, links and images.

See Working with HTML Components for more information.

I¶

Image Mapped Input Problem

A problem that presents an image and accepts clicks on the image as an answer.

See Image Mapped Input Problem for more information.

Import

A tool in edX Studio that loads a new course into your existing course. When you use the Import tool, Studio replaces all of your existing course content with the content from the imported course.

See Import a Course for more information.

L¶

LaTeX

A document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program.

In edX Studio, you can Import LaTeX Code into an HTML Component.

You can also create a Problem Written in LaTeX.

Learning Management System (LMS)

The platform that students use to view courses, and that course staff members use to manage enrollment and staff privileges, moderate dicussions, and access data while the course is running.

Live Mode

A view that allows course staff to review all public units as students see them, regardless of the release dates of the section and subsection that contain the units.

See View Your Live Course for more information.

M¶

Math Expression Input Problem

A problem that requires students to enter a mathematical expression as text, such as e=m*c^2.

See Math Response Formatting for Students for more information.

MathJax

A LaTeX-like language you use to write equations. Studio uses MathJax to render text input such as x^2 and sqrt(x^2-4) as “beautiful math.”

See A Brief Introduction to MathJax in Studio for more information.

Multiple Choice Problem

A problem that asks students to select one answer from a list of options.

See Multiple Choice Problem for more information.

N¶

Numerical Input Problem

A problem that asks students to enter numbers or specific and relatively simple mathematical expressions.

See Numerical Input for more information.

P¶

Pages

Pages organize course materials into categories that students select in the learning management system. Pages provide access to the courseware and to tools and uploaded files that supplement the course. Each page appears in your course’s navigation bar.

See Adding Pages to a Course for more information.

Preview Mode

A view that allows you to see all the units of your course as students see them, regardless of the unit status and regardless of whether the release dates have passed.

See Preview Course Content for more information.

Problem Component

A component that allows you to add interactive, automatically graded exercises to your course content. You can create many different types of problems.

See Working with Problem Components for more information.

Progress Page

The page in the learning management system that shows students their scores on graded assignments in the course.

Q¶

Question

A question is a type of contribution that you can make to a course discussion topic to surface an issue that the course staff or other students can resolve.

See Managing Course Discussions for more information.

R¶

Rubric

List of the items that a student’s response should cover in an open response assessment.

See Rubric for more information.

S¶

Section

The topmost category in your course. A section can represent a time period in your course or another organizing principle.

See Developing Course Sections for more information.

Short Course Description

The description of your course that appears on the edX Course List page.

See Describe Your Course for more information.

Simple Editor

The graphical user interface in a Problem component that contains formatting buttons and is available for some problem types. For more information, see The Studio View of a Problem.

Split Test

See Content Experiment.

Subsection

A division that represents a topic in your course, or another organizing principle. Subsections are found inside sections and contain units. Subsections can also be called “lessons.”

See Developing Course Subsections for more information.

T¶

Text Input Problem

A problem that asks the student to enter a line of text, which is then checked against a specified expected answer.

See Text Input Problem for more information.

Transcript

A printed version of the content of a video. You can make video transcripts available to students.

See Working with Video Components for more information.

V¶

Video Component

A component that you can use to add recorded videos to your course.

See Working with Video Components for more information.

W¶

Wiki

The page in each edX course that allows students as well as course staff to add, modify, or delete content.

Students can use the wiki to share links, notes, and other helpful information with each other.

XYZ¶

XBlock

EdX’s component architecture for writing courseware components.

Third parties can create components as web applications that can run within the edX learning management system.

Overview¶

This chapter describes how to create and set up your course:

• Create a New Course
• Edit Your Course
• Use the Course Checklist
• Add Course Team Members

Another way to create a course is to re-run an existing course. See Re-running a Course.

You can also Export a Course and Import a Course through Studio. You can do this when you need to edit the course in XML.

Create a New Course¶

1. Log in to Studio.
2. Click New Course.
3. Enter course information as needed and click Create.

Note

Enter new course information carefully. This information becomes part of the URL for your course. To change the URL after the course is created, you must contact edX through the Help site (http://help.edge.edx.org). Additionally, because this information becomes part of your course URL, the total number of characters in the following four fields must be 65 or fewer.

• For Course Name, enter the title of your course. For example, the name may be “Sets, Maps, and Symmetry Groups”. Use title capitalization for the course title.
• For Organization, enter the identifier for your university. For example, enter HarvardX or MITx. Do not include spaces or special characters.

4. Click Save.

The page refreshes to show the empty Outline for your new course. The course identifier appears in the browser address bar as the final part of the URL in the format {key type}:{org}+{course}+{run}. For example, course-v1:edX+DemoX+Demo_2014.

Note

This course ID format applies to all courses created after January 14, 2015. Older courses can have course IDs in the format {org}/{course}/{run}. For example, MITx/6.002x/2012_Fall.

Edit Your Course¶

After you create a course, the course opens in Studio automatically and you can begin editing.

When you return to Studio later, the Studio My Courses dashboard page lists the courses that you create along with any courses for which you have course staff privileges.

To open a course, click the course name. The Studio Course Outline page appears.

Use the Course Checklist¶

You can use a Course Checklist within Studio to help you work through the tasks of building a course.

Categories of tasks in the Course Checklist include:

• Getting Started with Studio
• Draft a Rough Course Outline
• Explore edX’s Support Tools
• Draft Your Course About Page

From the Tools menu, select Checklists.

As shown above for the Add Course Team Members task, if you hover over a task, a button is displayed that takes you to the page to complete that task.

You can expand and collapse sections of this page as needed.

You can check tasks as you complete them. Studio saves your changes automatically. Other course staff can see your changes.

Add Course Team Members¶

Course team members are users who help you build your course.

Only a team member with Admin access can add or remove course team members, or grant Admin access to other team members.

Other course team members can edit the course and perform all tasks except adding and removing other new team members and granting Admin access.

All course team members must be registered with Studio and have an active account.

To add a course team member:

1. Ensure you have Admin access.
2. Ensure that the new team member has registered with Studio.
3. From the Settings menu, select Course Team.
4. Click Add a New Team Member.
5. Enter the new team member’s email address, then click ADD USER.

You can also assign privileged roles to users when you work in the LMS. Regardless of where the role is assigned, these administrative team members can work on your course in both the LMS and in Studio. For more information on assigning roles while you run your course, see Staffing.

Overview¶

Prospective students need to know specific information about your course, including what the course covers, how much time they should plan to spend on the course each week, and whether the course requires any prior skills and knowledge. You specify all of this information in Studio.

For more information, see the following topics:

• Describe Your Course
• Add a Course Image
• Add a Course Introduction Video
• Set Course Time Requirements
• Set Course Prerequisites
• Set Important Dates for Your Course

Most of this information appears on the course About page, sometimes called the course summary page. The following image shows a typical About page.

Students see the course About page before they enroll in the course. After a student enrolls in the course, students can see information about your course on the Student Dashboard.

Describe Your Course¶

You describe your course in a course overview. The overview contains important information for students who may be interested in taking your course. It introduces the main idea of the course and describes the topics or concepts that the course covers. The overview can also describe the skills and knowledge your students need to be able to succeed in your course, as well as provide information about course requirements and staff.

The course overview is outlined in the following course About page.

You use HTML to enter the course overview in Studio. The Course Overview field in Studio contains a boilerplate that includes placeholders.

To enter the course overview, follow these steps.

1. From the Settings menu, select Schedule & Details.
2. Scroll down to the Introducing Your Course section, then locate the Course Overview field.

3. Replace the placeholders in the boilerplate text to create your course overview. Studio automatically saves your changes.

   Note

   Do not edit HTML tags in the boilerplate. These tags align the content on the course About page.

4. Below the Course Overview field, click your course summary page to see how the description will appear to students. A sample About page opens in a new window.

   When you make changes, note that you may have to wait a moment for the content to auto-save before the changes appear on the page.

Add a Course Image¶

You provide a course image that identifies your course. The course image that you add in Studio appears on the student dashboard. On Edge, the course image also appears on the course About page.

The course image must be a minimum of 660 pixels in width by 240 pixels in height, and in .jpg or .png format.

To add a course image, follow these steps.

1. From the Settings menu, select Schedule & Details.
2. Scroll down to the Course Image section.
3. To select an image from your computer, click Upload Course Image, then follow the prompts to find and upload your image.
4. View your dashboard to see how the image will appear to students.

Add a Course Introduction Video¶

To excite and entice potential students to enroll, each course can have a course introduction video. The video should reveal some of the personality the instructors bring to the course.

The video should answer these key questions.

• Who is teaching the course?
• What university or college is the course affiliated with?
• What topics and concepts does your course cover?
• Why should a learner enroll in your course?

The video should deliver your message as concisely as possible and have a run time of less than 2 minutes.

Ensure your course introduction video follows the same Compression Specifications and Video Formats guidelines as course content videos.

To add a course introduction video:

1. Upload the course video to YouTube. Make note of the code that appears between watch?v = and &feature in the URL. This code appears in the box below.

2. From the Settings menu, select Schedule & Details.
3. Scroll down to the Course Introduction Video section.
4. In the field below the video box, enter the YouTube video ID (the code you copied in step 1). When you add the code, the video automatically loads in the video box. Studio automatically saves your changes.

Set Course Time Requirements¶

To specify the number of hours that you expect students to spend on the course each week, follow these steps.

1. From the Settings menu, select Schedule & Details.
2. Scroll down to the Requirements section.
3. In the Hours of Effort per Week field, enter the number of hours you expect students to work on this course each week.
4. View your course About page to see how the requirements will appear to students.

Set Course Prerequisites¶

You might want to make sure that your students have a specific set of skills and knowledge before they take your course. In addition to suggesting general requirements in your course overview, you can require students to complete specific prerequisite courses, or take an entrance exam, or both.

Specify Prerequisite Courses¶

You can require that your students pass a particular edX course before they enroll in your course. Students see information about course prerequisites on the course About page.

If students have not completed the prerequisite course, they can enroll in your course and then see your course on the Student Dashboard. However, unlike with other courses, the Student Dashboard does not provide a link to the courseware. The Student Dashboard includes a link to the About page for the prerequisite course. Students can enroll in the prerequisite course from the About page.

To specify a prerequisite course, you must be a course author in both the current course and in the prerequisite course.

1. In Studio, open your course.
2. On the Settings menu, select Schedule & Details.
3. On the Schedule & Details page, scroll to the Requirements section.
4. Under Prerequisite Course, click the drop-down list to select a course.
5. At the bottom of the page, select Save Changes.

Note

Currently, you can specify only one prerequisite course.

Require an Entrance Exam¶

You can require your students to pass an entrance exam before they access your course materials. If you include an entrance exam, students who enroll in your course see only the Course Updates & News page and an Entrance Exam tab until they pass the exam.

After students pass the exam, they can access all released materials in your course.

To require an entrance exam, follow these steps.

1. In Studio, open your course.
2. On the Settings menu, select Schedule & Details.
3. On the Schedule & Details page, scroll to the Requirements section.
4. Select the Require students to pass an exam before accessing course materials check box.
5. At the bottom of the page, select Save Changes.

After you save your changes, Studio automatically creates an Entrance Exam section in your course outline. To add content to your entrance exam, go to the course outline.

Best Practices for Entrance Exams¶

We strongly recommend that you follow several guidelines to help you and your students have a positive experience with entrance exams.

• Make sure that your beta testers include the entrance exam when they test your other course content.

• Make sure that you mention the entrance exam in the course description on your course About page. Otherwise, students will not know about the entrance exam before they enroll in your course and try to access course content.

• Add an anouncement at the top of the Course Updates & News page that contains information and instructions for students who need to take the exam. When students first try to access content in a course that has an entrance exam, they see the Course Updates & News page. We suggest that you include the following information.

  • To begin the course entrance exam, students click the Entrance Exam tab on the left side of the screen.

  • After students complete the entrance exam, they have to click the Entrance Exam tab again or refresh the page in their browser. When the page refreshes, students can see all currently available course content.

    

Create an Entrance Exam from the Course Outline¶

You create your course entrance exam from the course outline in Studio. Creating entrance exam content is just like creating other course content. For more information, see Creating Course Content.

Adjust Scores in the Entrance Exam¶

If you find an error in the exam after students have taken it, and corrections to the exam are unavoidable, you have several options to rescore the exam for individual students. These options are available on the Instructor Dashboard.

On the Instructor Dashboard, click Student Admin, and then scroll to the Entrance Exam Grade Adjustment section. The following options are available.

• Reset Student Attempts: Reset the value for one particular student’s attempts back to zero so that the student can begin work over again. For more information, see Reset Student Attempts for a Problem.
• Rescore Student Submission: Rescore the responses that a student has submitted. For more information, see Rescore Student Submissions for a Problem.
• Delete Student State for Problem: Delete a student’s entire history for the exam from the database. For more information, see Delete Student State for a Problem.

Another option on the Instructor Dashboard is Show Background Task History for Student. If you reset student attempts, rescore student submissions, or delete student state, the operation runs in the background. If you want to see a record of all the operations that have run for the entrance exam, select Show Background Task History for Student.

Set Important Dates for Your Course¶

You must set dates and times for enrollment and for the course.

1. In Studio, from the Settings menu, select Schedule and Details.

2. Follow the on-screen text to enter the course and enrollment schedule.

   

The Course Start Date¶

Note

The default course start date is set far into the future, to 01/01/2030. This is to ensure that your course does not start before you intend it to. You must change the course start date to the date you want students to begin using the course.

Students see the course start date and time on their Current Courses dashboards and on the course About page. Students can see some parts of the course before the course start date. For example, students can see your Course Info page and course-wide discussion topics as soon as they enroll in your course. For more information about course-wide discussion topics, see Create Course-Wide Discussion Topics.

The following example shows the course start date and time on the course About page:

In the dashboard, students see the start dates and times for each of their courses, as in the following examples.

Note

If you do not specify a start time for your course, students see the default start time, 00:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Set the Advertised Start Date¶

You can set an advertised start date for your course that is different than the course start date you set in the Schedule and Details page. You may want to do this if there is uncertainty about the exact start date. For example, you could advertise the start date as Spring, 2014.

To set an advertised start date:

1. From the Settings menu, select Advanced Settings.
2. Find the Course Advertised Start Date policy key. The default value is null.
3. Enter the value you want to display as the advertised start date. You can use any string, enclosed in double quotation marks. If you format the string as a date (for example, as 02/01/2014), the value is parsed and presented to students as a date.

4. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

The start date shown on the dashboard is now the value of the Course Advertised Start Date policy key:

If you do not change the default course start date (01/01/2030), and the Course Advertised Start Date policy value is null, then the student dashboard does not list a start date for the course. Students just see that the course has not yet started.

Overview¶

You can manage your uploaded course files on the Files and Uploads page under the Content menu in Studio.

• Upload a File
• Use File URLs to Reference Uploaded Files
• Sort Files
• Filter Files
• Find Files
• Lock a File
• Delete a File

Upload a File¶

You can upload files that you want students to access in the course. After you upload a file, you can link to it from a component, from a course update, or in the course handouts, using the generated URLs on the Files and Uploads page. Students can see a file only if you create a link to it.

To upload files:

1. From the Content menu, select Files & Uploads.

2. Click Upload New File.

3. In the Upload New File dialog box, click Choose File.

4. In the Open dialog box, select one or more files to upload, then click Open.

   Note

   If you upload a file that has the same name as an existing course file, the original file is overwritten without warning.

5. To upload additional files, click Load Another File and repeat the previous step.
6. To close the dialog box, click the X in the top right corner.

You see the new files on the Files & Uploads page.

Use File URLs to Reference Uploaded Files¶

After you upload a file, you can link to it from a component, from a course update, or in the course handouts, using the generated URLs on the Files and Uploads page. On the Files & Uploads page, the URL column lists the Studio URL and web URL for each file.

• To link to the file or image from within a course (that is, from a component, a course update, or a course handout), use the Studio URL. You cannot use the web URL to link to a file or image from within your course.
• To provide a link to the file or image from outside the course, use the web URL.

To copy a URL from the file list, double click the URL in the URL column so that the value is selected, then copy it.

Sort Files¶

On the Files & Uploads page, by default, files are sorted by the Date Added column, with the most recently added files at the top.

You can sort your files by any column that has a blue column header. For example, to sort the list by name, click the Name column header.

Change the sort order by clicking a sortable column header. The direction of the arrow in the column header indicates whether the order is ascending or descending. Each time you click the column header, the sort order reverses.

The current sort order is shown at the top of the file list, and the active sort column header is underlined.

Filter Files¶

You can filter the list of files by type so that only a selected type of file is visible. The list remains in the current sort order.

To filter the list of files by type:

1. On the Files & Uploads page, click the Type column header.
2. In the dropdown list, select the type of file that you want to view.

The list refreshes to show only the type of file you selected, and the column header changes to reflect the type of file that you have filtered by.

To reset the list and view files of all types, click Show All in the Type dropdown list.

Find Files¶

The Files & Uploads page lists up to 50 files. If your course has more than 50 files, additional files are listed on other pages.

The range of the files listed on the page, and the total number of files, are shown at the top of the page.

You can navigate through the pages in these ways:

• Use the < and > buttons at the top and bottom of the list to navigate to the previous and next pages.

• At the bottom of the page, you can edit the first number in the page range. Click the number to place your cursor in the field, then enter the page number you want to jump to.

  

Lock a File¶

By default, anyone can access a file you upload if they know the URL, even people not enrolled in your class.

To ensure that those not in your class cannot view the file, click the lock icon.

Delete a File¶

To delete a file, click the x icon next to the file. You are prompted to confirm the deletion.

Add a Course Update¶

You add updates to notify students of exams, changes in the course schedule, or anything else of a more urgent nature.

To add a course update:

1. From the Content menu, select Updates.
2. Click New Update.
3. Enter your update in the HTML editor that opens.

Note

You must enter the update in HTML. The visual editor is not supported for course handouts.

4. Click Save.

Add Course Handouts¶

You can add course handouts that are visible to students on the Course Info page. To add an uploaded file to the course handouts, you will need its URL.

1. From the Content menu, select Updates.
2. In the Course Handouts panel, click Edit.
3. Edit the HTML to add links to the files you uploaded. See Add a Link in an HTML Component for more information.
4. Click Save.

Overview¶

By default, your course has the following pages:

• Courseware
• Course Info
• Discussion
• Wiki
• Progress

You cannot rename, reorder, or remove these pages.

You can add pages to your course. Each page appears in your course’s navigation bar.

For example, the following navigation bar includes the default pages as well as the Course Schedule and Supplements & Instructor’s Blog pages.

You can create other pages for the grading policy, course slides, or any other purpose. More examples of pages you can add are:

• A Google calendar, by embedding the code for it.
• A dynamic HTML calendar, using the template in Code for Dynamic HTML Schedule.
• An instant hangout. See Google Instant Hangout Tool for more information.

See:

• Add a Page
• Show or Hide the Course Wiki Page
• Reorder Pages
• Delete a Page
• Code for Dynamic HTML Schedule

Add a Page¶

1. In Studio, from the Content menu, select Pages.

2. Click Add a New Page. A page with the title Empty is added to the list:

3. Click Edit. The HTML editor opens.

4. Enter text for your page. See Options for Editing HTML Components for more information about using the editor.
5. Click Settings to edit the Display Name. The display name is the name of the page visible to students in the course.
6. Click Save.

The new page is immediately available to students, if the course has started.

Show or Hide the Course Wiki Page¶

By default, your course includes a Wiki page. Students and course staff can use the Wiki to post content and comment on others’ content.

If you do not want to use the Wiki in your course, you can hide the page.

The eye icon in the Wiki object indicates that the Wiki page is visible in your course:

Click the eye icon to hide the Wiki page. The icon changes:

Click it again to make the Wiki page visible.

Reorder Pages¶

You can reorder pages in your course by dragging and dropping the pages to different locations.

To move a page, hover over the element handle on the right side of the page row until the mouse pointer changes to a four-headed arrow. Then, click and drag the page to the location that you want.

Delete a Page¶

To delete a page that you previously added, click the trash can icon in the row for the page. You are prompted to confirm the deletion.

Code for Dynamic HTML Schedule¶

You can use the following code in a page to provide a dynamic HTML schedule in your course.

    <div class= "syllabus">

    <table style="width: 100%">
            <col width="10%">
            <col width="15%">
            <col width="10%">
            <col width="30%">
            <col width="10%">
            <col width="15%">
            <col width="10%">

    <!-- Headings -->
             <thead>
                    <td class="day"> Wk of </td>
                    <td class="topic"> Topic </td>
                    <td class="reading"> Read </td>
                    <td class="video"> Lecture Sequence </td>
                    <td class="slides"> Slides </td>
                    <td class="assignment"> HW/Q </td>
                    <td class="due"> Due </td>
            </thead>

    <!-- Week 1 Row 1 -->
             <tr class="first">
                    <td class="day">10/22</td>
                    <td class="topic">Topic 1</td>
                    <td class="reading">Ch. 1</td>
                    <td class="video"><a href="#">L1: Title</a></td>
                    <td class="slides"><a href="#">L1</a></td>
                    <td class="assignment"><a href="#">HW 1</a></td>
                    <td class="due">11/04</td>
            </tr>

    <!-- Week 1 Row 2 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day"> </td>
                    <td class="topic"></td>
                    <td class="reading"></td>
                    <td class="video"><a href="#">L2: Title</a></td>
                    <td class="slides"><a href="#">L2</a></td>
                    <td class="assignment">     </td>
                     <td class="due">      </td>
            </tr>

             <tr> <td class="week_separator" colspan=7> <hr/> </td> </tr>

    <!-- Week 2 Row 1 -->
             <tr>
                    <td class="day">10/29</td>
                    <td class="topic">Topic 2</td>
                    <td class="reading">Ch. 2</td>
                    <td class="video"> <a href="#">L3: Title<a></td>
                     <td class="slides"><a href="#">L3</a></td>
                    <td class="assignment"><a href="#">Quiz 1</a></td>
                    <td class="due">11/11</td>
             </tr>

    <!-- Week 2 Row 2 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day"></td>
                    <td class="topic"></td>
                    <td class="reading"></td>
                    <td class="video"><a href="#">L4: Title</a></td>
                    <td class="slides"><a href="#">L4</a> </td>
                    <td class="assignment"></td>
                    <td class="due"></td>
            </tr>
            <tr> <td class="week_separator" colspan=7> <hr/> </td> </tr>

    <!-- Week 3 Row 1 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day">11/05</td>
                    <td class="topic">Topic 3</td>
                    <td class="reading">Ch. 3</td>
                    <td class="video"><a href="#">L5: Title</a></td>
                    <td class="slides"><a href="#">L5 </a></td>
                    <td class="assignment"><a href="#">HW 2</a></td>
                    <td class="due">11/18 </td>
            </tr>

    <!-- Week 3 Row 2 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day"> </td>
                    <td class="topic"> </td>
                    <td class="reading"></td>
                    <td class="video"><a href="#">L6: Title</a></td>
                    <td class="slides"><a href="#">L6 </a></td>
                    <td class="video"></td>
                    <td class="assignment"></td>
                    <td class="due"></td>
            </tr>
            <tr> <td class="week_separator" colspan=7> <hr/> </td> </tr>

    <!-- Week 4 Row 1 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day">11/12</td>
                    <td class="topic">Topic 4</td>
                    <td class="reading">Ch. 4</td>
                    <td class="video"><!--<a href="#">L7: Title</a>--> L7: Title</td>
                    <td class="slides"><!--<a href="#">L7</a>-->L7</td>
                    <td class="assignment"><!--<a href="#">Quiz 2</a>-->Quiz 2</td>
                    <td class="due"> 11/25 </td>
            </tr>

    <!-- Week 4 Row 2 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day"></td>
                    <td class="topic"></td>
                    <td class="reading"></td>
                    <td class="video"><!--<a href="#">L8: Title</a>-->L8: Title</td>
                    <td class="slides"><!--<a href="#">L8</a>-->L8</td>
                    <td class="assignment"></td>
                    <td class="due"></td>
            </tr>
            <tr> <td class="week_separator" colspan=7> <hr/> </td> </tr>

    <!-- Week 5 Row 1 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day">11/19</td>
                    <td class="topic">Topic 5</td>
                    <td class="reading">Ch. 5</td>
                    <td class="video"><!--<a href="#">L9: Title</a>-->L9: Title</td>
                    <td class="slides"><!--<a href="#">L9</a>-->L9</td>
<                   td class="assignment"><!--<a href="#">HW 3</a>-->HW 3</td>
                    <td class="due"> 12/02 </td>
            </tr>

    <!-- Week 5 Row 2 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day"></td>
                    <td class="topic"></td>
                    <td class="reading"></td>
                    <td class="video"><!--<a href="#">L10: Title</a>-->L10: Title</td>
                    <td class="slides"><!--<a href="#">L10</a>-->L10 </td>
                    <td class="assignment"></td>
                    <td class="due"></td>
            </tr>
            <tr> <td class="week_separator" colspan=7> <hr/> </td> </tr>

    <!-- Week 6 Row 1 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day">11/26</td>
                    <td class="topic">Topic 6</td>
                    <td class="reading">Ch. 6</td>
                    <td class="video"><!--<a href="#"><L11: Title</a>-->L11: Title </td>
                    <td class="slides"><!--<a href="#">L11</a>-->L11</td>
                    <td class="assignment"><!--<a href="#">HW 4</a>-->HW 4</td>
                    <td class="due">12/09</td>
            </tr>

    <!-- Week 6 Row 2 -->
            <tr>
                    <td class="day"> </td>
                    <td class="topic"> </td>
                    <td class="reading"></td>
                    <td class="video"><!--<a href="#">L12: Title</a>-->L12: Title</td>
                    <td class="slides"><!--<a href="#">L12</a>-->L12</td>
                    <td class="assignment"></td>
                    <td class="due">      </td>
            </tr>

    </table>
    </div>

Overview¶

Establishing a grading policy takes several steps. You must:

1. Set the Grade Range
2. Set the Grace Period
3. Configure the Assignment Types
4. Graded Subsections
5. The Student View of Grades

Set the Grade Range¶

You must set the grade range for the course. For example, your course can be pass/fail, or can have letter grades A through F.

To set the grade range, from the Settings menu, select Grading.

The control for the grade range is at the top of the Grading page.

The above example shows that you have a pass/fail grade range, with a score of 50 as the cutoff. This is the default setting used when you create a course.

You use the grade range control to change these settings:

• To add a grade in the range, click the + icon.

  A new grade is added to the range between the existing grades. For example, if you add a grade in the default setting, the grade range changes to F (0 to 50), B (50 to 75), and A (75 to 100):

  

• To change the score range, move the cursor over the line dividing two grades and then click and drag the line left or right.

  You can see the range numbers of the two grades adjacent to the line change. Release the mouse button when the line is where you want it.

• To change the name of the grade, double-click the current name of the grade to select it, and then start typing the name of the new grade. For example, if the original name of the grade is “Pass”, you can double-click “Pass” and then type “Excellent” to replace the name.

  You cannot change F or Fail.

• To remove a grade, move the cursor so that it is over the grade.

  A remove link appears above the grade. Click the link.

  You cannot remove F or A.

After you make any changes to the grade range, you must click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Set the Grace Period¶

You can set a grace period that extends homework due dates for your students.

In the Grading page, under Grading Rules & Policies, enter a value in the Grace Period on Deadline field. Enter the value in Hours:Minutes format.

Configure the Assignment Types¶

You must create assignment types for your course and determine the weight of the student’s total grade for each assignment type.

For example, you may have:

• 10 homework assignments, worth a total of 50% of the grade;
• A midterm exam, worth a total of 20% of the grade;
• A final exam, worth 30% of the grade.

By default, a new course you create has four assignment types:

• Homework
• Lab
• Midterm Exam
• Final Exam

You can use these assignment types, modify or remove them, and create new assignment types.

To create a new assignment type, in the bottom of the Grading page, click New Assignment Type, then configure the fields described below.

Graded Subsections¶

After you configure assignment types, as you are organizing your course, you set the assignment type for subsections that contain problems that are to be graded.

Each subsection that contains problems to be graded can include only one assignment type.

See Developing Course Subsections for general instructions on configuring a subsection.

See Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection for instructions on designating a subsection as a graded assignment.

Within a graded subsection, you create problems of the type designated for that subsection. You cannot not mix problems of different assignment types in the same subsection.

For example, if you want to create a homework assignment and a lab for a specific topic, create two subsections. Set one subsection as the Homework assignment type and the other as the Lab assignment type. Both subsections can contain other content as well as the actual homework or lab problems.

See Working with Problem Components for instructions on creating problems.

The Student View of Grades¶

After a grading policy is in place, students can view both their problem scores and the percent completed and current grade in the Progress tab for the course.

Each item in the X axis of the chart is for a graded subsection. Graded problems in units are not broken out in the chart; the score from each problem in the subsection is added to that vertical bar.

Graded subsections are grouped in the chart by assignment type rather than listed in chronological order. For example, all homework exercises are grouped together, followed by labs, then exams.

Use Re-Run to Create a Course¶

Before you re-run a course:

• For a course that is hosted on the edge.edx.org site, verify that you have permission to create courses in Studio. See Use Studio on Edge.
• For a course that is hosted on the edx.org site, contact your Program Manager. Your Program Manager will create the new course using the re-run feature, and then work with you to complete the steps to update the new course.

To re-run a course, you must have course creation privileges in Studio and you must be a member of the course team for the course you want to re-run.

To re-run a course:

1. Log in to Studio. Your dashboard lists the courses that you have access to as a staff member.
2. Move your cursor over each row in the list of courses. The Re-Run Course and View Live options appear for each course.

3. Locate the course you want to re-run and click Re-Run Course. The Create a re-run of a course page opens with values already supplied in the Course Name, Organization, and Course Number fields.

4. Supply a Course Run to indicate when the new course will be offered.

   Together, the course number, the organization, and the course run are used to create the URL for the new course. The combination of these three values must be unique for the new course. In addition, the total number of characters used for the name, organization, number, and run must be 65 or fewer.

5. Click Create Re-Run. Your My Courses dashboard opens with a status message about the course creation process.

   Duplication of the course structure and content takes several minutes. You can work in other parts of Studio or in the LMS, or on other web sites, while the process runs. The new course appears on your My Courses dashboard in Studio when configuration is complete.

Update the New Course¶

When you create a course by re-running another course, you should carefully review the settings and content of the new course. To assure a quality experience for students, be sure to test the course thoroughly before the course start date. See Testing Your Course Content and Beta Testing a Course.

At a minimum, you will need to make these changes to prepare the new course for release:

• Add course staff members, including discussion admins, moderators, and community TAs. See Add Course Team Members or Staffing.

• Update course-wide dates, including course and enrollment start and end dates. See Set Important Dates for Your Course.

• Change the release dates of course sections, subsections, and units. See Release Dates.

• Change the due dates of subsections that are part of your grading policy. See Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection.

• Delete or edit posts on the Course Updates page in Studio. See Add a Course Update.

• Review the files on the Files & Uploads page. To update a file that contains references to course-related dates, you will need to:

  1. Locate the source file.
  2. Change course-related dates in the file.
  3. Upload the revised version of the file.

  Note

  If you use the same file name when you upload a revised file, links to that file in course components and course handouts will continue to work correctly. If you rename a file and then upload it, you must also update all links to the original file name. See Add Course Handouts or Add a Link to a File.

• Review the staff biographies and other information on the course summary page and make needed updates. See Providing a Course Overview.

• Create initial posts for discussion topics and an “introduce yourself” post. See Managing Course Discussions.

• Add initial wiki articles.

You can use the course checklists to work through the course and verify that it is ready for release. You can also refer to the Course Launching Activities chapter for tools and ideas that help you prepare the course for launch.

Export a Course¶

There are several reasons you may want to export your course:

• To save your work
• To edit the XML in your course directly
• To create a backup copy of your course, which you can import if you want to revert the course back to a previous state
• To share with another instructor for another class
• To create a copy of your course that you can later import into another course instance and customize

When you export your course, Studio creates a .tar.gz file that includes the following course data:

• Course content (all Sections, Subsections, and Units)
• Course structure
• Individual problems
• Pages
• Course assets
• Course settings

The following data is not exported with your course:

• User data
• Course team data
• Discussion data
• Certificates

To export a course:

1. From the Tools menu, select Export.
2. Click Export Course Content.

When the export completes you can then access the .tar.gz file on your computer.

Import a Course¶

There are several reasons you may want to import a course. For example:

• To load a course you developed outside of Studio.
• To run a new version of a course that was not created in Studio.

The course that you import must be in a .tar.gz file (that is, a .tar file compressed with GNU Zip). This .tar.gz file must contain a course.xml file in a course data directory. The tar.gz file must have the same name as the course data directory. It may also contain other files.

If your course uses legacy layout structures, you may not be able to edit the course in Studio, although it will probably appear correctly on Edge. To make sure that your course is completely editable, ensure that all of your material is embedded in a unit.

The import process has five stages. During the first two stages, you must stay on the Course Import page. You can leave this page after the Unpacking stage has completed. We recommend, however, that you don’t make important changes to your course until the import operation has completed.

To import a course:

1. From the Tools menu, select Import.
2. Click Choose a File to Import.
3. Locate the file that you want, and then click Open.
4. Click Replace my course with the one above.

Understanding Course Building Blocks¶

Before you begin, you should understand the building blocks of an edX course.

• The course outline is the container for all of your course content. The outline contains one or more sections.
• Course sections are at the top level of your course and typically represent a time period. A section contains one or more subsections.
• Course subsections are parts of a section, and usually represent a topic or other organizing principle. A subsection contains one or more units.
• Course units are lessons in a subsection that students view as single pages. A unit contains one or more components.
• Course components are objects within units that contain your actual course content.

Creating New Course Content¶

Once you understand the way edX courses are structured, you can start organizing your content and entering it into Studio.

You create sections, subsections, and units in the course outline.

For graded subsections, you also set the assignment type and due date.

You create components in the unit page.

In addition, you control content visibility by setting release dates on the outline and publishing units.

The following diagram summarizes the content creation workflow:

It is recommended that you test course content throughout the creation process.

Making Course Content Visible to Students¶

When you create your content, you’ll also specify if and when students will be able to see it. Content visibility depends on several factors:

• The course start date
• The release dates of the section and subsection
• The publishing status of the unit
• The Hide content from students setting
• The use of Content Groups

For more information, see Controlling Content Visibility.

Making Course Content Searchable¶

Learners can search course text in HTML components and video transcripts by using the Search box in the upper-left corner of the Courseware tab.

Before learners can search your course, Studio must index the content. Studio indexes all new course content automatically when you publish the content.

If necessary, you can manually reindex all of the content in your course at any time. Typically, you would only manually reindex your course content if learners see unexpected search results. To reindex your course content, select Reindex Content in the upper-right corner of the Course Outline page. Reindexing usually takes less than 30 seconds.

Revising Content¶

You can revise your course content at any time.

• When you reorganize sections, subsections, and units in the outline, the new order is immediately visible to students if the section and subsection are released.
• When you edit a unit, or components within a unit, you must publish those changes to make them visible to students.

The following diagram summarizes the content revision workflow and content visibility:

It is recommended that you test course content during the revision process.

Open the Course Outline¶

To view the course outline:

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.

You must create the first section.

Example of a Developed Course in the Outline¶

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

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 clicking on 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 rest of this chapter provides more detail about the course outline.

View the Course Organization as a Student¶

The content you see in the outline in Studio is displayed to students in the Courseware tab in the LMS. The following image shows how a student sees your course content:

Navigate the Course Outline¶

In Studio, you navigate the course outline by expanding and collapsing sections and subsections. Use the drop-down icon next to a section or subsection name to expand or collapse its contents:

When you expand a subsection, all units in the subsection are visible:

Click the name of a unit to open the unit page.

Add Content in the Course Outline¶

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

To add a section to the end of the outline, click New Section at the top of the outline page or at the bottom of the outline:

To add a subsection to the end of the section, expand the section and click New Subsection:

To add a unit to the end of a subsection, expand the subsection and click New Unit:

The unit page opens.

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:

• Set a Section Release Date
• Hide a Section from Students
• Set a Subsection Release Date
• Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection
• Hide a Subsection from Students
• Hide a Unit from Students

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

For more information, see the links above.

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, click the publish icon for a section, subsection, or unit. In the following example, the publish icon is circled for a section, subsection, and unit:

For more information, see:

• Unit Publishing Status
• Publish all Units in a Section
• Publish all Units in a Subsection
• Publish a Unit

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, hover 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:

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:

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:

Delete Content in the Course Outline¶

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

Click the delete icon in the box for the object you want to delete:

You are prompted to confirm the deletion.

What Is a Section?¶

A section is the topmost category in your course. A section can represent a time period in your course, a chapter, or another organizing principle. A section contains one or more subsections.

Viewing Sections in the Outline¶

The follow example shows four sections, all collapsed, in the course outline:

The Student View of a Section¶

Students see sections in the Courseware tab. Students can expand one section at a time to see its contents. In the following example, three sections are circled, and the third one is expanded to show its subsections:

Sections and Visibility to Students¶

Students cannot see any content in the section if the section’s release date is unscheduled or has not passed.

If a section’s release date has passed, students can see content in the section if:

• The release date for the subsection that contains that content has passed.
• The unit has been published.
• The unit is not hidden from students.

Release Statuses of Sections¶

As an course author, you control the release status of sections. For the content of a section to be visible to students, the section must be released. See the following for more information about the possible releases statuses of sections:

• Unscheduled
• Scheduled
• Released
• Released with Unpublished Changes
• Staff Only Content

Unscheduled¶

If you do not change the course start date default value, 1/1/2030 00:00:00 UTC, when you create a new section, its release date will appear as Unscheduled. When the section release date is unscheduled, students cannot see any content in that section, regardless of the publishing status of that content.

If you have modified the course start date, when you create a new section, the default release date is the course start date.

The following example shows how an unscheduled section is displayed in the outline, summarized with a gray bar:

To make the content available to students, you must schedule the release date.

Scheduled¶

A section that is scheduled for release on a future date will not be visible to students until after the release date. Regardless of the publishing status of content within the section, the entire section will not visible to students.

The following example shows how a section that is scheduled for release is displayed in the outline, summarized with a green bar:

The scheduled date must pass for the section to be visible to students.

Released¶

A section that is released is visible to students; however, students see only subsections within the section that are also released, and units that are published.

The following example shows how a released section is displayed in the outline, summarized with a blue bar:

Released with Unpublished Changes¶

If you change a unit in a released section but do not publish the changes, students see the last published version of the modified unit.

The following example shows how a released section with unpublished changes is displayed in the outline, with a yellow bar. The section is expanded to show the unit with unpublished changes:

You must publish the unit for students to see the updates.

Staff Only Content¶

A section can contain a unit that is hidden from students and available to staff only. That unit is not visible to students, regardless of the release date of the section or subsection.

The following example shows how a section that contains a unit that is hidden from students is displayed in the outline, summarized with a black bar:

Create a Section¶

If you do not change the course start date default value, 1/1/2030, when you create a new section, its release date will be Unscheduled.

If you have modified the course start date, when you create a new section, the default release date is the course start date.

To create a new section:

1. Click New Section at the top or bottom of the outline:

   

   A new section is added at the end of the course content, with the section name selected.

2. Enter the name for the new section. Remember that students see the section name in the courseware.

3. Add subsections to the new section as needed.

It is recommended that you test course content as you create new sections.

Change a Section Name¶

To edit a section name, hover over the section name to show the Edit icon:

Click the Edit icon next to the section name. The name field becomes editable. Enter the new name and tab or click out of the field to save the name.

Set a Section Release Date¶

To set the section release date:

1. Click the Settings icon in the section box:

   

   The Settings dialog box opens.

2. Enter the release date and time for the section:

   

3. Click Save.

For more information, see Release Dates.

Publish all Units in a Section¶

To publish all new and changed units in a section, click the publish icon in the box for the section:

See Unit Publishing Status for information about statuses and visibility to students.

Hide a Section from Students¶

You can hide all content in a section from students, regardless of the status of subsections and units within the section.

To hide a section from students:

1. Click the Settings icon in the section box:

   

   The Settings dialog box opens.

2. Check Hide from students.

   

3. Click Save.

Now, no content in the section is visible to students.

To make the section visible to students, repeat these steps and clear the Hide from students checkbox.

Delete a Section¶

When you delete a section, you delete all subsections and units within the section.

To delete a section:

1. Click the delete icon in the section that you want to delete:

2. When you receive the confirmation prompt, click Yes, delete this section.

What Is a Subsection?¶

Sections are divided into subsections, which in turn contain one or more units. A subsection may represent a topic in your course, or another organizing principle. Subsections are sometimes called “lessons” or “learning sequences.”

Viewing Subsections in the Outline¶

The following example shows three subsections in a section, all collapsed, in the course outline:

The Student View of a Subsection¶

Students see subsections in the Courseware tab, listed beneath the expanded section. In the following example, seven subsections are circled, and the first is open.

Subsections and Visibility to Students¶

Students cannot see any content in a subsection if the subsection’s release date is unscheduled or has not passed.

If a subsection’s release date has passed, students can see content in the subsection if the following three conditions are met:

• The release date of the parent section has passed.
• The units have been published.
• The units are not hidden from students.

Release Statuses of Subsections¶

As a course author, you control the release status of subsections. For the content of a subsection to be visible to students, the subsection must be released. See the following for more information about the possible releases statuses of subsections:

• Scheduled with the Section
• Unscheduled
• Scheduled Later than the Section
• Scheduled with Unpublished Changes
• Released with Unpublished Changes
• Released

Scheduled with the Section¶

When you create a subsection, it is set by default to release at the same time as the section it is in. Therefore, published content in the subsection is visible to students at the date and time the section is released.

The following example shows how an subsection in the Scheduled with Section state is displayed in the outline, summarized with a green bar:

Unscheduled¶

If the parent section is unscheduled, when you create a new subsection it will also be unscheduled.

Regardless of the publishing status of units within the subsection, no content in an unscheduled subsection is visible to students.

The following example shows how an unscheduled subsection is displayed in the outline, summarized with a gray bar:

Content in the subsection is not visible to students until you set a release date and the date passes.

Scheduled Later than the Section¶

You can set a subsection to release on a date after the section releases.

Content in a subsection that is scheduled for release on a future date is not visible to students, even if some or all of the units in the subsection are published.

The following example shows the way that a subsection that will release after its parent subsection appears in the course outline:

The scheduled date must pass for the subsection to be visible to students.

Scheduled with Unpublished Changes¶

You can make changes to a published unit before its parent subsection is released.

In this situation, when the release date for the subsection passes, the last published version of units within the subsection are made visible to students. The changes in units are not visible to students until you publish them.

The following example shows how a scheduled subsection with unpublished changes is displayed in the outline, summarized with a yellow bar:

Released with Unpublished Changes¶

If you modify a unit within a released subsection, those modifications are not visible to students until you publish them.

The following example shows how a released section that has unpublished changes appears in the outline, summarized with a yellow bar:

Released¶

A subsection that is released is visible to students; however, students see only units within the subsection that are published.

The following example shows how a released subsection is displayed in the outline, summarized with a blue bar:

Staff Only Content¶

A subsection can contain a unit that is hidden from students and available to staff only. That unit is not visible to students, even if the subsection has been released.

The following example shows how an subsection that contains a unit that is hidden from students is displayed in the outline, summarized with a black bar:

Create a Subsection¶

To create a new subsection:

1. In the outline, expand the section in which you want to create a new subsection.
2. Click New Subsection at the bottom of the expanded section. A new subsection is added at the end of the section, with the subsection name selected.
3. Enter the name for the new subsection. Remember that students see the subsection name in the courseware.
4. Add units to the new subsection as needed.

It is recommended that you test course content as you create new subsections.

Change a Subsection Name¶

To change a subsection name, click the Edit icon next to the subsection name. The name field becomes editable. Enter the new name and tab or click out of the field to save the name.

Set a Subsection Release Date¶

To set the subsection release date:

1. Click the Settings icon in the subsection box:

   

   The Settings dialog box opens.

2. Enter the release date and time for the section:

   

3. Click Save.

For more information, see Release Dates.

Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection¶

You set the assignment type for problems at the subsection level.

When you set the assignment type for a subsection, all problems within the subsection are graded and weighted as a single type. For example, if you designate the assignment type for a subsection as Homework, then all problem types in that subsection are graded as homework.

To set the assignment type and due date for a subsection:

1. Click the Settings icon in the subsection box:

   

   The Settings dialog box opens.

2. Select the assignment type for this subsection in the Grade as field:

   

3. Enter or select a due date and time for problems in this subsection.

4. Click Save.

For more information, see Establishing a Grading Policy.

Publish all Units in a Subsection¶

To publish all new and changed units in a subsection, click the publish icon in the box for the subsection:

See Unit Publishing Status for information about statuses and visibility to students.

Hide a Subsection from Students¶

You can hide all content in a subsection from students, regardless of the status of units within the section.

To hide a subsection from students:

1. Click the Settings icon in the subsection box:

   

   The Settings dialog box opens.

2. Check Hide from students.

   

3. Click Save.

Now, no content in the subsection is visible to students.

To make the subection visible to students, repeat these steps and clear the Hide from students checkbox.

Delete a Subsection¶

When you delete a subsection, you delete all units within the subsection.

To delete a subsection:

1. Click the delete icon in the subsection that you want to delete:

2. When you receive the confirmation prompt, click Yes, delete this subsection.

What is a Unit?¶

A unit is a part of a subsection that students view as a single page.

A unit contains one or more components, such as HTML content, problems, discussions, and videos.

Viewing Units in the Outline¶

To view units in the outline, you expand the parent section and subsection:

Viewing the Unit Page¶

When you click on a unit name in the outline, the Unit page opens.

The following example shows a unit page with two components, with circles and text to show different areas and controls in the page.

Viewing Units as a Student¶

To a student using the edX Learning Management System, each unit in the subsection appears as a link on the course ribbon at the top of the page. The active unit is open beneath the course ribbon.

The following image shows a subsection that has five units, which are circled in the ribbon above the video, with the first unit open:

The Unit Workflow¶

When you have set up the section and subsection in the course outline, you then work with units.

The typical workflow is:

1. Create a new unit.
2. Add components to the unit.
3. Publish the unit.

After you publish the unit, you can:

1. Modify components in the unit.
2. Publish the changes to the unit.

The following diagram shows the typical unit development workflow:

As you work through these steps, the publishing status of the unit changes. The publishing status controls the content available to students, along with release dates. See the next section for more information.

Unit Publishing Status and Visibility to Students¶

The following information summarizes whether or not students can see a unit.

• Students never see a unit with the publishing status Draft (Never Published).
• Students never see a unit with the publishing status Visible to Staff Only. See Hide a Unit from Students for more information.
• Students do not see a unit with the publishing status Published Not Yet Released until the release date. On the release date, the status changes to Published and Live.
• If the publishing status is Published and Live, students see the current version of the unit.
• If the publishing status is Draft (Unpublished Changes), students see the last published version of the unit if the release date for the containing section and subsection has passed.

For more information, see Controlling Content Visibility.

Unit Publishing Status¶

As an course author, you work with units with the following statuses:

• Draft (Never published)
• Published and Live
• Published (not yet released)
• Draft (Unpublished changes)
• Visible to Staff Only

Draft (Never published)¶

When you create a new unit and add components to it, the unit’s publishing status is Draft (Never Published), as shown in the status panel:

In Studio, you see the version of the content that you’re working on. Students never see a unit with this status, even if the release date has passed.

Though you do not see the unit in the LMS, you can preview the unit.

You must publish the unit for it to be included in the LMS.

Published and Live¶

The release date for the section and subsection have passed. You’ve published the unit and haven’t made any changes to it. You and students both see the current version of the unit.

Published (not yet released)¶

You’ve published the unit, but the release date hasn’t passed. Students cannot see this unit until the release date passes.

Draft (Unpublished changes)¶

When you edit a published unit, whether or not it is released, the unit’s publishing status changes to Draft (Unpublished Changes), as shown in the status panel:

In Studio, you see the draft of the content that you’re working on. If the release date has passed, students see the last published version of the unit. If the release date hasn’t passed, students can’t see your content.

You must publish the unit for students to see your changes.

You can preview the changes to a unit to test how your changes will appear to students after you publish the unit.

Visible to Staff Only¶

When you hide a unit from students, the unit’s publishing status changes to Visible to Staff Only.

The publishing status of a unit can be Visible to Staff Only if you hid the parent section or subsection from students.

Students never see a unit with this status, even if it has been published and the release date has passed.

Create a Unit¶

You can create a unit from the outline or create a unit in the same subsection from the unit page.

To create a unit from the outline:

1. In the outline, expand the subsection in which you want to create a new unit.
2. Click New Unit at the bottom of the expanded subsection. A new unit is added at the end of the subsection.
3. On the unit page, the unit name is selected. Edit the name as needed.
4. Add components to the new unit as needed.

To create a new unit from a unit page:

1. In the Unit Location panel, click New Unit.

   

   The unit page for the new unit opens automatically.

2. On the unit page, the unit name is selected. Edit the name as needed.

3. Add components to the new unit as needed.

You must then publish the unit to make it visible to students.

Edit a Unit¶

You can edit a unit in the following ways:

• Edit the unit name
• Develop components
• Reorganize Components in Units

When you make any of these changes, if you previously published the unit, the state changes to Draft (Unpublished Changes). You must then publish the unit to make your edits visible to students.

Edit the Unit Name¶

To edit a unit name, hover over the name to show the Edit icon:

Click the Edit icon next to the unit name. The name field becomes editable. Enter the new name and tab or click out of the field to save the name.

Reorganize Components in Units¶

You can reorganize components within a unit by dragging and dropping them to new locations.

To move a component, hover over the handle on the right of the component’s box until the cursor changes to a four-headed arrow. For example, in the image below, the handle for the discussion component is selected:

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

A dashed outline indicates where the component will land when you release the mouse button. For example, in the image below, the discussion component is being moved to the top of the unit:

Preview a Unit¶

You preview a unit to review and test the content before it is visible to students.

You can preview a unit before it is published and when there are unpublished changes. When the unit is published and there are no pending changes, you cannot preview the unit; you must view the live version of the unit.

To preview the unit, in the unit page, click Preview Changes.

The unit opens in preview mode:

When you are revising a previously published unit, it is helpful to preview your changes in one window and view the published unit in a second window.

Publish a Unit¶

Publishing a unit makes the current version of the unit in Studio available to students, if the release date for the section and subsection have passed.

You publish a unit that has a status of Draft (Never Published) or Draft (Unpublished Changes). When you publish a unit, the status changes to Published and Live or Published Not Yet Released.

You can publish a unit from the unit page or the course outline.

Use the Unit Page to Publish a Unit¶

To publish the unit, click Publish in the status panel:

Use the Outline to Publish a Unit¶

To publish a unit from the outline, click the publish icon in the box for the unit:

Note

The publish icon only appears when there is new or changed content in the unit.

Discard Changes to a Unit¶

When you modify a published unit, your changes are saved in Studio, though the changes aren’t visible to students until you publish the unit again.

In certain situations, you may decide that you never want to publish your changes. You can discard the changes so that Studio reverts to the last published version of the unit.

To discard changes and revert the Studio version of the unit to the last published version, click Discard Changes in the status panel:

View a Published Unit¶

To view the last published version of a unit in the LMS, click View Published Version.

The unit page opens in the LMS in Staff view. You may be prompted to log in to the LMS.

If the unit status is Draft (Unpublished Changes), you do not see your changes in the LMS until you publish the unit again.

If the unit status is Draft (Never Published), the View Published Version button is not enabled.

Hide a Unit from Students¶

You can prevent students from seeing a unit regardless of the unit status or the release schedules of the section and subsection.

For more information, see Controlling Content Visibility.

You can hide a unit from students using the course outline or the unit page.

Use the Unit Page to Hide a Unit¶

Select the Hide from students checkbox in the status panel:

For more information, see Controlling Content Visibility.

Delete a Unit¶

You delete a unit from the course outline.

When you delete a unit, you delete all components within the unit.

To delete a unit:

1. Click the delete icon in the box for the unit you want to delete:

2. When you receive the confirmation prompt, click Yes, delete this unit.

What is a Component?¶

A component is the part of a unit that contains your actual course content. A unit can contain one or more components.

A student can view the name of all components in a unit by hovering over the unit in the ribbon at the top of the page.

By default, Studio includes four types of components.

• Discussion components provide discussion spaces in the body of your course. Students can explore ideas about a lesson with their peers in a discussion space.
• HTML components allow you to add text, images, and some types of learning tools to your course. Content in HTML components is formatted as HTML.
• Problem components enable you to add many different types of exercises and problems to you course, from simple multiple choice problems to complex circuit schematic exercises.
• Video components contain the videos that you want to include in your course.

Add a Component¶

To add a component to the unit, click the component type that you want under Add New Component.

For more information, see the documentation for the specific component type that you want:

• Working with Discussion Components
• Working with HTML Components
• Working with Problem Components
• Working with Video Components

After you add a component, it is not visible to students until you publish the unit.

Edit a Component¶

To edit a component, click Edit:

Then follow instructions for the type of component you are editing.

After you edit a component, the changes are not visible to students until you publish the unit.

Duplicate a Component¶

When you duplicate a component, a new copy of that component is added directly beneath the first component. You can then modify the duplicate. In many cases, duplicating a component and editing a copy is a faster way to create new content.

To duplicate a component, click the Duplicate icon in the component header:

Then follow instructions for the type of component you are editing.

After you duplicate a component, the new component is not visible to students until you publish the unit.

Delete a Component¶

To delete a component:

1. Click the Delete icon in the component header:

2. When you receive the confirmation prompt, click Yes, delete this component.

After you delete a component, the component remians visible to students until you publish the unit.

Components that Contain Other Components¶

For specific use cases, you configure course content so that components contain other components. For example, if you want to include conditional components or content experiments, you have to create components inside components. See Creating Content Experiments for more information.

The component that contains other components is referred to as the parent; the contained components are referred to as children.

In the unit page, a parent component appears with the display name and a View link. For example:

View Child Components¶

When you click View in the parent component, the parent component page opens, showing all child components. In this example, Child Component A contains an HTML component and a video:

Click the arrow next to a child component name to collapse it and hide the component’s contents:

Click the arrow again to expand the component.

See:

• Edit a Component
• Set the Display Name for a Component
• Duplicate a Component
• Delete a Component

Add a Child Component¶

If the containing unit is private or in draft, you can add a child component in its parent component.

To add a child component, open and expand the parent component. Then click the component type that you want under Add New Component within the parent component.

For more information, see the documentation for the specific component type that you want:

• Working with Discussion Components
• Working with HTML Components
• Working with Problem Components
• Working with Video Components

<vertical display_name="Unit 1">
    <html url_name="6a5cf0ea41a54b209e0815147896d1b2"/>
    <vertical url_name="131a499ddaa3474194c1aa2eced34455"/>
</vertical>

<vertical display_name="Parent Component">
    <vertical url_name="2758bbc495dd40d59050da15b40bd9a5"/>
    <vertical url_name="c5c8b27c2c5546e784432f3b2b6cf2ea"/>
</vertical>

<vertical display_name="Child Component A">
    <html url_name="4471618afafb45bfb86cbe511973e225"/>
    <video url_name="fbd800d0bdbd4cb69ac70c47c9f699e1"/>
</vertical>

<vertical display_name="Child Component B">
    <html url_name="dd6ef295fda74a639842e1a49c66b2c7"/>
    <problem url_name="b40ecbe4ed1b4280ae93e2a158edae6f"/>
</vertical>

The Student View of Nested Components¶

For students, all parent and child components are displayed on the unit page. The following example shows the student view of the unit described above:

Note

The visibility of nested components depends on the visibility of the parent unit. The parent unit must be public for students to see nested components. For more information, see Unit Publishing Status and Visibility to Students.

Reorganizing Child Components¶

You can reorganize child components through the same drag and drop process you use for other objects in your course outline. You hover over the element handle on the right side of the screen until the mouse pointer changes to a four- headed arrow. Then, click and drag the element to the location that you want.

Furthermore, when you have multiple levels of nesting, you can drag a child component into a different parent component, if both parents are expanded. For example, you can select the video component that is in Child Component A and drag it into Child Component B. Select the video component, and as you drag it into Child Component B, release the mouse button when a dashed outline of the component you are moving appears in the new location:

You can also drag a child component outside of a parent, so that the child moves to the same level as the parent.

Release Dates¶

You schedule release dates for sections and subsections. By default, a subsection inherits the release date of the section it is in, though you can change it to another date.

By defining release dates, you can ensure that content is available to students as planned without requiring manual intervention at that future time.

Published units are not visible to students until the scheduled release date. When the section and subsection have different release dates, published units are not visible until both dates have passed.

Prior to the release date, content is visible to course staff previewing the course or viewing the live course as staff.

See:

• Set a Section Release Date
• Set a Subsection Release Date

Unit Publishing Status¶

You publish units to make them visible to students. Students see the last published version of a unit if the section and subsection it is in are released.

Students do not see units that have never been published, and they do not see unpublished changes to units or components within units. Therefore, you can make changes to units in released subsections without disrupting the student experience.

For more information, see Unit Publishing Status.

You can publish all changes in a section or subsection at once, or publish changes to individual units. See:

• Publish all Units in a Section
• Publish all Units in a Subsection
• Publish a Unit

Content Hidden from Students¶

You can hide content from students. Such content is never visible to students, regardless of the release and publishing status.

You might hide a unit from students, for example, when that unit contains an answer to a problem in another unit of that subsection. After the problem’s due date, you could make the unit with the answer visible.

You could also hide a unit from students if you wanted to use that unit to provide instructions or guidance meant only for course staff. Only course staff would see that unit in the course.

You can hide content at different levels:

• Sections
• Subsections
• Units

Content Groups¶

If you have cohorts enabled in your course, you can use content groups to designate particular components in your course as visible only to specific groups of students.

For details, see Content Groups and Creating Cohort-Specific Courseware.

Preview Course Content¶

You preview course content before you publish it to test how it will look to students.

When you preview course content, you see the latest course content as configured in Studio. You see content in units with the publishing status Draft (Never published), Draft (Unpublished changes), or Visible to Staff Only.

If you use content groups and have designated components in a unit as visible only to particular groups, the visibility status indicates that some content in the unit is visible only to particular groups. For information about previewing course content if you use content groups to designate content as visible only to particular groups, see Preview Cohort-Specific Courseware.

For example, you publish a unit with a video and discussion:

Students see the same content in the LMS:

You later decide to add a multiple choice problem to the unit, before the discussion:

Before you publish this change, you can see what the question will look to students.

When you click Preview Changes, you see the unit in the LMS with the multiple choice question:

This preview shows how students will experience the unit after you publish the change.

In the live course, students continue to see the same content, without the multiple choice question, until you publish the change.

View Your Live Course¶

When you are working in Studio, you can test your course by viewing it in the LMS. In the LMS, you can see your course as a student sees it. You can see your course in Staff View or Student View. If you are using content groups to designate specific content as visible only to particular content groups, you can see your course as a content group would see it.

While you work in Studio, you can switch to your live course to see how your course appears to students in two ways.

• From the outline page, click View Live.

  

• In a unit page, click View Live Version.

  

Staff View¶

You see the course in the Staff View.

In Staff View:

• You see all units that are Published and Live. For units that are Draft (Unpublished changes) or Visible to Staff Only, you see the last published version of the unit. You see these units regardless of the release dates of the containing section or subsection.
• You do not see units that are Draft (Never published). To see these units, you must use Preview mode as described in Preview Course Content.
• You can access the Instructor Dashboard, which has features and reports that help you run your course.

When you view your course in Staff View, you can execute tests to make sure that your course works the way you intend. For example, before the release date of a subsection, members of the course team can work through the problems to verify that the correct answer gets a green check for correct, and that any answer other than the correct one gets a red X for incorrect.

Student View¶

When viewing your course in the LMS, you can use the Student view to see the course with all course content that is intended for all students.

Note

If you have enabled your course for cohorts and have designated some content as visible only to certain content groups, you can select a content group from the View Course As drop down list to see the content exactly as a student in a cohort associated with that content group will see it. For details, see Preview Cohort-Specific Courseware.

To switch to the Student view, click View this course as and select Student from the drop down list.

In Student View:

• You do not see sections or subsections that have not yet been released.
• If the section and subsection are released, you see units that are Published and Live. For units that are Draft (Unpublished changes), you see the last published version of the unit.
• You do not see units that are Draft (Never published) or Visible to Staff Only. To see these units, you must switch back to Instructor view or use Preview mode as described in Preview Course Content.
• You can access the Instructor Dashboard, which has features and reports that help you run your course.

Open Studio from Your Live Course¶

When you are viewing your course in the LMS as Staff View, you can open Studio directly.

• In a unit page, click View Unit in Studio.

  

  The unit page opens in Studio.

• In the Instructor Dashboard, click View Course in Studio to open the course outline.

  

  For information about the tasks you can complete on the Instructor Dashboard, see Running Your Course.

• In the Course Progress page, click View Grading in Studio to open the Grading page.

  

  For information about checking a student’s progress, see Review How Grading Is Configured for Your Course.

HTML Component Overview¶

HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the standard markup language used to create web pages. Web browsers present HTML code in a more readable format.

When students see text and images in your course, they are seeing HTML code that is formatted and presented by their browsers. For more information about HTML, see Wikipedia.

HTML components are the basic building blocks of your course content. You use HTML components to add and format text, links, images, and more. You can choose to create HTML components directly in HTML code, or using a visual editor that hides the HTML code details, as described below.

For more information, see the following topics:

• Options for Editing HTML Components
• The Visual Editor
• The Raw HTML Editor
• HTML Component Templates
• Create an HTML Component
• Add a Link in an HTML Component
• Add an Image to an HTML Component
• Import LaTeX Code into an HTML Component

To add an instant hangout to an HTML component, see Google Instant Hangout Tool.

Options for Editing HTML Components¶

You can work with HTML in two ways:

• The Visual Editor

  With the visual editor you can create, edit, and format content in a word processing-like interface, without using HTML code directly. With the visual editor, you can more easily format your content, and add links and images. The visual editor provides access to HTML code so you can make small changes to formatting, if required. However, the HTML view in the visual editor does not provide the detailed control you can get with the raw HTML editor, and does not support custom formatting or scripts.

• The Raw HTML Editor

  With the raw HTML Editor, you work directly with HTML code. If you need to use custom formatting or scripts in your content, you should use the raw HTML editor.

Set the Editor for an HTML Component¶

You set the editor for an HTML component in the Settings tab:

Select Visual or Raw. When you change the editor, you must click Save and re-open the component to begin using the new editor.

Warning

If you work with content in the raw HTML editor, then switch to the visual editor, you may lose custom HTML that you created. Therefore, it is recommended that you start by using the visual editor, then switch to the raw HTML editor when you need to create custom HTML.

The Visual Editor¶

The visual editor provides a “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) interface that allows you to format text by clicking the formatting buttons at the top of the editor.

The following image shows call-outs for the editing options and is followed by descriptions.

1. Choose a formatting style for the selected paragraph, such as heading 1, heading 2, or paragraph.
2. Choose a font family for selected text, such as Arial, Courier New, or Times New Roman.
3. Format selected text in bold.
4. Format selected text in italics.
5. Underline selected text.
6. Apply a color to the selected text.
7. Format selected text as code.
8. Create a bulleted list.
9. Create a numbered list.
10. Decrease and increased the indentation of the selected paragraph.
11. Format the selected paragraph as a blockquote.
12. Create a link from the selected text. See Add a Link in an HTML Component.
13. Delete the current link.
14. Insert an image at the cursor. See Add an Image to an HTML Component.
15. Work with HTML source code, described below.

Work with HTML code in the Visual editor¶

To work with HTML source code for the content you create in the visual editor, click HTML in the editor toolbar. The HTML source code editor opens:

Edit the HTML code as needed.

You should not add custom styles or scripts in the HTML code view in the visual editor. Use the raw HTML editor instead.

Click OK to close the source code editor and apply your changes in the visual editor. The visual editor then attempts to ensure the underlying HTML code is valid; for example, if you do not close a paragraph tag, the editor will close it for you.

Warning

Clicking OK in the source code editor does not save your changes to the HTML component. You return to the component editor, where your changes are applied. You must then also click Save to save your changes and close the component. If you click Cancel, the changes you made in the HTML source code are lost.

The Raw HTML Editor¶

When you select the raw editor for the HTML component, you edit your content in a text editor:

You must enter valid HTML. The raw HTML editor does not validate your HTML code. Therefore you should thoroughly test the HTML content in your course.

HTML Component Templates¶

When you create a new HTML component, you select from a list of templates:

The raw HTML template is set to use the raw HTML editor. All other templates use the visual editor.

For any HTML component, you can change the editor, regardless of the template used to create the component. See Set the Editor for an HTML Component.

Create an HTML Component¶

To create an HTML component:

1. Under Add New Component, click HTML.

2. Select the template.

   The rest of these instructions assume you selected Text, which creates an empty component with the visual editor selected.

   An empty component appears at the bottom of the unit.

3. In the component, click Edit.

   The HTML component opens in the visual editor.

4. Enter and format your content. You can Work with HTML code in the Visual editor if needed.

5. Enter a display name (the name that you want students to see). To do this, click Settings in the upper-right corner of the component editor, and then enter text in the Display Name field.

   To return to the text editor, click Editor in the upper-right corner.

6. Click Save to save the HTML component.

When using the visual editor, you can also:

• Add a Link in an HTML Component
• Add an Image to an HTML Component
• Import LaTeX Code into an HTML Component

Add a Link in an HTML Component¶

When using the visual editor, to add a link to a website, course unit, or file in an HTML component, you work with the Insert link dialog box.

You can:

• Add a Link to a Website
• Add a Link to a Course Unit
• Add a Link to a File

Add an Image to an HTML Component¶

When using the visual editor, you can add any image that you have uploaded for the course to an HTML component. For more information about uploading images, see Adding Files to a Course.

To add an image, you’ll need the URL of the image that you uploaded to the course. You’ll then create a link to the image in the HTML component.

1. On the Files & Uploads page, copy the Embed URL of the image that you want.

Note

You must use the Embed URL to add the image, not the External URL.

2. Click the image icon in the toolbar.

3. In the Insert image dialog box, enter the following in the Source field.

   /static/FileName.type

   Make sure to include both forward slashes (/).

   

4. Enter alternative text in the Image description field. This text becomes the value of the alt attribute in HTML and is required for your course to be fully accessible. See Best Practices for Describing Images for more information.

5. As needed, customize the image dimensions. Keep Constrain proportions checked to ensure the image keeps the same width and height proportions.

6. To change the spacing and border of the image, click the Advanced tab.

   

7. Enter the Vertical space, Horizontal space, and Border as needed. The values you enter are automatically added to the Style field.

8. Click OK to insert the image in the HTML component.

9. Save the HTML component and test the image.

Import LaTeX Code into an HTML Component¶

You can import LaTeX code into an HTML component. You might do this, for example, if you want to create “beautiful math” such as the following.

This feature is not enabled by default. To enable it, you have to change the advanced settings in your course.

To create an HTML component that contains LaTeX code:

1. Enable the policy key in your course.
   1. In Studio, click Settings, and then click Advanced Settings.
   2. In the field for the Enable LaTeX Compiler policy key, change false to true.
   3. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.
2. In the unit where you want to create the component, click html under Add New Component, and then click E-text Written in LaTeX. The new component is added to the unit.
3. Click Edit to open the new component. The component editor opens.

4. In the component editor, click Launch Latex Source Compiler. The LaTeX editor opens.

   

5. Write LaTeX code as needed. You can also upload a LaTeX file into the editor from your computer by clicking Upload in the bottom right corner.

6. When you have written or uploaded the LaTeX code you need, click Save & Compile to edX XML in the lower-left corner.

   The component editor closes. You can see the way your LaTeX content looks.

   

7. On the unit page, click Preview to verify that your content looks the way you want it to in the LMS.

   If you see errors, go back to the unit page. Click Edit to open the component again, and then click Launch Latex Source Compiler in the lower-left corner of the component editor to edit the LaTeX code.

Introduction to Videos¶

You can create a video of your lecture and add it to your course with other components—such as discussions and problems—to promote active learning. Adding a video to your course has several steps.

1. Step 1. Create the Video.
2. Step 2. Create or Obtain a Video Transcript.
3. Step 3. Post the Video Online.
4. Step 4. Create a Video Component.

Also see:

• Video Table of Contents
• Additional Transcripts
• Steps for .sjson Files

To help course teams protect video assets, the edX video player hides video URLs from students by default. This functionality is in effect for all video files, including YouTube videos and videos that you have posted in other locations. Students can still download videos if you select the Video Download Allowed option for your video components. For more information about posting non-YouTube videos online, see Step 3. Post the Video Online. For more information about options that you can set when you create a video component, see Advanced Options under Step 4. Create a Video Component.

Step 1. Create the Video¶

Your videos can contain whatever content you want to include in the course. The Creating Videos section of edX101 Overview of Creating an edX Course has some helpful pointers for creating good video content.

Step 2. Create or Obtain a Video Transcript¶

Transcripts are required for your videos. Transcripts are helpful for students who are viewing a video in a language other than their native language, who are unable to watch the video, or who want to review the content of the video. You can allow students to download transcripts so that they can read them offline. You associate a transcript with a video when you create the video component.

Timed transcripts in the SubRip Text (.srt) format are strongly recommended. A transcript in the .srt format appears next to its associated video and automatically scrolls as the video plays. A student can click a word in the transcript to jump to the point in the video where that word is spoken.

To create or obtain a transcript in .srt format, you can work with a company that provides captioning services. EdX works with 3Play Media. YouTube also provides captioning services.

When you upload an .srt file, a .txt file is created automatically. You can allow students to download these transcript files. If you allow your students to download transcripts, a Download transcript button appears under the video. Students can then select either SubRip (.srt) file or Text (.txt) file to download the .srt or .txt transcript.

You can also provide transcripts in different formats, such as .pdf, and you can provide transcripts in different languages. For more information about these options, see Additional Transcripts.

Step 3. Post the Video Online¶

All course videos should be posted to YouTube. By default, the edX video player accesses your YouTube videos.

Because YouTube is not available in all locations, however, we recommend that you also post copies of your videos on a third-party site such as Amazon S3. When a student views a video in your course, if YouTube is not available in that student’s location or if the YouTube video doesn’t play, the video on the backup site starts playing automatically. You can also allow the student to download the video from the backup site.

After you post your video online, make sure you have the URL for the video. If you host copies of your video in more than one place, make sure you have the URL for each video location.

Step 4. Create a Video Component¶

1. Under Add New Component, click Video.

2. When the new video component appears, click Edit. The video editor opens to the Basic tab.

   

   You replace the default values with your own.

3. In the Component Display Name field, enter the name you want students to see when they hover the mouse over the unit in the course ribbon. This text also appears as a header for the video.

4. In the Default Video URL field, enter the URL of the video. For example, the URL may resemble one of the following.

   http://youtu.be/OEoXaMPEzfM
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEoXaMPEzfM
   https://s3.amazonaws.com/edx-course-videos/edx-edx101/EDXSPCPJSP13-G030300.mp4
   https://s3.amazonaws.com/edx-videos/edx101/video4.webm
   

5. Next to Default Timed Transcript, select an option.

   • If edX already has a transcript for your video–for example, if you are using a video from an existing course–Studio automatically finds the transcript and associates the transcript with the video.

     If you want to modify the transcript, click Download Transcript for Editing. You can then make your changes and upload the new file by clicking Upload New Transcript.

   • If edX does not have a transcript for the video, but YouTube has a transcript, Studio automatically finds the YouTube transcript and asks if you want to import it. To use this YouTube transcript, click Import YouTube Transcript. (If you want to modify the YouTube transcript, import the YouTube transcript into Studio, and then click Download Transcript for Editing. You can then make your changes and upload the new file by clicking Upload New Transcript.)

   • If both edX and YouTube have a transcript for your video, but the edX transcript is out of date, you receive a message asking if you want to replace the edX transcript with the YouTube transcript. To use the YouTube transcript, click Yes, replace the edX transcript with the YouTube transcript.

   • If neither edX nor YouTube has a transcript for your video, and your transcript uses the .srt format, click Upload New Transcript to upload the transcript file from your computer.

     Note

     • If your transcript uses the .sjson format, do not use this setting. For more information, see Steps for .sjson Files.
     • If you want to provide a transcript in a format such as .pdf, do not use this setting to upload the transcript. For more information, see Additional Transcripts.

6. Optionally, click Advanced to set more options for the video. For a description of each option, see Advanced Options.

7. Click Save.

Video Table of Contents¶

You can add a table of contents for your video by adding an .srt transcript file that contains clickable links to different parts of the video. When your students view the video, they can click the CC button at the bottom of the video player to switch between the main transcript for the video and the table of contents.

To add a table of contents, you work with a third-party service to create the .srt transcript file. Then, you use the Transcript Languages setting in the video component to associate the .srt file with the video.

1. After you obtain the .srt transcript file that will function as the table of contents, open the video component for the video.

2. On the Advanced tab, scroll down to Transcript Languages, and then click Add.

3. In the drop-down list that appears, select Table of Contents.

   An Upload button appears.

4. Click Upload, browse to the .srt file for the transcript, and then click Open.

5. In the Upload translation dialog box, click Upload.

Additional Transcripts¶

By default, a .txt file is created when you upload an .srt file, and students can download an .srt or .txt transcript when you set Download Transcript Allowed to True. The Download Transcript button appears below the video, and students see the .srt and .txt options when they hover over the button.

If you want to provide a downloadable transcript in a format such as .pdf along with the .srt and .txt transcripts, we recommend that you use the Upload Handout field. When you do this, a Download Handout button appears to the right of the Download Transcript button, and students can download the .srt, .txt, or handout version of the transcript.

To add a downloadable transcript by using the Upload Handout field:

1. Create or obtain your transcript as a .pdf or in another format.
2. In the video component, click the Advanced tab.
3. Locate Upload Handout, and then click Upload.
4. In the Upload File dialog box, click Choose File.
5. In the dialog box, select the file on your computer, and then click Open.
6. In the Upload File dialog box, click Upload.

Before Studio added the Upload Handout feature, some courses posted transcript files on the Files & Uploads page or on the Internet, and then added a link to those files in the video component. We no longer recommend this method. When you use this method, the Download Transcript button appears, but only the transcript that you add is available for download. The .srt and .txt transcripts become unavailable.

If you want to use this method, you can post your transcript online, and then add the URL to the transcript in the Downloadable Transcript URL field. However, bear in mind that students will not be able to download .srt or .txt transcripts.

Transcripts in Additional Languages¶

You can provide transcripts for your video in other languages. To do this, you work with a third-party service to obtain an .srt transcript file for each language, and then associate the .srt file with the video in Studio.

1. After you obtain the .srt files for additional languages, open the video component for the video.

2. On the Advanced tab, scroll down to Transcript Languages, and then click Add.

3. In the drop-down list that appears, select the language for the transcript that you want to add.

   An Upload button appears below the language.

4. Click Upload, browse to the .srt file for the language that you want, and then click Open.

5. In the Upload translation dialog box, click Upload.

6. Repeat steps 2 - 5 for any additional languages.

Note

Make sure that all your transcript file names are unique to each video and language. If you use the same transcript name in more than one video component, the same transcript will play for each video. To avoid this problem, you could name your foreign language transcript files according to the video’s file name and the transcript language.

For example, you have two videos, named video1.mp4 and video2.mp4. Each video has a Russian transcript and a Spanish transcript. You can name the transcripts for the first video video1_RU.srt and video1_ES.srt, and name the transcripts for the second video video2_RU.srt and video2_ES.srt.

When your students view the video, they can click the CC button at the bottom of the video player to select a language.

Steps for .sjson Files¶

If your course uses .sjson files, you upload the .sjson file for the video to the Files & Uploads page, and then specify the name of the .sjson file in the video component.

1. Obtain the .sjson file from a media company such as 3Play.

2. Change the name of the .sjson file to use the following format:

   subs_{video filename}.srt.sjson

   For example, if the name of your video is Lecture1a, the name of your .sjson file must be subs_Lecture1a.srt.sjson.

3. Upload the .sjson file for your video to the Files & Uploads page.

4. Create a new video component.

5. On the Basic tab, enter the name that you want students to see in the Component Display Name field.

6. In the Video URL field, enter the URL of the video. For example, the URL may resemble one of the following.

   http://youtu.be/OEoXaMPEzfM
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEoXaMPEzfM
   https://s3.amazonaws.com/edx-course-videos/edx-edx101/EDXSPCPJSP13-G030300.mp4
   

7. Click the Advanced tab.

8. In the Default Timed Transcript field, enter the file name of your video. Do not include subs_ or .sjson. For the example in step 2, you would only enter Lecture1a.

9. Set the other options that you want.

10. Click Save.

Overview¶

You can add a Discussion component to a unit, to pose a question related to the Unit and give students a chance to respond and interact.

See the following topics:

• Create a Discussion Component
• A Student’s View of the Discussion

Before you add a Discussion component, it is generally a good idea to add an HTML component that introduces the topic to be discussed. The Discussion component itself does not contain any text and may be easy for students to overlook.

Also see the following chapters:

• Managing Course Discussions
• Guidance for Discussion Moderators

Create a Discussion Component¶

1. Under Add New Component, click Discussion.

2. In the Discussion component that appears, click Edit.

   

3. When the Discussion component editor opens, follow the guidelines in the editor to fill in the Category, the optional Display Name, and the Subcategory fields.

   

   The value in the Display Name field identifies the discussion in the course content. The values in the Category and Subcategory fields appear in the list of discussion topics on the Discussion page. To uniquely identify the discussion in your course, each Category / Subcategory pair that you supply must be unique.

   

4. Click Save.

Discussion categories are immediately visible on the Discussion tab for your course when you create them, even if the unit that contains the Discussion is not published. However, an individual Discussion component is not visible until the unit is published and release dates for the section and subsection have passed. See Controlling Content Visibility for more information.

Additionally, you cannot see posts, responses, or comments in a Discussion component when you are working in Studio. To see the discussion, go to the unit that contains the Discussion component in Studio, and then click Preview or View Live under Unit Settings.

A Student’s View of the Discussion¶

For students, the display name for the Discussion component appears in the course ribbon at the top of the page:

The Discussion space appears under other components in the unit. It doesn’t have a label in the body of the unit. Instead, students see “Show discussion” or “Hide discussion” on the left, and a blue New Post button on the right.

In the following example, the Discussion component follows Video and HTML components:

In the Discussion tab at the top of the page, students can find the category and subcategory of the discussion in the left pane.

Overview of Problem Components¶

The problem component allows you to add interactive, automatically graded exercises to your course content. You can create many different types of problems in Studio.

All problems receive a point score, but, by default, problems do not count toward a student’s grade. If you want the problems to count toward the student’s grade, change the assignment type of the subsection that contains the problems.

This section covers the basics of Problem components: what they look like to you and your students, and the options that every problem component has. For more information about individual problem types, see Creating Exercises and Tools.

For more information, see the following topics.

• The Student View of a Problem
• The Studio View of a Problem
• Problem Settings
• Modifying a Released Problem
• Additional Work with Problems
• Multiple Problems in One Component
• Problem Randomization

The Student View of a Problem¶

All problems on the edX platform have several component parts.

1. Problem text. The problem text can contain any standard HTML formatting.

2. Response field with the student’s answer. Students enter answers in response fields. The appearance of the response field depends on the type of the problem.

3. Rendered answer. For some problem types, Studio uses MathJax to render plain text as “beautiful math.”

4. Check button. The student clicks Check to submit a response or find out if his answer is correct. If the answer is correct, a green check mark appears. If it is incorrect, a red X appears. When the student clicks the Check button, Studio saves the grade and current state of the problem.

5. Save button. The student can click Save to save his current response without submitting it for a grade. This allows the student to stop working on a problem and come back to it later.

6. Show Answer button. This button is optional. When the student clicks Show Answer, the student sees both the correct answer (see 2 above) and the explanation (see 10 below). The instructor sets whether the Show Answer button is visible.

7. Attempts. The instructor may set a specific number of attempts or allow unlimited attempts for a problem. By default, the course-wide Maximum Attempts advanced setting is null, meaning that the maximum number of attempts for problems is unlimited. If the course-wide Maximum Attempts setting is changed to a specific number, the Maximum Attempts setting for individual problems defaults to that number, and cannot be set to unlimited.

   

8. Feedback. After a student clicks Check, all problems return a green check mark or a red X.

   

9. Correct answer. Most problems require that the instructor specify a single correct answer.

10. Explanation. The instructor may include an explanation that appears when a student clicks Show Answer.

11. Reset button. Students can click Reset to clear any input that has not yet been submitted, and try again to answer the question. If the student has already submitted an answer, clicking Reset clears the submission and, if the problem contains randomized variables and randomization is set to On Reset, changes the values the student sees in the problem. If the number of Maximum Attempts that was set for this problem has been reached, the Reset button is not visible.

12. Hide Answer button.

    

13. Grading. The instructor may specify whether a group of problems is graded. If a group of problems is graded, a clock icon appears for that assignment in the course accordion.

    

14. Due date. The date that the problem is due. A problem that is past due does not have a Check button. It also does not accept answers or provide feedback.

There are also some attributes of problems that are not immediately visible. You can set these attributes in Studio.

• Randomization. For some problems, the instructor can specify whether a problem will use randomly generated numbers that vary from student to student.
• Weight. Different problems in a particular problem set may be given different weights.
• Label. To improve accessibility for students who have disabilities, each problem needs a descriptive label. The label typically contains part or all of the text of the question in the problem. Most templates include a space for a label. You can find example labels in the documentation for each problem or tool type.

The Studio View of a Problem¶

All problems are written in XML. However, Studio offers two interfaces for editing problem components: the Simple Editor and the Advanced Editor.

• The Simple Editor allows you to edit problems visually, without having to work with XML.
• The Advanced Editor converts the problem to edX’s XML standard and allows you to edit that XML directly.

You can switch at any time from the Simple Editor to the Advanced Editor by clicking Advanced Editor in the top right corner of the Simple Editor interface. However, it is not possible to switch from the Advanced Editor to the Simple Editor.

The Simple Editor¶

Several problem templates, including multiple choice and text input problem templates, open in the Simple Editor. The following image shows a multiple choice problem in the Simple Editor.

The Simple Editor includes a toolbar that helps you format the text of your problem. When you select text and then click the formatting buttons, the Simple Editor formats the text for you automatically. The toolbar buttons are the following:

1. Create a level 1 heading.
2. Create multiple choice options.
3. Create checkbox options.
4. Create text input options.
5. Create numerical input options.
6. Create dropdown options.
7. Create an explanation that appears when students click Show Answer.
8. Open the problem in the Advanced Editor.
9. Open a list of formatting hints.

The following problem templates open in the Simple Editor.

• Checkbox Problem In checkbox problems, students select one or more options from a list of possible answers.
• Dropdown Problem In dropdown problems, students select one answer from a dropdown list.
• Multiple Choice Problem Multiple choice problems require students to select one answer from a list of choices that appear directly below the question.
• Numerical Input Numerical input problems require answers that include only integers, fractions, and a few common constants and operators.
• Text Input Problem In text input problems, students enter a short text answer to a question.

The Advanced Editor¶

The Advanced Editor opens a problem in XML. Templates for problems such as such as drag and drop and math expression input open directly in the Advanced Editor.

The following image shows the multiple choice problem above in the Advanced Editor instead of the Simple Editor.

The following problem templates open in the Advanced Editor.

• Circuit Schematic Builder Problem In circuit schematic problems, students create and modify circuits on an interactive grid and submit computer- generated analyses of the circuits for grading.
• Custom JavaScript Problem With custom JavaScript display and grading problems, you can incorporate problem types that you’ve created in HTML into Studio via an IFrame.
• Drag and Drop Problem Drag and drop problems require students to drag text or objects to a specific location on an image.
• Image Mapped Input Problem Image mapped input problems require students to click a specific location on an image.
• Math Expression Input Problems Math expression input problems require students to enter a mathematical expression as text, such as e=m*c^2.
• Problem with Adaptive Hint These problems can give students feedback or hints based on their responses. Problems with adaptive hints can be text input or multiple choice problems.
• Problem Written in LaTeX This problem type allows you to convert problems that you’ve already written in LaTeX into the edX format. Note that this problem type is still a prototype, however, and may not be supported in the future.
• Write-Your-Own-Grader Problem Custom Python-evaluated input (also called “write-your-own-grader” problems evaluate students’ responses using an embedded Python script that you create. These problems can be any type.

Problem Settings¶

In addition to the text of the problem, problems that you create using a Problem component have the following settings. These settings appear on the Settings tab in the component editor.

• Display Name
• Maximum Attempts
• Problem Weight
• Randomization
• Show Answer
• Show Reset Button

Display Name¶

This setting indicates the name of your problem. The display name appears as a heading over the problem in the LMS and in the course ribbon at the top of the page.

Problem Weight¶

Note

Studio stores scores for all problems, but scores only count toward a student’s final grade if they are in a subsection that is graded.

This setting specifies the maximum number of points possible for the problem. The problem weight appears next to the problem title.

By default, each response field, or “answer space,” in a Problem component is worth one point. Any Problem component can have multiple response fields. For example, the Problem component above contains one dropdown problem that has three separate questions for students to answer, and thus has three response fields.

The following Problem component contains one text input problem, and has just one response field.

Computing Scores¶

The score that a student earns for a problem is the result of the following formula:

Score = Weight × (Correct answers / Response fields)

• Score is the point score that the student receives.
• Weight is the problem’s maximum possible point score.
• Correct answers is the number of response fields that contain correct answers.
• Response fields is the total number of response fields in the problem.

Examples

The following are some examples of computing scores.

Example 1

A problem’s Weight setting is left blank. The problem has two response fields. Because the problem has two response fields, the maximum score is 2.0 points.

If one response field contains a correct answer and the other response field contains an incorrect answer, the student’s score is 1.0 out of 2 points.

Example 2

A problem’s weight is set to 12. The problem has three response fields.

If a student’s response includes two correct answers and one incorrect answer, the student’s score is 8.0 out of 12 points.

Example 3

A problem’s weight is set to 2. The problem has four response fields.

If a student’s response contains one correct answer and three incorrect answers, the student’s score is 0.5 out of 2 points.

Randomization¶

This setting specifies whether certain values in your problem change each time a different student accesses the problem, or each time a single student tries to answer the problem. For example, the highlighted values in the problem below change each time a student submits an answer to the problem.

If you want to change, or “randomize,” specific values in your problem, you have to do both the following:

• Make sure that your problem contains a Python script that randomizes the values that you want.
• Enable randomization in the Problem component.

Note

Note that specifying this Randomization setting is different from problem randomization. The Randomization setting randomizes variables within a single problem. Problem randomization offers different problems or problem versions to different students. For more information, see Problem Randomization.

To enable randomization, select an option for the Randomization setting. This setting has the following options.

Always	Students see a different version of the problem each time they click Check.
On Reset	Students see a different version of the problem each time they click Reset.
Never	All students see the same version of the problem. This is the default.
Per Student	Individual students see the same version of the problem each time they look at it, but that version is different from the version that other students see.

Note

The edX Platform has a 20-seed limit for randomization.

Modifying a Released Problem¶

After a student submits a response to a problem, the edX Learning Management System (LMS) stores the student’s response, the score that the student received, and the maximum score for the problem. For problems with a Maximum Attempts setting greater than 1, the LMS updates these values each time the student submits a new response to a problem. However, if an instructor changes a problem or its attributes, existing student information for that problem is not automatically updated.

For example, you may release a problem and specify that its answer is 3. After some students have submitted responses, you notice that the answer should be 2 instead of 3. When you update the problem with the correct answer, the LMS doesn’t update scores for students who answered 2 for the original problem and thus received the wrong score.

For another example, you may change the number of response fields to three. Students who submitted answers before the change have a score of 0, 1, or 2 out of 2.0 for that problem. Students who submitted answers after the change have scores of 0, 1, 2, or 3 out of 3.0 for the same problem.

If you change the weight setting for the problem in Studio, however, existing student scores update when the student’s Progress page is refreshed. In a live section, students will see the effect of these changes.

Additional Work with Problems¶

You have some further options when you work with problems. You can include more than one problem in a single problem component, or you can set up a problem that presents different versions to different students.

Content Libraries Overview¶

In Studio, if you have course creation privileges, you can create a content library to build a pool of components that can be used in randomized assignments in your courses. You can add HTML components, problems, and video components to a library. Peer assessment and discussion components are not supported in content libraries.

After creating a library and adding components to it, if you have enabled content libraries in your course, you can use these library components in randomized assignments in your course. You do this by adding a randomized content block to a course unit and indicating one or more libraries from which the randomized content is to drawn, as well as the number and type of problems that each student is assigned. If you specify more than one library from which to randomly draw components for the randomized assignment, the content from all specified libraries is combined before the random selection is made.

Libraries have separate users and levels of access from courses. Initially, only the person who created the library has access. She can add other users to the library. For details, see Give Other Users Access to Your Library. The libraries that you create or have access to are listed on the Libraries tab on the Studio Home page.

See the following sections for details about creating and managing content libraries.

• Enable Content Libraries
• Create a New Library
• Add Components to a Library
• View the Contents of a Library
• Edit Components in a Library
• Give Other Users Access to Your Library

See the following sections for details about using content library components in a course.

• Use Components from Libraries in a Course
• Add a Randomized Content Block to Your Course
• View the Matching Components in a Randomized Content Block
• Editing Components in Randomized Content Blocks
• Getting the Latest Version of Library Content

Create a New Library¶

Use content libraries to build a pool of components that can be used in randomized assignments in your courses. You can create content libraries if you have course creation privileges.

For information about adding other users to a library after you create it, see Give Other Users Access to Your Library.

To create a new content library, follow these steps.

1. Log in to Studio.

2. Click New Library.

3. Enter the required information for your new library, then click Create.

   Note

   Enter new library information carefully. The values in these fields become part of the URL for your library, therefore the total number of characters in the Library Name, Organization, and Library Code fields must be 65 or fewer.

   

• For Library Name, enter the public display name for your library. Choose a meaningful name that will help you and other course team members to identify the contents of the library. For example, “Level 200 Math Problems”.
• For Organization, enter the identifier for your university. For example, enter HarvardX or MITx. Do not include spaces or special characters.
• For Library Code, enter an identifier for your library that is unique within your organization. This code becomes part of the URL for your library, so do not include spaces or special characters in the code.

4. Click Create.

You see the new library, to which you can now add components. For details about adding components to a library, see Add Components to a Library.

The system-generated Library ID for the new library appears in the sidebar.

Edit a Library¶

After you create a library, the only change you can make to the initial library information is to the name. However, at any time, you can make changes to the components in your library, including adding or deleting components or editing the settings of components. For details about editing the contents of a library, see Edit Components in a Library and Add Components to a Library.

To change the name of a library, follow these steps.

1. Log in to Studio.

2. Click Libraries, then click the library whose name you want to edit.

3. Click the Edit icon next to the library name.

   The library name field becomes editable.

4. In the library name field, make edits or enter a new library name.
5. Click anywhere outside the library name field to save your changes.

For details about giving other users access to the library, see Give Other Users Access to Your Library.

Add Components to a Library¶

To add new components to your library, follow these steps.

1. Log in to Studio.
2. Click Libraries, then click the library that you want to add components to.
3. Click Add Component, then click the component type that you want to add under Add New Component.

For more information about the types of components you can add to a library, see these topics.

• Working with HTML Components
• Working with Problem Components
• Working with Video Components

After you add a component to a library, you can edit its settings. These settings are retained when the component is selected from the library and used in a course.

When a component from the library is used in a randomized content block, you can further edit the component as it exists in the unit, without affecting the original version in the library. For details, refer to Edit Components in a Library and Getting the Latest Version of Library Content.

View the Contents of a Library¶

To view the entire contents of a library in Studio, follow these steps.

1. Log in to Studio.
2. Click Libraries, then click the library whose components you want to view.

The components in the library display in the order in which they were added, with the most recently added at the bottom. If your library has more than 10 components, additional components are shown on other pages.

The range of the components shown on the current page, and the total number of components, are shown at the top of the page.

You can navigate through the pages in these ways:

• Use the < and > buttons at the top and bottom of the list to navigate to the previous and next pages.

• At the bottom of the page, you can edit the first number in the page range. Click the number to place your cursor in the field, then enter the page number you want to jump to.

  

To view the list of matching components in the library, see View the Matching Components in a Randomized Content Block.

To view the randomized content as a student would see it, see View the Randomized Content as a Student.

Edit Components in a Library¶

After you have added components to a content library, you can edit, duplicate, or delete them.

For step-by-step instructions for editing, duplicating, or deleting components, refer to the following topics:

• Edit a Component
• Duplicate a Component
• Delete a Component

Delete a Library¶

You cannot delete a library. Instead, you can discontinue use of an unwanted library. To do so, first make sure that none of its components are in use in any courses, then delete all components in the library. You can also edit the name of the library to make it clear to other course staff that the library should not be used as a source of randomized assignment content in courses.

For details about deleting components in a library, see Edit Components in a Library.

Give Other Users Access to Your Library¶

When you create a library, you are automatically assigned an Admin role in that library.

You can give other Studio users access to your library. Depending on the level of access that you give them in the library, additional library users can view and use library content in courses, edit library content, or add and manage other library users. All users to whom you give library access must be registered with Studio and have an active account.

These are the levels of access for libraries:

• User – Users can view library content and can use library components in their courses, but they cannot edit the contents of a library.
• Staff – Staff can use library components in their courses. In addition, as content co-authors, they have full editing privileges in a library.
• Admin – Admins have full editing privileges for a library. In addition, they can add and remove other team members from library access. There must be at least one user with Admin privileges in a library.

Introduction to Exercises and Tools¶

Studio allows you to create a wide variety of exercises and tools for your course. Many of these exercises and tools have templates in Studio so that you can create them easily. In addition, individual course teams frequently create exercises that don’t have templates in Studio. We’re striving to make these tools available to all our course teams as well, and we have instructions for creating some of them in this section.

Depending on the exercise or tool, you’ll use an HTML, Problem, or Advanced component. The page for each individual exercise or tool contains an example of each exercise or tool, together with all the files, code, and step-by-step instructions that you need to create the exercise or tool.

General Exercises and Tools¶

	Annotation Problem	Annotation problems ask students to respond to questions about a specific block of text. The question appears above the text when the student hovers the mouse over the highlighted text so that students can think about the question as they read.
	Conditional Module	You can create a conditional module to control versions of content that groups of students see. For example, students who answer “Yes” to a poll question then see a different block of text from the students who answer “No” to that question.
	Custom JavaScript Problem	Custom JavaScript display and grading problems (also called custom JavaScript problems or JS Input problems) allow you to create a custom problem or tool that uses JavaScript and then add the problem or tool directly into Studio.
	External Grader	An external grader is a service that receives student responses to a problem, processes those responses, and returns feedback and a problem grade to the edX platform. You build and deploy an external grader separately from the edX platform. An external grader is particularly useful for software programming courses where students are asked to submit complex code.
	Google Calendar Tool	You can embed a Google calendar in your course so that students see the calendar in the courseware. You can use a Google calendar to share quiz dates, office hours, or other schedules of interest to students.
	Google Drive Files Tool	You can embed a Google Drive file, such as a document, spreadsheet, or image, in your course so that students see the file in the courseware.
	Google Instant Hangout Tool	You can add the ability for students to participate in instant hangouts directly from your course. With instant hangouts, students can interact through live video and voice, share screens and watch videos together, and collaborate on documents.
	IFrame Tool	IFrames allow you to integrate ungraded exercises and tools from any Internet site into an HTML component in your course.
	LTI Component	LTI components allow you to add an external learning application or non-PDF textbook to Studio.
	Open Response Assessments	In open response assessments, students receive feedback on written responses of varying lengths as well as image files that the students upload. Open response assessments include self assessment and peer assessment.
	Poll Tool	You can run polls in your course so that your students can share opinions on different questions.
	Problem with Adaptive Hint	A problem with an adaptive hint evaluates a student’s response, then gives the student feedback or a hint based on that response so that the student is more likely to answer correctly on the next attempt. These problems can be text input or multiple choice problems.
	Problem Written in LaTeX	If you have an problem that is already written in LaTeX, you can use this problem type to easily convert your code into XML.
	Student Notes Tool	With student notes, students can make notes about what they read and highlight passages in the course content.
	Text Input Problem	In text input problems, students enter text into a response field. The response can include numbers, letters, and special characters such as punctuation marks.
	Word Cloud Tool	Word clouds arrange text that students enter - for example, in response to a question - into a colorful graphic that students can see.
	Write-Your-Own-Grader Problem	In custom Python-evaluated input (also called “write-your-own-grader”) problems, the grader uses a Python script that you create and embed in the problem to evaluates a student’s response or provide hints. These problems can be any type.

Image-Based Exercises and Tools¶

	Drag and Drop Problem	In drag and drop problems, students respond to a question by dragging text or objects to a specific location on an image.
	Full Screen Image Tool	The Full Screen Image tool allows a student to enlarge an image in the whole browser window. This is useful when the image contains a large amount of detail and text that is easier to view in context when enlarged.
	Image Mapped Input Problem	In an image mapped input problem, students click inside a defined area in an image. You define this area by including coordinates in the body of the problem.
	Zooming Image Tool	Zooming images allow you to enlarge sections of an image so that students can see the section in detail.

Multiple Choice Exercises and Tools¶

	Checkbox Problem	In checkbox problems, the student selects one or more options from a list of possible answers. The student must select all the options that apply to answer the problem correctly.
	Dropdown Problem	Dropdown problems allow the student to choose from a collection of answer options, presented as a dropdown list. Unlike multiple choice problems, whose answers are always visible directly below the question, dropdown problems don’t show answer choices until the student clicks the dropdown arrow.
	Multiple Choice Problem	In multiple choice problems, students select one option from a list of answer options. Unlike with dropdown problems, whose answer choices don’t appear until the student clicks the drop-down arrow, answer choices for multiple choice problems are always visible directly below the question.
	Multiple Choice and Numerical Input Problem	You can create a problem that combines a multiple choice and numerical input problems. Students not only select a response from options that you provide, but also provide more specific information, if necessary.

STEM Exercises and Tools¶

	Chemical Equation Problem	Chemical equation problems allow the student to enter text that represents a chemical equation into a text box. The grader evaluates the student’s response by using a Python script that you create and embed in the problem.
	Circuit Schematic Builder Problem	In circuit schematic builder problems, students can arrange circuit elements such as voltage sources, capacitors, resistors, and MOSFETs on an interactive grid. They then submit a DC, AC, or transient analysis of their circuit to the system for grading.
	Gene Explorer Tool	The Gene Explorer (GeneX) simulates the transcription, splicing, processing, and translation of a small hypothetical eukaryotic gene. GeneX allows students to make specific mutations in a gene sequence, and it then calculates and displays the effects of the mutations on the mRNA and protein.
	Math Expression Input Problems	The more complex of Studio’s two types of math problems. In math expression input problems, students enter mathematical expressions to answer a question. These problems can include unknown variables and more complex symbolic expressions. You can specify a correct answer either explicitly or by using a Python script.
	Molecule Editor Tool	The molecule editor allows students to draw molecules that follow the rules for covalent bond formation and formal charge, even if the molecules are chemically impossible, are unstable, or do not exist in living systems.
	Molecule Viewer Tool	The molecule viewer allows you to create three-dimensional representations of molecules for students to view.
	Numerical Input	The simpler of Studio’s two types of math problems. In numerical input problems, students enter numbers or specific and relatively simple mathematical expressions to answer a question. These problems only allow integers and a few select constants. You can specify a margin of error, and you can specify a correct answer either explicitly or by using a Python script.
	Periodic Table Tool	An interactive periodic table of the elements shows detailed information about each element as the student moves the mouse over the element.
	Protex Protein Builder Tool	The Protex protein builder asks students to create specified protein shapes by stringing together amino acids.

Create an Annotation Problem¶

To create an annotation problem, you’ll add the Annotation advanced component to your course, add the Instructions and Guided Discussion segments of the problem, and then the Annotation problem segment of the problem.

1. Add the Annotation advanced component.

   1. From the Settings menu select Advanced Settings.

   2. In the field for the Advanced Module List policy key, place your cursor between the brackets.

   3. Enter the following value. Make sure to include the quotation marks.

      "annotatable"

   4. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.

      The page refreshes automatically. At the top of the page, you see a notification that your changes have been saved.

   5. Return to the unit where you want to add the specialized problem. The list of possible components now contains an Advanced component.

      

2. Add the Instructions and Guided Discussion segments of the problem.

1. In the unit where you want to create the problem, under Add New Component click Advanced.
2. In the list of problem types, click Annotation.
3. In the component that appears, click Edit.
4. In the component editor, replace the example code with your own code.
5. Click Save.

3. Add the Annotation problem segment of the problem.

   1. Under the Annotation component, create a new blank Advanced Problem component.

   2. Paste the following code in the Advanced Problem component, replacing placeholders with your own information.

      <problem>
          <annotationresponse>
              <annotationinput>
                <text>PLACEHOLDER: Text of annotation</text>
                  <comment>PLACEHOLDER: Text of question</comment>
                  <comment_prompt>PLACEHOLDER: Type your response below:</comment_prompt>
                  <tag_prompt>PLACEHOLDER: In your response to this question, which tag below
                  do you choose?</tag_prompt>
                <options>
                  <option choice="incorrect">PLACEHOLDER: Incorrect answer (to make this
                  option a correct or partially correct answer, change choice="incorrect"
                  to choice="correct" or choice="partially-correct")</option>
                  <option choice="correct">PLACEHOLDER: Correct answer (to make this option
                  an incorrect or partially correct answer, change choice="correct" to
                  choice="incorrect" or choice="partially-correct")</option>
                  <option choice="partially-correct">PLACEHOLDER: Partially correct answer
                  (to make this option a correct or partially correct answer,
                  change choice="partially-correct" to choice="correct" or choice="incorrect")
                  </option>
                </options>
              </annotationinput>
          </annotationresponse>
          <solution>
            <p>PLACEHOLDER: Detailed explanation of solution</p>
          </solution>
        </problem>
      

4. Click Save.

Create a Checkbox Problem¶

You can create checkbox problems in the Simple Editor or in the Advanced Editor.