How to Customize Your Course

All the Course Maker materials use #ToDo to outline the content that you should update and personalize.

To search on Windows: 

1. Press CTRL + F on your keyboard.
2. Type in #ToDo in the search field that appears in the top-right corner. To see the next occurrence on the page, click the Next button to the right of the field.

To search on Mac: 

1. Press Command + F on your keyboard.
2. Type in #ToDo in the search field that appears in the top-right corner. To see the next occurrence on the page, click the Next button to the right of the field.

Microsoft Teams Widget

The course homepage includes several custom widgets and resources for students. The Microsoft Teams widget is a great way to provide a chat environment to your class. As of 8/1/2022, the Microsoft Teams widget will be enabled on the homepage of the Starter Kit. Visit the Instructor Help Pages for instructions on adding or removing the Microsoft Teams widget.

Edit Welcome Announcement

A welcome announcement helps create a welcoming environment, increases instructor presence and lets students know what they should do on the first day or week of classes.

It is best practice to include important course information, instructions for getting started, or an overview/introduction to the course.

1. Click on Course Admin, and then click on Announcements. 
2. To the right of the Welcome to Week 1 Announcement, click on the downward-facing arrow, and select Edit from the drop-down menu. 
3. Make any changes, and then click on Update to save your changes. 

Edit Meet Your Instructor Page

Students need to know how to communicate with you and respect any specific contact preferences. The Meet Your Instructor page helps you set boundaries and manage expectations with your students upfront. Additionally, this page introduces students to who you are. 

Sharing background information about yourself and including your picture goes a long way in building a connection with your students and establishing your presence in your online classroom. You may want to include your educational history, research interests, why you are passionate about your discipline, or any fun, relevant personal details in your bio.

1. Click on the Start Here module. 
2. Click on the Meet Your Instructor page and click on the Edit HTML button.
3. Update the page with your contact information, contact preferences, a picture, and a short bio.

Optional: Change the banner to reflect your course topic or subject. There are a variety of pre-formatted banners on the Course Maker website. 

Edit Specific Course Technology Page

The Specific Course Technology page identifies some digital tools that promote learner engagement. It also includes links to privacy and accessibility policies and where learners can go for technical assistance. Including detailed and clearly worded information about each technology promotes learner success and allows learners to be informed stewards of their data.

1. Click on the Start Here module. 
2. Click on the Specific Course Technology page, and click on the Edit HTML button. 
3. Under the List of Course Technologies heading, customize the specific course technologies your course will be using. 

• Some of the most popular tools used at the University of Arizona have been preloaded into the Starter Kit. Be sure to delete any tools you will not use from this list. 

4. Add any additional course technologies or tools to the Course Technology list. For Example, Microsoft Excel or R. 
5. Add System Requirements and Hardware and Software Requirements
   • System requirements for UArizona licensed software are available on the Software Licensing Website.

Best Practice: Include links or information to where students can find support, the accessibility information, and the tools privacy policy—most of this information is on the Student Resources page.

Edit the Module Description Area

The description area of this module contains a banner image, a heading, and some brief instructions letting students know to read the module overview before proceeding with the links, resources, and pages located inside the module. The description area in D2L is for short descriptions or snippets of non-vital information and cannot handle rich content such as videos, stylesheets, or Course Maker Building Blocks.

1. Click on the banner to activate the editor. 
2. Select the banner and click the Insert Image option in the toolbar.
3. To upload your own banner image, select My Computer.
4. Click Add. 
   • Add an alternative text if the banner is essential to the course or related to the content.
5. Click Ok.
6. Click Update to save the Description area.

Edit the Module Overview Page

The module overview page provides students with context and expectations for the module by clearly outlining what students will learn and do.

1. Click on Module 1 in the Content area of your course site. 
2. Click on the Module Overview page and click on the Edit HTML button.
3. Add a module introduction, module-level learning outcomes, assignments, learning activities, and assessments to the activity list. 
4. Click Save and Close to publish your changes. 

Optional: Change the banner to reflect your course topic or subject. 

You can find pre-formatted banners on the Course Builder website or add your own. The recommended size for all banners is 1500px by 300px with a dpi of 72. 

Now that Module 1 is done, you are ready to move on to the rest of your course. Use the Document Templates feature in D2L to quickly build your course using Starter Kit templates from Module 1. 

How to set up D2L to use Document Templates:

1. Navigate to your D2L course site. 
2. Click on the Content Tab
3. Click on the Settings button (located under the navigation bar). 
4. Under the Content Authoring heading, click on the Enable HTML Templates checkbox.
5. Click on the Change Path button.
6. In the pop window, click on Public Files.
7. Locate the Course Maker folder, and click on the plus sign icon to expand the folder. 
8. Locate the Starter Kit subfolder and click on the plus sign icon to expand the folder. Inside the Starter Kit subfolder, select the PageTemplates folder. 
9. Click on the Select Path button at the bottom of the popup window to set the template path. 
10. The Template Path should be: /shared/CourseMaker/StarterKit/PageTemplates/
11.  Click Save.