While you're teaching online you may find yourself "Back in Black[board]." Just as in-person teaching requires a physical location where learning occurs, online teachers need to provide students with an online classroom. These online classrooms are commonly called learning management systems (LMSs) and allow teachers to provide students with learning materials and opportunities to interact with other students and the teacher.

Blackbaord in the largest, but not the only learning management system (LMS). Google Classroom is not a full LMS but has become largely popular because of its simplicity. However, currently Google Classroom doesn’t allow you to create in-system content pages. As a result, when using Google Classroom you would need to provide directions and learning materials using Google Drive or Google Site.

There's not one formula for creating great content pages. However, there are some general guidelines that we recommend you follow:

• Chunk content. It can be intimidating for students to see a long content page so it's better to chunk the content onto separate pages.

• Use bullet points when presenting lists or steps.

• Use bolding strategically to draw attention to important terms or phrases. You should also avoid using blue text because students may confuse it with a hyperlink.

• Shorten the line length. When text is too long, it takes longer to read because your eye has to cover more ground going from the left of the screen to the right. This is why newspapers use columns. However, online pages don't use columns. Instead, you can shorten the line length by creating tables with text in one column and images or videos in the other column.

• Left-justify text. When text is centered it can make it difficult for students to read because it's a little harder to find the line where the sentence continues. As a result, it's much better to left-justify all paragraph text.

• Use images, symbols, and icons purposefully. Images can be a powerful teaching tool that engages students. However, not all pages need to have an image and too many images can be distracting—especially when they're not closely related to the content. Icons and symbols can also be repeated to signify certain tasks/activities.

• Embed videos. Rather than linking out to videos, embed them directly onto the page unless viewing the video is optional.

• Embrace headings and white space. Try to break up long paragraphs into shorter ones. Headings can also help cue students to topics. White space between topics can also help to break up the information.

• Avoid small text. Text should be at least 12-point type and larger if you have younger students.

• Use intuitive navigation. Ensure that there is a sense of flow in your course navigation. You don't want students to feel lost in your course. You also don't want them not knowing what to do next. Starting each page with an introduction and ending with a description of and link to what’s next can be helpful.

Google Sites is an easy, free way to create content pages for students. The following screenshot was taken from a Google Site created by Katie Bruechert, a librarian in Fairfax County Public Schools. Notice how she followed the recommendations outlined above. The result is a content page that is clear to navigate and understand.

Google Classroom is an LMS that is free and keeps getting better. The following screenshot was taken from a unit created by Corey Teitsma, a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools. I love the unit because it has everything: an orientation video, a popular Hollywood-type video, a graphic organizer, a hyperdoc, a collaborative Google Slides, a discussion prompt, and a Google Doc checklist. In fact, notice that his hyperdoc used a mixtape theme. I loved it so much that it was the inspiration for this website.