Course Building Checklist

During a rapid transition to remote teaching, there are key aspects on which to focus rather than trying to incorporate every aspect of instructional design. OTTL has developed a checklist of D2L/LIVE tasks that you can use as you work through your courses to ensure you set up the minimum components needed to keep teaching. In addition to our checklist below, Quality Matters developed an Emergency Remote Instruction Checklist to help those who are new to remote and online teaching that will guide you in creating a high quality experience by focusing on the most important aspects first and some context for each recommended action.

D2L provides this great article to get you oriented, then follow our steps below.

D2L/LIVE Tasks:

1. Create an Announcement

• Welcome your students and announce your intentions for using LIVE.

• TIP - Use announcements to share important information, draw attention to specific items or activities, and to summarize the week's events.

  • Do not use Announcements to share course content. Place actual content in modules.

2. Create a ‘START HERE’ module

• Upload your syllabus to your Start Here module

• Include page that explains how students can be successful in your course given the situation. Now is not the time to hide information from them. Tell them what they need to know, how to seek help when they need it, and how to navigate through the course.

• Add any other resources and documents that students will need that might not be tied directly to a content module. This might be rubrics, supporting materials for upcoming activities, student guides for the different tools you plan to use, etc.

• TIP - Include a link for your students to get oriented to D2L/LIVE. Here's a good one to use https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysM2cc2zIPM&list=PLxHabmZzFY6mtggGZAitZ61kmpS-pMIaM

3. Create a Q&A discussion forum

• A Q&A discussion forum is a place where students can post general questions about class, assignments, etc and anyone can post answers but instructors can save time by posting FAQ along with the answers for all to see.

• TIP - Be sure to include some directions for how you want students to use this and how you will respond to questions posted there.

4. Create modules for the content that will replace your missed classes

• Think ahead. Try creating a new module for each week you anticipate being out and place materials in them as you go. You can hide them until you are ready for students to see the additional modules.

• Upload any PowerPoint slides you have prepared

• Consider creating a video lecture with Panopto to replace an upcoming missed class

• If you’d rather hold a live session, set up class to be held at its normal time using Virtual Classroom tool or use the integrated Zoom feature if you have a Wilkes-provided premium Zoom account.

• TIP - Once you have a bunch of materials in the module, reorder them as students should review them or encounter them in the flow of the course. Drag and drop - simple as that.

5. Set your notifications. See this Brightspace help document for instructions.

6. Will students have an upcoming assignment they need to submit?

• Set up an assignment and associated grade item.

These basic steps will get you started. Other portions of this site provide additional resources to support you during lengthier closures or more involved course development. Visit the Course Design and Delivery area for a deeper dive into specific design and delivery models.