Edit course

Last modified by Carina Enke on 15.02.2024

To edit a course, switch to the edit view, i.e. the course editor. Please note that only course supervisors and users with extended rights are allowed to edit a course.

Open course editor

1	Open the course you wish to edit in the course view.
2	Use the pencil icon at the top of the page to open the editing mode.
3	In the opened course editor, you can now customise your course content and add course elements.

Configurations in the main course node

In the course editor

The course editor provides several tabs to configure the main course node:

Kurseditor - verfügbare Tabs im Kursknoten_en.png

Title and description

If you create a course, its title will also be used for the main course node. To customise the title of the main course node, make your desired changes here.

Configuration options in the tab title and description ...

Title	You need to enter a title for the course element. The title can comprise a maximum of 100 characters. All special characters and numbers are permitted. The title will appear in the navigation menu of the course and also as a heading in the content area. Changes to the title of the first course element, the so-called main course node ...
Subtitle	You can enter a subtitle for the course element with a maximum of 255 characters. All special characters and numbers are permitted. The title will appear as a tooltip in the navigation menu and - if selected and configured accordingly - as a subtitle in the content area.
Description	Here you can describe the course element. The description will appear in the content area below the title. Depending on the settings configured in the element Display, this additional text is displayed to the user when opening the course element. The user can expand or collapse the view of the text.
Display	Define which information about the course element should be displayed in the course view. In addition to the content, you can optionally display the title and description. All course elements are provided with a reasonable presetting, which mostly includes the setting Title, description and content. You can adjust this setting in accordance with the options available for each course element. For an example of the different setting options, refer to the help page Displaying information about the course element.
Set link for this course element	Each course element can be accessed via fixed link addresses. Therefore, an internal and an external URL is assigned to each course element. These direct links to concrete elements can be used within courses or provided to learners. The URLs are located below the title and description of the element and will appear upon selecting *Set link for this course element*. External link: To refer to this course element from outside of the course or learning platform, you can use the external link and insert it, for example as a href attribute, into the desired HTML page. Internal link: To set a link to another course element within the same course, you can insert the internal link as a href attribute into the desired HTML page.
ID	You will need the ID number of the course element (on the bottom right), for example, if you wish to use the expert mode in the visibility or access tab.

Visibility

The visibility of the course depends on its publication status and the settings configured in the Visibility and Access tab of the course element. Further information is provided in the section Publishing courses and course content.

Configuration options in the tab visibility and access

In the areas Visibility and Access, authors and course owners can individually determine the presentation of course elements. If no input is made in the access area, the content of a course element will by default be visible to all course participants after publishing the element. Apart from the general options listed below, additional configuration options are available depending on the course element.

The following general options are available for the configuration of visibility and access:

Display expert mode	Click on the button *Display expert mode* to open an input field, which allows you to perform a more complex configuration according to your needs. For more detailed information about the expert mode, see the help page Publishing within courses (expert mode).
Depending on assessment	Here, you will find all assessable course elements. These include, for example, the elements test, assessment, task, or structure. If you select the option *Check for "passed", you will be able to choose a course element from the input field Course element, which the user must have passed as a prerequisite to accessing this course element. If you select the option Check score*, you can indicate a number of points in the input field "Passing score", which have to be achieved in order to be able to access the course element.
Only blocked for guests	Ist diese Checkbox markiert, ist das Element oder die Funktion ausschließlich für angemeldete Lernende, Betreuer und Administratoren des Kurses verfügbar. Diese Checkbox ist nur notwendig, wenn Sie in einem sonst öffentlichen Kurs (Publikationsstatus "Öffentlich - Für jeden sichtbar" bzw. BARG ) einzelne Kursbausteine oder Funktionsabschnitte dennoch für Gäste sperren und nur für angemeldete Nutzer zugänglich machen wollen. Hat Ihr Kurs den Publikationsstatus "Öffentlich - für registrierte Nutzer" haben nicht angemeldete Nutzer (= Gäste) grundsätzlich keinen Zugang zum Kurs.
Depending on date	Mark this checkbox to specify a particular access time. You can set individual dates or date ranges by filling in only one or both input fields respectively. You can also create or delete dates via the + and - buttons.
Depending on group	Select this checkbox to restrict the accessibility of the course element to learning groups or learning areas. You can then select existing groups and areas or create new ones. If you set restrictions with the configuration option "depending on group", the corresponding course element will be restricted for all non-members of the group. This includes, for example, users who have not yet confirmed the group invitation or who are on the waiting list for a group. Such users cannot yet see or access the restricted course element.
Apply rules also for author, owner and tutor	This option does not become visible until one of the other options has been selected. If you activate the checkbox, the same access rules which apply to users will also be valid for tutors and course administrators.
Password	This option is only available in the area *Access* and can either be applied to the whole course or a structural element of the course. Enter the desired password, which users will need to use in order to gain access to the course content, in the text field.
Blocked for learners	Wenn Sie die Checkbox markieren, ist der Bereich oder Funktionsabschnitt ausschließlich für Betreuer und Administratoren des Kurses sichtbar bzw zugänglich. Angemeldete Lernende und auch nicht registrierte Gäste sehen das Element nicht bzw. haben keinen Zugang zum Inhalt.
Depending on attribute	Whether or not this option is displayed is system-dependent. You can use it to set visibility or access privileges according to user attributes. Only users who meet the predefined conditions will see the course element or have access to its content. If you want to use several attributes, you need to link them with one of the operators (AND/OR) above the attribute list. The following comparison operators can be used depending on the selected attribute: "contains the value" "does not contain value" "has exactly the value" "does not have value" "starts with value" "ends with value" "greater than" (>) "less than" (<) "greater than/equals" (<=) "less than/equals" (>=) See the Overview of OPAL-Shibboleth attributes page for a list of attributes available for selected institutions. OPAL School authors can use the Main school attribute to restrict course access to their own school. An example can be found on the Publish course only for users of one/my school help page. The verification of the created attribute rules is not case-sensitive to the specified values. That means, for example, if your access rule reads "Study group" attribute contains the value "Law", the actual verification will be done with the word "law" in lowercase. As a result, the course element will be accessible both to users in the "Law" and to users in the "Family law" study group alike.

Advanced configuration options

In the case of individual course element types, there are further attributes to configure access to editing rights for course participants.

If various restrictive single options are set, they will be linked with AND, i.e. all conditions of the single options must be met for the user to see and have access to the course element. The only exceptions are the single options Attributes. In this case, various restrictive single options can also be linked with OR. The OR linking only requires the fulfilment of one condition in order to enable visibility or access, unless other restrictive single options prevent this.

All restrictions are also automatically valid for all subordinate course elements.

Note about hiding access restrictions

If a course element is visible, but there are

current or future access restrictions or
restricted rights for the course element,

the user will be informed accordingly when accessing the course element. This information helps the user to learn more about the functions available, e.g. which functions will be available at what time and under what conditions.

If required, however, you can hide this information text (from the user) for each course element individually.

Access

Overview

This tab allows you to adjust the presentation of the course's overview page and to activate the course progress indicator.

Presentation

Automatic overview	The title, subtitle, and description of the selected child course elements are displayed.
Automatically generated overview incl. preview	The title, subtitle, description, and a preview of the content of the selected child course elements are displayed.
Your HTML page	You can display a file of your choice from the storage folder (.html, .htm).
External HTML page	This option allows you to embed an external HTML page as a summary page in the course.

For more detailed information on the configuration of the individual presentation options, refer to the help page of the course element Structure.

Show course menu:

If the checkbox is enabled, the course menu on the left side of the course view will be displayed as unfolded. If the checkbox is not enabled, the menu will be shown collapsed when opening the course, i. e. it will not be immediately visible. If necessary, the course menu can be opened manually by the user at any time – regardless of which option is chosen.

Kurseditor - Kurs Tab Konfiguration_en.png

Course progress:

If you enable the course progress indicator, this function will be available for different types of elements throughout the course. The course progress indicator is a coloured marker in both the navigation bar and the detailed view of various course elements. Depending on the course element, the colour marker is set automatically or manually by the user regardless of the course's visibility and access rules. For more information, see the section Course progress.

Course enrolment

Users who open the course for the first time, can be automatically enrolled in the selected group. This does not apply to system administrators, guests, learning resource administrators, or course owners, nor to members and tutors of the group.

To enable automated enrolment, proceed as follows...

1	Open the course and switch to the course editor.
2	Open the tab *Course enrolment* from the course settings.
3	Activate the checkbox *Automated enrolment* .
4	As a next step, define the *learning groups* to which the learners will be added.
5	Confirm your entries with *Save* .
6	After you have published the course, the automated enrolment will be active. If automated enrolment is enabled, the learner will be asked whether they agree with the enrolment when entering the course.

Assessment

In the main course node, as in the course element Structure , you can collect assessment information of other course elements, resulting in an overall assessment.

Select the desired assessment category (score, mark, passing score) in the tab Assessment and the course elements that are to be included in the overall assessment of the structural element. Further information is provided in the chapter Assessment.

The assessment of learners is only possible in combination with a learning group, i. e. the participants to be assessed must be enrolled automatically or manually in a learning group of the course.

Multilingualism

In this tab, different translations can be added to individual course element areas.

More settings

The following course functions are additionally available: