--- loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Create_Course.tex 2003/02/07 02:02:57 1.1 +++ loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Create_Course.tex 2011/05/23 19:57:46 1.2 @@ -1,13 +1,17 @@ \label{Create_Course} -The Create Course screen offers several choices for generating the new course: +The ``Course and Community Creation'' menu provides access to a number of utilities +which Domain Coordinators can use to either manage the process of course creation. An individual course or community can be created interactively by completing a web form which offers several choices for generating the new course or community: \begin{itemize} +\item Username: set the username of the owner, who will also receive a coordinator role. \item Course Title: This is the name under which the course will appear on the Roles screen \item Course Home Server: This is the server where the course will be housed \item Course ID: This is an optional parameter to internally label the course. Stored in the course environment. -\item Map: This a map with course content. +\item Course Code: This is the institutional code used to identify the course according to the naming scheme adopted by your institution for ``official'' courses. +\item Map: This the top level sequence file in the course. If left blank, a +standard course will be created containing the first resource item (see below). \item NOT Standard Course: It this box is checked, the Map above becomes the top-level map for the course, and the main course sequence cannot be edited in DOCS. For standard courses, @@ -15,11 +19,22 @@ the top-level map is a course-specific ` the above map. \item First Resource: This is the first resource which comes up after somebody selects a role in this course (standard courses only). +\item Clone an existing course: An alternative to creation of a new course with + a single item or a non-standard course with a sequence file as the top-level map is to copy the contents of an existing course into the new course. \item Open all assessment: Sets the course-level open date for all assignments to ``now''. Circumvents the ``not open to be viewed'' problem. \item Set policy/content feedback: Sets the recipient address for these types of feedback messages to the course coordinator. \item Disable student resource discussion: Disables the ``bottom-of-the-page'' discussions. -\item Course Coordinator: set the username of the course coordinator -\item Immediately expire ...: Prevents the Roles screen of the Domain Coordinator to fill up with roles. Role can be re-activated by the Domain Coordinator if further interaction needed. \end{itemize} + +Two types of course ``container'' are currently available in LON-CAPA: +\begin{itemize} +\item Course +\item Community +\end{itemize} +The key difference between the two is that the Coordinator of a Course may import any published resource into the course as long as he/she has access rights for it, whereas import into a Community is restricted to just those resources for which the Coordinator is the author, or a co-author. In addition, the names of standard roles in the two containers have different names: (Course Coordinator vs. Coordinator, Instructor vs. Leader, Teaching Assistant vs. Assistant Leader, Student vs. Member). + +In addition to using a web form to create courses one-at-a-time, Domain Coordinators can upload an XML file containing descriptions of courses (see: \ref{Batch_Creation} Batch Creation) to create multiple courses. If the ability to request courses has been enabled, and certain course types have been set to require Domain Coordinator approval, then the ``Approve or reject requests'' item can be used to display a list of requests requiring approval. These may be approved or rejected. If a conduit has been established to an institutional data source which provides information about instructors of record, then the ``View pending official course requests'' may contain a list of requests for official courses, held pending validation. Validation can be attempted; if it still fails it is possible to override this and force creation of the course. + +Lastly, there is access to a utility which can be used to display course and community creation history.