Topics Map > Teaching and Learning > Illinois Compass 2G

Illinois Compass 2g, Course Menu

redirecting....

About the Course Menu

The Course Menu appears near the top left of every course and provides the primary navigation for tools and materials within the course. This menu is customizable allowing you to easily add content areas, interactive course tools and links to external websites.
By default, all courses begin with three items: “Announcements”, a Content Area called “Course Content”, and a “My Grades” area for students to view their graded work.

NOTE: the Course Menu does not include Discussions or Assignments as it may have in your traditional Illinois Compass course (powered by Blackboard Vista).

In Illinois Compass 2g, you can easily modify the course menu and the structure of the content within your course. For instance, you may want to create a content area labeled Assignments and add all your required course assignments within this area. Read on to learn more about the variety of customization options available on the Course Menu.

Customizing the Course Menu

At a minimum, instructors should plan to edit the Course Menu so students can easily access essential tools and content areas within the course. To add items to your Course Menu, first, check the Edit Mode toggle switch near the top right of your course to be sure Edit Mode is on.

 When in Edit Mode, a plus icon (+) appears near the top left of the course menu. Click on this icon to display a list of items that can be added to the menu.

Review the table below for a brief explanation of each option:

> Create Content Area	Creates a new Content Area and adds it to the course menu
> Create Blank Page see video demo *	Adds a blank page for inserting custom content such as instructor information
> Create Tool Link see video demo *	Adds an existing course tool such as the discussion board
> Create Course Link	Adds an existing document within a content area
> Create External Link	Creates a hyperlink to any external website
> Create Module Page	Creates a new learning module and adds it to the course menu
> Create Subheader	Adds a subheading to the course menu
> Create Divider	Adds a dividing line between sections of the course menu

While in edit mode, you will notice two icons associated with each menu item. To the left of each item is a two-headed arrow; use this icon to drag and drop items to re-order your menu. To the right of each item you will see a chevron icon that looks like two downward facing arrows. Click this icon for options such as renaming, hiding, and deleting menu items.

For additional information about Editing the Course Menu see this short interactive video (3 min 45 sec). NOTE: Videos are produced and provided by Blackboard. The interface between Illinois Compass 2g and the videos may differ, but the videos are still useful in illustrating the tool or feature at hand.

Choosing a Menu Style

You should also be aware that you could change the look and feel of your course menu to suit your preferences and to provide users with additional views of the course structure.

By default, two views are available allowing users to toggle between them using the icons at the top of the course menu. The highlighted icon in this image indicates the Quick View display option is currently selected; the folder icon directly to the right represents the Detail View. Roll your cursor over any menu icon for a brief description of its function.

1. Quick View – Displays top-level of Course materials. Links may be displayed as buttons or text.

1. Detail View – Displays the folder structure of your course content and can expand to show a hierarchy of nested folders and files.

Click on Customization under the course Control Panel and select Style to edit the Course Menu’s display properties. From this location you can also add an image banner to your course and determine which section of the course displays as the entry point for students.

Escalation Path:

redirecting..