Illinois Compass 2g, Content Areas

Course content areas are used to organize all course content materials. A link to each content area creates the first level of the course menu tree directory. Course developers create and manage content areas from the course menu.

Adding a content area

By default, one content area appears in a course. Instructors may decide to create additional content areas or edit existing content areas. For example, a content area for Assignments may be added and the name of the area may later be changed to Homework.

Follow the steps below to add a content area to the course menu:

1. Set Edit Mode to ON.
2. Point to the Add button (+) on the Course Menu.
3. Select Create Content Area.
4. Type a Name for the Content Area.
5. Click the Available to Users check box to grant access to Students and other users in the Course.
6. Click Submit.

The new content area appears on the course menu. If the content area contains no content, an icon of a dotted square appears. If the content area is unavailable to students, an icon of a square with a line through it appears.

Edit content areas

Use the contextual menu to Edit, Delete, Show Icons Only, or Show Icons and Text for the Content Area.

Manage content areas

Once content areas for the course have been created, content creation may begin. All content is added and edited within the content areas. Select a content area on the course menu to open the main content area page. All actions related to managing content are available from this page. This includes:

• Create Item - add any single content item
• Build - add organizational elements such as folders, tools and links
• Evaluate - add tests, surveys and assignments. 
• Collaborate - add group and communication tools such as blogs, discussion boards, and chat sessions.