Resources for Instructors

Thank you for choosing to use OLI Courses with your class! Below are a set of documents and resources to help you and your students make the most of this experience.

Creating an Academic Course

In order to build a course, you will need an account with "instructor" privileges. If you do not have one, you can request an instructor account now.

Once you sign in with you instructor account, you will be able to create a new Academic Course using the Course Builder tool.

The main function of the Course Builder is to allow you to select and sequence materials, activities and assessments from the pre-existing Course Packages to build your Academic Course. You may also use the Course Builder to define a schedule and create the Course Key - an alphanumerical code that your students will use to register for your course.

 

The following documents describe the tools and options that are available when creating courses.

Quickstart Guide

This document is designed for new instructors and provides:

  • a basic orientation to your homepage
  • instructions to build a basic course that uses the default course theme and organization

Read Quickstart Guide

Customizing your Course

This document covers options available to customize your course.

  • Customize the course organization
  • Set a course schedule
  • Set your assessment options (if applicable)

Read Creating a Customized Course


Getting your Students Started

It is crucial for your students to have pertinent and correct course-specific information before they can begin accessing your course. Be sure to send each student information regarding:

  • OLI Course Key
  • How to create an OLI account
  • Payment requirements for the course (if applicable)
  • Important information about accessing the course materials:
    Each course has its own unique content and therefore unique technical components, let students know that it is important that they perform the System Test and Configure for each course they use.

Below are basic student instruction templates for creating an account and registering for your course. Please modify them as needed and send to your students.

Instructions for Carnegie Mellon Students

Sign_In-CMUStudentFree.doc - For Carnegie Mellon Students taking a free course

Sign_In-CMUStudent.doc - For Carnegie Mellon Students taking a payment required course

Instructions for Students from Other Universities

Sign_In-Student.doc

Managing your Course

The series of short documents below provides information on a variety of common topics to help you effectively run your course.

General Information

The Instructor's View

Using the Gradebook

Managing the Student Roster

Technical Support

How do I . . .

Change My Course or Activity Schedule

Add Material to an Existing Course

Change My Assessment Options (global)

Change My Assessment Options (single assessment)

Add a Teaching Assistant

Grant a Student an Exception

Grade (or override an automatic grade) for an Assignment

Close My Course (at the end of the semester)