The ISU Course Template is part of the Online Course Essentials (ONCE) process. The ISU Template contains the fundamental components for a quality online course as per the nationally acclaimed faculty-driven and peer-reviewed Quality Matters (QM) Course Design Rubric. Essential QM Standards are assigned 3 points and must be present in a quality online course.
Additionally, all pages inside the template course are accessible, easy-to-modify, and display well on student laptops or hand-held smart devices.
The ISU template consists of two modules for importing into a Canvas course. A module is an instructional package/unit that focuses on a specific learning objective and contains documents, learning materials (such as readings, presentations, media files, etc.), learning activities (discussion boards, etc.), assessments, etc.
The two modules in the ISU template course include:
Module 01 offers a solid structure where you may replicate it as many times as needed.
Explore the ISU template in this model course or view the resource in Canvas Commons.
The steps below will demonstrate the foundational skills required to work with the ISU Course Template in Canvas.
Instructor Resources
IMPORTANT: Remove all yellow highlighting – this emphasis serves as instructor prompts to edit, remove, or add content.
Select an alternate banner image: delete the current existing banner, then use the Content Selector (in the rich content editor) to select a new one. There are six possible options included in the course files.
The quickest way to build a lot of content is to duplicate a module:
When the course contains the proper number of modules, use this process to reinsert the Module 01:Quiz, then create additional quizzes for each module.
Learn more from the Quizzes and Exams instructional strategies page.
When you are satisfied with your revisions to the ISU Course Template content, it’s time to bring in your previous course content.
There are two ways to correct any mistakes made while editing the ISU Course Template content:
**This step is ONLY if you’ve previously created a blank course shell (or organization) and now would like to add the ISU Course Template, follow these steps:
Note: The strategy of always importing and modifying the ISU Template in a practice course and copying the finished content into the real course provides the following benefits:
IMPORTANT: Remove all yellow highlighted text – this emphasis serves as instructor prompts to edit, remove, or add content.
Before adding students and publishing, ensure the course is appropriately named and you have updated the course tile to be relevant to the course topic. Inside the Canvas course:
Help
Contact the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching by emailing celt-help@iastate.edu and including “ISU Template” in the subject line.