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Please Note: The help pages for this tool have not yet been revised to reflect the Carmen 10.1 update. Tool sections without this notice have been updated. Thank you for your patience as we continue the transition process.

Content: Basic

Follow these steps to upload and present course material, such as your syllabus, lecture resources, course readings, audio-video files, images files, or Web links.

For best results, work through these steps in order. For a general overview of Content, see Content: Overview.

Step 1: Gather and Organize Materials

Gather Materials

Gather current or create new course materials (e.g., PowerPoint slides, Word documents, scanned articles, and so on) to populate your course Content area. (See File Types for a list of compatible file formats.)

Organize Materials

Before uploading materials, plan how you will group or arrange files. 

Carmen's Course Design Tools can help you plan your course or develop your Content structure.

In Carmen, content is organized using modules and topics. Think of modules as file folders and topics as items in the folders. Modules act as section headings, and topics are links to content items, such as PowerPoint class slides.

Modules are like folders and topics are like content placed in the folders.

You can have several topics under a single module. You can also nest modules inside other modules. You must have at least one module, and topics can't exist outside a module.

Two common ways to organize Content into modules are chronological (e.g., 'Week 1', 'Week 2') or subject-based (e.g., 'The Treaty of Versailles' or 'Photosynthesis').

Step 2: Upload and Manage Files

Content files are stored in the File Manager, where they can be organized or made visible in a course at a later time. Files in the File Manager can also be linked to Quizzes or News items.

Show me Show me how to "Upload Content."

1. Log in to Carmen and go to your Course Home page.

2. Click on Edit Course on the right-hand side of the Navigation Bar.

3. Choose the option labeled manage files Files.

To upload individual files:

1. Within the File Manager window, click Upload a new file Upload.

2. In the pop-up window, Click Browse and locate the file to upload.

3. Select the file and click Open.

4. Click Upload.

5. Your file now appears in the File Manager. To view an uploaded file, click on its name. Within the File Manager, files may be renamed, moved, deleted, or reorganized. (See Using the File Manager for information about organizing files into folders or moving, renaming, or deleting them.)

To upload multiple files simultaneously:

See "Upload Multiple Files" in Upload Files for instructions.

Step 3: Create Content Modules and Topics

Content is organized with modules and topics. Modules act as section headings, and topics are links content items, such as PowerPoint class slides.

Show me Show me how to "Manage Content."

Course material may be set up all at once or done as the class progresses. However, before setting up your content, we recommend that you plan a structure for your course material.

Create Module(s)

1. Log in to Carmen and go to your Course Home page.

2. Click on Content in the Navigation Bar.

3. Click Manage Content Manage Content if not already highlighted.

4. In the Content Manager Window, click New Module New Module.

5. If other modules exist, you can choose a Parent Module (i.e. folder) to nest the new module. Otherwise, choose --None-- to create a new module.

6. Enter a Title for your module, such as 'Foundations of Communication Theory'. The title is required.

7. Enter a Short Title, such as 'Comm Theory', which will appear in the module's sidebar when students view content. The short title is optional but highly recommended.

8. If desired, check Hide Enumeration for this module to hide the numerical/alphabetical prefixes of an outline structure.

9. If desired, click on the Restrictions tab to check Hidden, set Date/Time Restrictions, or implement special Release Conditions. Note, clicking on the Restrictions tab will automatically save information from the previous tab.

If no Set Start Date is chosen for available starting and the Module is not hidden, the module will be visible immediately once the course itself is Active.  To temporarily hide a module from students, check Hidden in the Restrictions tab. To schedule availability, set available starting and available ending dates. For more information on these features, see "Edit Properties" under Manage Content.

10. If desired, click on the Comments tab to share comments regarding the module either to yourself in Personal Comments or to other instructors of the course in Shared Designer Comments. Note, clicking on the Comments tab will automatically save information from the previous tab.

11. Click Save when done. Or click Save and New to continue adding modules.

Create Topics

1. Log in to Carmen and go to your Course Home page.

2. Click on Content in the Navigation Bar.

3. Click Manage Content Manage Content if not already highlighted.

4. Click New Topic New Topic to the right of the module where you would like to place the topic.

You may also create and manage topics in bulk. See Shortcuts for Creating Modules and Topics for information. See Manage Dates for an efficient way to set date restrictions on many topics.

5. Choose the method of placing content into the new topic. There are several ways to create individual topics within a module, depending on the type of content and how you wish to interact with it:

See Manage Content for information on managing modules and topics that have been created.

6. After the topic is created and information placed within it, Save the topic. If you plan to create multiple similar topics under a module, such as at the start of a quarter, choosing Save and New saves the previous topic and starts a new topic of the same type.

 

Text Current as of December 2010 (D2L 9.1). Not significantly impacted by December 2011 update (D2L 9.4).