For more in-depth advice and guidance on effectively organising content in Ultra see the Ultra Ready course section ‘Building and Organising Content’. This extract will get you started with using folders and learning modules.
Learning sections – how to group content
The learning sections that appear at the 1st structure level in Ultra are what students will see first, and so give the course its shape. If these sections organise the course’s content in a meaningful way, students will be able to skim the page to quickly understand what the course is about, as well as where they might find what they are looking for.
Ultra offers three different ways to organise content: Learning modules, Folders and Ultra Documents. The first two types – Learning modules and Folders – are the most likely to be used as learning sections at this level. Ultra Documents are more like pages of content, so are rarely recommended at this level. If you were to use lots of documents at this level, your course could easily become very difficult to navigate.
Folders or Learning Modules?
Both folders and learning modules can be used to compile links to various materials: documents, videos, interactives. There is no difference to the types of items they can contain. Their differences are mainly in the student experience of navigating through the content, as well as the level of detail included in the students’ view of their progress when tracking is on. Note that Learning Modules can only exist at the first level and cannot be contained in other Learning Modules or Folders.
Learning modules
Learning modules provide a way to contain a set of materials or activities, and encourage students to move through that content sequentially. Students are able to move back and forward through a learning module using the top navigation. Learning Modules also allow you to force materials within them to be viewed sequentially, which can be useful if the order students see things in matters.
Learning modules can have images so may look more engaging, but the image makes them taller, which may introduce too much extra scrolling when there are many learning sections. We recommend carefully considering how many learning modules your unit will contain, to ensure that the course home page is still easy to navigate.
If progress tracking is turned on, students can see if they have started a Learning module and how many of the items it contains have been completed at a glance, which may be useful for them to easily see what to do next.
Folders
Folders at top level do not allow students to move through using a top navigation, and so are better used for things like resources, or links. Folders don’t have the option of a custom image in the place of an icon and are shorter in size on the screen, so they are a good option to consider when the course is likely to have a long list of learning sections at top level, to minimise scrolling. If progress tracking is turned on, the student can see if they have started or completed the folder at a glance. If your learning section needs to contain an assessment which is declared to eVision, this can only be in a folder.
Generally, at the top level you may prefer to use Learning modules for most of the learning content and use Folders for other information, such as optional resources or to signpost other support. The templates will aid you in creating the top level structure.
Whichever you choose, ensure that their title and description, as well as the title and description of any item they contain, are meaningful and consistent.
Titles
Meaningful titles can make a big difference to students’ learning experience, as they enable them to find what they need. This is true for all materials at all structure levels, not just the learning sections that are immediately visible at the course landing page.
Ultra Courses now include a search functionality. This can be very useful for both students and you, but as the search displays results based on titles only of items at all levels, these should be thoughtfully chosen to make for the best experience.
For example, if a student searches by topic key word, and you have only used week numbers as your titles – e.g. Week 1 – they are unlikely to find what they are looking for. If you have added a descriptive title – Week 1: Introduction to Learning Design – it will appear more easily in the search.
Descriptions
- Each learning section should have a concise description of what it contains, e.g. sub-topics and what to expect, possibly also important details such as dates or instructions that will be useful for students to find at a glance.
- Keep the type of information provided consistent to help students locate the resources they need.
- Avoid links within descriptions, these should be inside the learning sections.
Structure is the basis of good navigation
The combination of the learning sections is the first thing a student will see when they access the course. Ultimately, a student browsing the course page should be able to easily understand what the course is about and where to go next without needing to open each learning section to look inside.
Taking a bit of time before creating your course to consider the options and decide on naming conventions can help you streamline the course creation and lead to a good student experience. These decisions are being supported at a faculty level through the use of templates, to enhance consistency across units within your school and faculty. As you design, make sure you are regularly checking in with your colleagues, and your school lead for Ultra, so that we can share best practice.
