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Convert From Class Sessions to Schedule Builder

The Class Sessions tool is only available to on-campus courses. However, on-campus courses may want to use the more robust Schedule Builder tool instead. You can quickly convert content in the Class Sessions format into the Schedule Builder format. When you activate this tool, a Page Builder page is created for each class session, and content that is linked to a class session is updated to link to this new Page Builder page. The Schedule Builder is also populated with all of these new Page Builder pages representing each of your class sessions. 

 

Side-by-side images showing the different looks between Class Sessions and Schedule Builder

 

IMPORTANT: The Class Sessions tool will be retired at the end of AY2023-24. Moving forward, any switch from Class Sessions to Schedule Builder will be permanent and cannot be undone.

 

Tutorial Video

Runtime: 24 minutes, 1 second

Note: A direct link to view the video can be found here.

 

Why Would You Want to Switch from Class Sessions to Schedule Builder?

Schedule Builder offers a number of advantages over the Class Sessions format:

  • Consistent experience for students between all classes in CoursePlus, as all online courses use the Schedule Builder tool.
  • Fine-grained control over when students have access to course content.
  • Greater flexibility in separating content from course activities, including using separate due dates for individual activities in the class.
  • Student self-tracking of completed content and assignments in your class.

 

Things to Consider Before Conversion

  • Check for due dates in the descriptions of your class sessions. Due dates for various assignments are sometimes placed in the description of a class session. Please take stock of any dates found in these descriptions and be sure to create unique events for them in the Schedule Builder after the conversion.

 

How to Convert from Class Sessions to Schedule Builder

Screenshot showing location of Switch to Schedule Builder/Page Builder button

  1. Choose Switch to Schedule Builder/Page Builder under Content Tools on the main Faculty Tools page.
  2. Click OK.

This process make take a minute or so to complete. When it completes, your site will now use the Schedule Builder/Page Builder format.

 

Things to Consider After Conversion

  • Note that each class session was converted into an individual Page Builder page. Review each of these pages to make sure that the layout and content of the page appears as you want it. Any text boxes, quizzes, Drop Boxes, surveys, and Online Library materials that previously existed in the class sessions have been brought over to their corresponding pages.
    • Remember that you are not limited to a single page per class session. You can split content and instructions across multiple Page Builder pages as you see fit—you will just need to create new pages and then add those pages to the schedule.
  • Ensure that every assignment and assessment is listed as an event on the schedule. As part of the conversion to Schedule Builder, the top-level tabs that previously gave students quick access to quizzes and surveys are no longer present. In order to provide students access to assignments and assessments like these moving forward, you will need to break each of them out into their own events on the schedule. You will also want to verify that each event has the appropriate due date, perhaps what was previously entered in the description of a class session.
  • Confirm that each assignment and assessment links to the relevant tool. If an event on the schedule should be linked to a quiz/exam, Drop Box, Peer Assessment, survey, or Signup Sheet, be sure to edit the event to confirm it is linked.
  • Consider the organization of your schedule. If there are many events listed in the schedule, you may want to utilize Categories to break up the content in a meaningful way.
  • Determine how you will share Zoom session information with students. You may have previously shared Zoom meeting links inside each class session. With Schedule Builder, you have the ability to mirror this behavior inside a Page Builder page for each meeting. For more guidance on this and other common options, please refer to Schedule Builder: How to Add Zoom Session Information.
  • Note that reminders are sent according to the Available On date. Students have the option to subscribe to a "Daily Course Notifications" email, and they will be notified the day an event/assignment becomes available. This means that if every event on the schedule is set to become available the same day (perhaps the first day of class), students will be notified of everything in the course at once. For this reason, some faculty set assignments to become available as the course progresses.

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