Academy - How to create courses - Custom Course Tool Overview

This article applies to:
PoliceOne Academy, FireRescue1 Academy, CorrectionsOne Academy, EMS1 Academy, LocalGovU, and white-label sites

The Custom Course Tool allows you to create your own training content! With our course tool you can:

• Organize content into blocks and modules 
• Upload files of multiple formats like pictures, PDFs, presentations, audio, video, and more
• Include a quiz or test (with essay and choice type questions)
• Add a survey
• Share content with other departments if desired

To  start creating your course, 

• Go to the Admin menu and select Custom Course Tool. Any courses already created by your organization will be listed on the Training Content page. 
• Click the Create Course or Policy button on the right side. 

You'll need to set up the course settings, customize the course content and then publish the course. We'll walk you through the steps below. 

Setting Up the Course Settings

These are the mandatory course settings:

1. In the Course Name field, enter the name of your Custom Course.
2. Select a Template from the drop-down list. This is the course type. The default Standard Course is the most commonly used.
3. In the Course Description field, type in the introduction of the course. This preview text will appear on pages where the course is listed.
4. Duration is the credit amount (in minutes or hours) users will get once they complete the course. If you don't want users to get credit for the Course, please type "0."
5. Click Save to save the new Custom Course. You will be automatically directed to the first module detail page where you can start adding and editing the contents/documents/quizzes of your course.

These are optional course settings available on the page (before clicking Save) to enjoy additional course features:

• You can upload a custom thumbnail for your course by clicking the Choose File button under Thumbnail.
• You can upload a Custom Lesson Plan, with the Choose File button 
• Check the Featured for Organization checkbox if you'd like to make course appear in the featured courses section of your Organization's home page. 
• You can organize the course in a Topic by choosing one from drop-down list. If you want add a new topic, you can do it on Topic Manager under the Admin menu. Similarly, you can select a Survey you have previously created under the Admin menu.
•  In Certificate Settings you can indicate whether a certificate  would be generated when the student completes the course.
•  Under Visibility you will indicate if you would like to share the course with other organizations. Otherwise, the default is that the course will be private (available for your organization only).
• You can add the course to an existing learning plan category with the Use in learning plans widget
• You add one or more links to external resources with the Add Course-Wide Related Resources button. These resources appear below the content area of each module page. Users will see the title you enter under the Resource Title field, and clicking on the title will take them to the URL you enter under the Resource Link field.

Customizing the Course Content

These are the steps to customize a Standard Course type. Other course templates will have a slightly different structure.

1. Customize the Introduction module. You can add text to the introduction using the large text field. Typically, this text introduces what the course is about, what the important learning points and takeaways are, and any preparatory information needed. Most introduction modules will end here, but you do have the ability to create practice tests, add videos, and other features if you want to further customize the content. Click the Save button on the right.

2. Break up the course content into additional Modules and Blocks. On the left side, under Introduction, you can click to add new modules and blocks.  Modules can include text, pictures, documents, videos and quizzes or tests -- all on the same module if desired. Blocks are simply a set of modules, and are optional. As you click on the modules and blocks, you will be asked to name them.

3. Customize the Module content:

• Add text and/or upload a Document from your computer using the Choose File button. We support Word Documents, PDFs, and PowerPoint files. 
• You can include a video/audio file with the Add Video/Audio button. Alternatively, you could add a video link on the textbox above. The most common video file types supported are .mp4, .mov, and .3gp. You can only add one video per module.
• You can add a quiz with the Add Quiz/Test button. You will be able to randomize the question order, set a minimum score to pass, and display a limited number of questions from the question bank. Then, you'll start adding questions and answers, along with their point value. Note we support Choice type questions (multiple choice, true and false) as well as Text (essay) questions.

• Don't forget to Save to complete your edits to the Module.

4.  Customize the content in all other modules.

Note: You can save your work and continue to build your course at any time. Just click on the Exit Edit Mode button at the top of any module. Then you can search for the course (Admin menu, Custom Courses Tool), select the course, and click on the Edit button to continue to make changes.

Publishing the course

Once you are done perfecting your course, you'll need to find the Course Settings button at the top of any module. Then find and select the Published checkbox. Save and click on Exit Edit mode. 

Updating the course

You can edit any section or document in the course by clicking on Edit button. To make sure students complete the latest version of the course,  we recommend you uncheck the "Published" checkbox under "Course Settings" for the original Course, then create and publish a new copy of the Course with your new content, and include the date in the title. This way, you can track and record completions for each version independently. Unpublishing the old version is a good way to ensure no Members accidentally train on outdated training content.

Why can't I delete my Course?

The Academy system does not allow you to delete Courses, because training records are tied to them and we do not want to create situations of missing records for our customers. Instead, we recommend you uncheck the "Published" checkbox in the "Course Settings" page of your Course.

Want to learn more?

Watch this excerpt from a PoliceOne Academy product webinar where we demo the Custom Course tool in more detail, including:

• More information on the different settings and course types/templates 
• Helpful tips and tricks for building courses
• How to include essay questions in quizzes, and how to grade them using our Grading Manager.