Template Overview

Central Community College uses a common template for all courses, no matter the delivery mode (face-to-face, online, or hybrid). All faculty must use CCC's learning management system (Canvas) and, therefore, will use the template provided.

The CCC template helps to provide consistency for students taking courses at CCC, use the Template Checklist to see what you need to personalize.
Certain Canvas options are intentionally left hidden. Please do not modify these options.
Contact the Faculty Resource Center or Learning Support Services if you have any questions.

Below is a screenshot of the CCC Master Template. This is the Home page for all courses at CCC. The numbers correspond with important information listed below.

screenshot of the template home page with numbered areas listed to match the below descriptions.

Global Navigation Menu

Use the Dashboard icon to navigate between courses.

Use the Courses icon to view All Courses. You are able to customize the list of courses you see on your dashboard by using the Favorite options.

Use the Inbox icon for communication with students.

Course Navigation

- The order of the Course Navigation has been determined by the (VCAC) Virtual Campus Advisory Committee, CCC Template committee and the college administration and is part of the CCC Template design. We highly recommend the basic tools students use be left in the order they are so that it will help students navigate their courses consistently and avoid confusion.
- Anything with the crossed-out eye icon will not be visible to your students.
- LTI plug-ins, 3rd party apps and textbook integration apps can be added as needed.

Course Banner

- Course Title: Learning Support Services will populate this - double-check that it matches your syllabus.
- Mode of Delivery: Learning Support Services will populate this according to section coding (Online, Hybrid, Face-to-Face). Please check to make sure this is correct, and contact LSS if you notice a problem.

Course & Resources Links
- Start Here (Course Overview) - important information about the courses
- Modules - a link to the Modules - the recommended path students should use to navigate through their courses.
- Library and Student Resources - link to the Student Resources page on the CCC college website.

Course Status

- Use the Publish button 5 days before the course start date per the Course Management Deadlines to make your course is available to students.
- Use the View as Student button to allow you to see what your students see and make sure everything is showing up correctly.
- If you utilize the calendar in Canvas, you will see notifications here such as upcoming assignments so you can plan to give feedback.

Welcome!
- Course Syllabus link: Your syllabus link will be placed on the Home page, see Link Your Syllabus in Your Course for instructions.
- You may also include a short message about your course below the syllabus link. Examples: Mode of Instructions, start & end dates, course length, meeting times, lab times, WebEx course, etc. Be sure to remove the brackets.
Contact Information

- Update your name
- Update your office hours (double-check that they match your syllabus and are correct for the current semester).
- Update your phone number (usually your office phone, however you may also include your cell phone number here if desired).
- Add any additional contact information, suggestions include, WebEx room, URL, phone/email or texting preferences . Be sure to remove the brackets.

About Your Instructor
- Add a very short welcome message, can include a welcome video as desired.
Recent Announcements will automatically appear at the top of the home page. Once there are announcements in a course, the course navigation link will also become available to the students automatically.

Preparing Your Course - requires personalization and updates

Faculty are expected to provide appropriate personalization to each course's homepage. Utilize the Template Checklist to help you make sure you have updated any information that is specific to you and your course. Wherever you see [brackets] around anything it is expected the material should be personalized by faculty.

Items to be updated include:

Home page

This purpose of the home page is to provide students with quick access to course and instructor information.

- Your Syllabus link - link your updated WIDS submitted syllabus.
- A brief message about the course (Mode of Delivery, start & end dates, course length, meeting times, lab times, WebEx course, etc.
- Contact Information
  - Your preferred name
  - Office hours (check that they match your syllabus)
  - Your phone number
  - Your contact preferences
- About Your Instructor - Personal introduction

Course Overview Page

The Overview page includes information to help students understand what will help them be successful in the course.

Syllabus Section

This section is intended to help students understand what a syllabus is and the information it provides. This sections can be left as is, or added to to suit your individual needs.

Course Overview Section

- Update the course overview to provide a brief introduction to the course:
  - Explain what students will learn and be prepared to do upon successful completion of the course.
  - Consider answering the following questions for students.
    - How is the course organized?
    - How should they work through the course?
    - What materials do students need or what tools can they use to help them be successful?

Course Resources and Technology Section

- Add information related to required resources specific for your course, e.g. LockDown Browser, SimNet, Connect, Mind Tap, etc,
- A new updated Technology Privacy and Accessibility information page link has been provided. Please list any additional course specific technologies that are required in this section of the page so students always know where to find the technology requirements in their courses. If you know of additional technologies that should be added to the Technology Privacy and Accessibility Statements page, please let LSS know as soon as possible.

Modules

- Modules are the recommended method for students to access and navigate course materials. Expectations, reading assignments, resources, video tutorials, course assignment activities, discussions and quizzes should all be linked in a logical order in the Modules.
- You may utilize the provided example modules, assignments and discussions to help build your course.

Student Navigation

Home page

Students will land on the Home page of the course when they click into their course. It is important to make sure the information on the home page is updated and correct each semester.

See information above and the CCC Template Overview for guidance on what needs to be updated.

Course Overview

When students click the Start Here (Course Overview) link from the homepage, it will take them to the Course Overview page:

See the Course Overview page information above for details.

screenshot of the Course Overview Page

CCC and Canvas Resources for Students

For your convenience, all courses have a CCC and Canvas Resources for Students page. This page has information for students one where and how to find support for the various things students are typically looking for assistance. This page is recommended to leave in the Stare Here module so students are quickly able to locate the information in any course.

Modules

When students click on the Modules link from the Home page or the Course Navigation, it will take them into the Module view. The Start Here module should always be the first module in all courses. The above stated resources are provided, instructors are able to add other resources, documents or activities to the Start Here module as desired.

Screenshot of the Start Here Module

Modules will list for students in the order presented. Options can be utilized to control when the modules open for students or can be set to all visible, depending on instructor preferences. Modules should be presented to students in logical order and published so that students can see them. Students can navigate through the modules by clicking each item in the module view, or by using the Next and Previous buttons at the bottom of the page. Encourage your students to use the Modules to navigate the materials you provide and guidance on the order they should do them to be successful.

Example Module naming options

screenshot of an Example Module

It is a good practice to outline the learning objectives, what they need to do to be successful, a list of activities that will be presented with in each module and the amount of time it should take to complete. Use the Module Overview Example as a guide:

screenshot of a Module Overview Example