Create a Well Organized Nexus Course Website

At Union College, we use the Moodle learning management system (LMS) which is locally branded as, "Nexus". One of the things students want faculty to know is that a well organized Nexus course website makes them feel better about taking a course because expectations are clear and they what is due, by when. The Learning Design and Digital Innovation team has created a series of course templates to help get you started.

At Union College, we use the Moodle learning management system (LMS) which is locally branded as, "Nexus". One of the things students want faculty to know is that a well organized Nexus course website makes them feel better about taking a course because expectations are clear–they know what is due, by when. However, the default format when course sites are automatically created is the Weekly format. This format in and of itself isn't necessarily bad, however what happens is that without further instruction, faculty can simply upload files into each week and then the course website quickly begins to look like this:

Think about what is wrong or perhaps not ideal the way this is formatted. If there is just a long list of files, with no other context students can easily feel lost and overwhelmed just by the visual itself. The good news is that Nexus provides a variety of formats and options to help you better organize your course materials. In order to change the format of your course, click [Settings] in the Settings Bar, and under Course Format, choose the desired format from the drop down menu. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Learning Design and Digital Innovation (LDDI) team has created a series of Nexus course templates to go beyond just the format to help faculty better organize their course website(s). Take a look through the Nexus course templates below. If there is a template you would like copied into your course, simply contact LDDI for Nexus help. Also, you may have developed your own beautifully organized Nexus course you are proud of. If that is the case and you'd like to share that as a template for other Union College faculty, just let LDDI know!

Template Options:

• TILES: Organized by Topic
• TILES: Organized by Week
• TILES: Organized by Week with Questions
• ONE TOPIC FORMAT: Organized by Weeks

TILES: Organized by Topic

This template uses the "Tiles" format. If you choose "TILES: Organized by Topic" template, include the following when you submit your request to LDDI:

1. Title, course ID, instructor, and term course is taught
2. # of topics, and topic titles (if known)
3. Please indicate if you'd like assistance finding icons or photos for tile topics, as well as creating a course banner from LDDI staff.

 

TILES: Organized by Week

This template uses the "Tiles" format. If you choose the "TILES: Organized by Week" template, include the following when you submit your request to LDDI:

1. Title, course ID, instructor, and term course is taught
2. Number of tiles will be 10 (unless otherwise indicated in your request)
3. Provide the ten topic titles (if known)
4. Please indicate if you'd like assistance creating a course banner from LDDI staff. Tile icons will be set to numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TILES: Organized by Week with Questions

This template uses the "Tiles" format. If you choose the "TILES: Organized by Week with Questions" template, include the following when you submit your request to LDDI:

1. Title, course ID, instructor, and term course is taught
2. Number of tiles will be 10 (unless otherwise indicated in your request)
3. Provide the ten questions to guide inquiry each week (if known)
4. Please indicate if you'd like assistance creating a course banner from LDDI staff. Tile icons will be set to numbers.

 

ONE TOPIC FORMAT: Organized by Weeks

This template uses the "Tiles" format. If you choose the "TILES: Organized by Week with Questions" template, include the following when you submit your request to LDDI:

1. Title, course ID, Instructor, and term course is taught
2. Number of nested tabs for weekly content will be 10 (unless otherwise indicated in your request)
3. Please indicate if you'd like assistance finding creating a course banner from LDDI staff. 

 

Practical Advice

When you begin to customize your Nexus course web site pages, we suggest the following general format for each page:

1. Provide an introduction to all the materials at once at the top of the page that aligns with the topic/theme/goal/question of the session.
2. Then, use the "Text and Media area" activity (formerly known as Label) to create sections on the page.
3. Provide context within each section that provides guidance about what to do or notice while reviewing assigned content.

 

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If you are having difficulty or you have unanswered questions, please contact the Help Desk through the ITS Service Catalog or call (518) 388-6400.

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