Overview

1. Importing content from an existing course on the platform.
   
2. Importing courses using Common Cartridge Format (CCF).
   
3. Importing courses from Moodle.
   
4. Importing courses from Blackboard.

Please note, CYPHER for business defaults to the term course. CYPHER for academia defaults to the term class. The terms course and class are interchangeable in this article.

Import existing classes or courses

The portal allows you to import content from an existing course into a new, empty course. 

Please note, the new course cannot have modules, assessments, or resources.

First, create a new, empty course.  Visit the "Adding a course" section of the Courses article for more details.

1. Access the new course.
   
2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click Import from the fly-out menu.
   

1. Click Existing. 
   

1. Select an existing course or template.
   
1. You can use the search filter to quickly locate courses and templates.
   
2. Click Submit.
   

1. Click the link to access the course.
   

Import courses using Common Cartridge Format

The platform supports the importing of content using Common Cartridge Format (CCF) - the industry Standard for import and export of course content. The platform supports CCF 1.2 - the most popular version of CCF.

To import a CCF course, you must first create a new, empty course.  Visit the "Adding a course" section in the Courses article for more details.

1. Access the new course.
   
2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click Import from the fly-out menu.
   
4. Click Common Cartridge Format.

1. Upload a CCF file.
   
2. Click Save. 
   

Import Moodle courses

The platform supports importing backup files from Moodle 2.

To import a Moodle course, you must first create a new, empty course.  Visit the "Adding a course" section of the Courses article for more details.

1. Access the new course.
   
2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click Import from the fly-out menu.
   
4. Click Moodle.

1. Click the link to access the course.
   
2. If the import fails, you will receive a notification of the error.
   

Moodle terminology equivalents in the platform

Sections

Moodle sections are equivalent to modules in the platform. Each module imported from Moodle that has resources will have a section page, which is named after the current module. This section page will contain all the resources for the module.

Activities

Moodle activities are equivalent to different types of resources in the platform. For each section, the necessary Moodle activities will be imported. The following resources are imported in the Moodle import:

1. The Moodle module activity pages are imported as page sections for the module.
   

1. Moodle assignment are imported as freeform assignments (essay) for the current module. The assignment can only have attachments if they are embedded in the description of the assignment. Importing separate attachments is not supported.
   

1. The Moodle page is imported as a page resource for the current module.
   

1. The Moodle resource is imported as a file resource for the current module.
   

1. The Moodle URL is imported as a web resource for the current module.
   

1. The Moodle resource is imported as a folder for the current module, that can hold resources.
   

1. The Moodle quiz is imported as a quiz assignment for the current module. Moodle quizzes have various types of questions, but the platform only supports the following types of questions for import: True/False, Matching, Multiple choice with one answer, Multiple choice with multiple answers, Essay, and Description.  The following types of questions are not supported: Calculated, Calculated multi-choice, Calculated simple, Embedded answers (Cloze), Numerical, Random short-answer matching, or Short answer.
   

1. Moodle choice activities are imported as a survey with a multiple choice question with one correct answer.
   

1. The Moodle SCORM package is imported as a regular SCORM package for the current module.
   

1. The Moodle forum is imported as a forum for the course. The Moodle import feature does not import the posts from the Moodle forum. Forums can only have attachments if they are embedded in the description of forums.  Importing separate attachments is not supported.
   

1. The Moodle wiki is imported as a wiki page for the current course.
   

The following Moodle activities are not supported: external tool, imscp, workshop, survey, book, chat, label, database, and glossary.

Import Blackboard courses

The platform supports importing archive files from Blackboard. 

To import a Blackboard course, you must first create a new, empty course.  Visit the "Adding a course" section of the Courses article for more details.

1. Access the new course.
   
2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click Import from the fly-out menu.
   
4. Click Blackboard.

Blackboard terminology equivalent in the platform

Learning Modules

Blackboard learning modules are equivalent to modules in the platform. Each module imported from Blackboard that has resources will have a section page, which is named after the current module. This section page will contain all of the resources for the module. If a resource isn’t in a module, and is saved only as a course resource, it be will be imported as a course resource. The resource will be saved in the Resources section in a parent folder or as a course resource.

Resources

The following resources are supported:

1. The Blackboard Item is imported as a page resource with attachments. If the item has one or more attachments, these attachments will be created in the same location with the main page resources. 
   

1. The Blackboard BlankPage is imported as a page resource for the current module or as a course resource. If the page has one or more attachments, these attachments will be created in the same folder with the page resources.
   

1. The Blackboard Module page is imported as a page resource for the current module or as a course resource. Only the page’s description will be imported without the contained tools. 
   

1. The Blackboard File is imported as a file resource, in the current module or as a course resource. 
   

1. The Blackboard Audio is imported as a file resource.
   

1. The Blackboard Video is imported as a file resource.
   

1. The Blackboard Image is imported as a file resource.
   

1. The Blackboard web link is imported as a web resource for the current module or as a course resource if it is not included in any module.
   

1. The Blackboard Lesson Plan is imported as a folder that can hold resources. All the resources are imported, but the module's plan settings are not. If the module plan contains any assessments, they will be imported as a course assessment if the current module plan is not in a module.
   

1. The Blackboard Content Folder is imported as a folder, as a module resource or as a course resource.
   

The following types of resources are not supported: Mashups - including Flickr Photo, Slideshare Presentation, Youtube Video, Voice Authoring, xpLor Content, and NBC, ContentSoftChalk, ScoreCenter Content, Course Link, Syllabus, Wiki and Wiki Pages.

Assessments

The following assessments are imported in a Blackboard import:

1. The Blackboard Test is imported as a quiz assignment.
   

1. The Blackboard Survey is imported as a survey assignment.
   

1. Blackboard assignments are imported as freeform assignments (essay) for the current module. The assignment’s attachments are imported as an embedded file in the assignment description.
   

Questions

1. True/False, Either/Or, Matching, Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer, Short Response, File Upload, Opinion Scale/Likert, Essay, and Fill in the blank.
   

The platform does not support the following types of questions for import:

1. Calculated Formula, Calculated Numeric, Hot Spot, Jumbled Sentence, Ordering, and Quiz Bowl.  
   

Additional features

1. Blackboard Discussion Boards are imported as forums, although individual posts are not imported.
   
2. Blackboard Groups are imported as course groups. Individual group posts are not imported.
   
3. The following features are not supported through import: Blackboard Blog and Journal.