Modules and lessons for instructors

Modules and lessons for instructors

Overview

Courses are broken into modules, which are the primary topics for the course. Users move through modules to access content and complete the course.

Info
CYPHER for business defaults to the terms courses and modules. CYPHER for academia defaults to the terms classes and lessons. The terms courses and classes are interchangeable in this article. The terms modules and lessons are interchangeable in this article.

To view the modules for a course or class:

  1. Access a course or class.
  2. Click Modules (or Lessons) from the course/class navigation menu. 
  3. Click the List view icon if you would like to view the modules in list view.
Course, Modules tab and List view highlighted

Modules are made up of sections, which can be pages, assessments, tools, web resources, and more.

To see the sections of a module:
  1. Click a module tile.
  2. If you are in list view, click the show section arrow.

Course, Modules, List view with the show section arrow highlighted

The sections for the module display. If you are an instructor or teacher for the course you will see additional information for each section:
  1. Given: Indicates if assessments have been given to learners.
  2. Submitted: Indicates the number of assessments submitted.
  3. To score: Indicates the number of assessments that need to be graded/scored.
Course, Modules, List view with 3 sections displayed and highlighted

To learn more about the basics of navigating modules or lessons, visit the Modules and lessons overview article.

Adding modules

To add a module to a course or a class:

  1. Access a course or class.
  2. Click Modules or Lessons from the course/class navigation menu.
  3. Click + Add. 


The Add module pop-up displays.

  1. Click New to add a new module.
  2. Click Library to to add a copy of one or more of your existing modules.
Add module pop-up

If you select New, the Add module pop-up displays. In the example below, the course is an Instructor led course.

  1. Enter a module title.
  2. Enter a module description (optional).
  3. Add an optional location, date, and time.
    1. If you uncheck the All day checkbox, a Duration option becomes available.
  4. Select a Position to determine the order of the module in relation to other modules.
  5. Click Save.
Add new module pop-up for an instructor led course

If you enter a date for the module, the module will appear in the course calendar.

  1. The calendar entry includes a direct link to the module.
Course, Calendar with a module scheduled and highlighted

If you enter a location and/or time for the module, the information displays on the module's tile.

Module tile with the date, time and location highlighted

Editing modules

You can update the name, description, time, and location of new and existing modules:
  1. First, select a module tile, or select a module from the course table of contents.
The Module overview displays.
  1. Click Edit.
  2. Make changes in the Edit module pop-up.
  3. Click Save.

Course, Module overview with the Edit button highlighted

The Module overview has multiple tabs. The default tab that opens is the Sections tab, which displays each section in the module. Within the Sections tab you have multiple options:
  1. To give an assessment, select the section and select Given.
  2. To require a section, select the section select Required.
  3. To hide a section, select the section and select Hide.
  4. To change the indentation of a section and create a subsection, select a section and click the right arrow.
    1. To change a subsection back to a section, select the section and click the left arrow.
  5. To delete a section, select a section and click Delete.
Course, Module overview, Sections tab with the Delete button, Indent arrows, and section details highlighted.

The Module overview has multiple tabs that allow you to customize or edit the module. These tabs will be covered in greater detail later is this article. 
  1. Click the Skills tab to assign skills to the module.
  2. Click the Completion tab to add completion requirements and completion actions.
  3. Click the Visibility tab to adjust if the module is shown or hidden to users, and to add filters to determine who can view the module.
  4. Click Locking to adjust if the module defaults to locked or unlocked. You can also set up rules so that the module is locked for specific users.
  5. Click Tags to add tags to the module.
  6. Click Notes to add reference notes that can be viewed by instructors and teachers of the course.
Course, Module overview tabs highlighted

Editing module pictures and tiles

There are a few ways you can customize the way a module tile looks. You can customize the image used on Module tiles, and you can add colors bars to module tiles.

To change the picture display on a module tile:
  1. Access a course or class.
  2. Click Modules from the secondary menu.
  3. Hover over the module's tile and click the cog icon Cog icon.
A small pop-up displays. 
  1. Click Upload to upload an image from your computer.
  2. Click Create to generate a module tile image using CYPHER Agent, or to search for a web image.
    1. Note: The Create button only displays if CYPHER Agent is enabled on your platform.
Module tile with the cog icon highlighted, the Configure menu active and the Upload and Create buttons highlighted

If you click Create, the CYPHER Agent: Media Picker panel displays on the right. Two tabs are available to help you update the module image:
  1. The AI tab allows you to generate a new image with AI. To generate an image using AI:
    1. Describe the image you want to generate in the text box.
      1. Note that the Credits needed display below the image, and your available credits display at the bottom of the panel.
    2. Click the Generate button Generate button.
    3. Click the generated image to preview how it would look on the page.
      1. Update the description and click the Generate icon again if you would like to generate a different image.
    4. If you are satisfied with the new image, click Save.
  1. The Web tab allows you to select images from Google.
    1. Describe the image you want to search for in the text box and click the Search Search icon icon.
    2. Click the desired image to preview how it looks on the page.
      1. Update the search terms and click the Search icon again if you want to view additional images.
    3. When you are satisfied with the new image, click Save.


You can also add color bars to the left side of your module(s) if the feature is enabled on your platform. To add a color bar to a module tile:
  1. Access a course or class.
  2. Click Modules from the secondary menu.
  3. Hover over the module's tile and click the cog icon.
A small pop-up displays.
  1. Type a HEX color code or select a default color to add a color bar to the tile.
    1. If no colors display, ensure Enable color bars for tiles is enabled on your platform. To learn more, visit the Color theme section of the Portal article.
  2. Click Save.


Reordering or deleting modules

On the Modules overview page, you can reorder modules and delete modules:
  1. To reorder modules:
    1. Access a course or class.
    2. Click Modules from the course navigation (secondary) menu.
    3. Hover on a module tile.
    4. Click the Move iconmove icon and drag and drop the module to its new location.
  2. To delete a module:
    1. Select a module.
    2. Click Delete.

Course, Modules with the Delete button highlighted

Configuring modules

As an instructor, there are multiple configuration options for modules. For example, you can adjust the way that modules display to learners:

  1. Access the course.
  2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
  3. Click Modules from the fly-out menu.
  4. In the Layout section:
    1. Enable grid view for learners (default): This setting allows learners to view modules as tiles.
    2. Enable row view for learners: This setting allows learners to view modules as a list.
Course, Admin, Modules tab with the Enable grid view for learners (the default) checkbox and Enable row view for learners checkbox highlighted

If both views are enabled, learners can choose the view they prefer.

  1. If users are viewing modules in the grid/tile view, they can click the List view icon to switch to list/row view.
Course, Modules with the List view icon highlighted

To configure additional module settings:

  1. Access the course.
  2. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
  3. Click Modules from the fly-out menu.
    1. Module descriptions: This setting allows you to enable or disable module descriptions.
    2. Automatically number modules: If enabled, this setting will add numbers to all modules.
    3. Show activity indicator on modules to learners: This setting allows you to enable or disable the activity indicators on module tiles, which indicate the current level of user activity.
    4. Show all sections by default in row view: This setting displays all sections in row view by default.
    5. Show legend: This setting enables or disables the module legend.
    6. Display progress wheel: This setting enables or disables the module progress wheel.

Course, Admin, Modules tab with Drip Content and Layout sections displaying

Analytics

The platform tracks the first and last time a learner visits a particular module, as well as the total number of times they have visited the module on a particular day and the amount of time they have spent there. To view module analytics:

  1. Access the Modules overview page.
  2. Click Analytics. 

Course, Modules with the Analytics button highlighted

The chart shows the number of learners that have visited each module, as well as the amount of time they have spent there.

Course, Modules, Module progress chart

You can also see the total time spent on the course by learner.
  1. Click the Learners or Students tab from within the course.
  2. The Time column displays the total amount of time spent in the course by each learner.
  3. Click the Time link for a learner to see additional details.
Course, Learners, Active tab with the Time column highlighted

A chart displays, which shows the learner's total time spent on each module.

Course, Learners, Modules tab with an individual learner module time spent chart

To see a breakdown of a learner's activity:
  1. Click the Learners or Students tab from within the course.
  2. Click the More icon.
  3. Select Activity from the drop-down list.
Course, Learners, More menu active with Activity highlighted

A detailed timeline of a learner's activity displays, including a record of when they visited each module.

Course, Learners, individual learner's Activity tab

Current module

If a course is not self-paced, you can set a module to be the current module for learners.

  1. Select the checkbox on the module you want to make current.
  2. Click Current.
Course, Modules with a module selected and the Current button and module checkbox highlighted

There are multiple settings you can configure related to the current module:

  1. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
  2. Click Modules on the fly-out menu.
    1. Only show modules up to the current lesson to learners: This setting will lock all modules past the current module.
    2. Hide modules after the current one instead of showing them as locked: This setting will hide all modules past the current module.
    3. Hide (instead of showing) all modules if no current lesson is set: This setting will hide all modules if you do not set a current module.
    4. Automatically set current module by date: This setting will automatically set the current module based on the date of the module(s).
Course, Admin, Modules tab with the Current module options highlighted

For more information on current modules, visit the Configure article. 

Sections

Module content is made up of sections, which can include pages, SCORM packages, HTML packages, documents, video files, web resources, tools, and more.

Each section has its own page in the module. To learn more, visit the Sections for instructors article.

Skills

If the course has skills, you can tag a module with the specific skills it teaches. To assign skills to a module:

  1. Access the module.
  2. Click the Skills tab.
  3. The skills assigned to the module display.
  4. Click Edit.
Course, Modules, Module overview, Skills tab

The Set skills page displays all of the skills in the course.
  1. Select the skills that are taught within the module.
  2. Click Save. 
Course, Modules, Module overview, Set skills tab with all course skills showing and module skills selected

Modules that are associated with skills are indicated with a graph mastery icon on their tiles.
Module tile with the Graph mastery icon highlighted

Module visibility

Manual personalization 

Just like sections, there are multiple ways to determine which users can view modules.
To manually adjust module visibility settings:
  1. Access a module.
  2. Click the Visibility tab.
  3. Determine if you want the module to be Shown or Hidden by default. 
  4. To display the module to selected users only, click + Add in the Filter section.
    1. Define the filter.
    2. Click Save.
    3. To learn more about how to define filters, please visit the Filters topic.
  5. To hide the module from selected users, click + Add in the Hidden section.
    1. Use the people picker to select learners.
Course, Module, Module overview, Visibility tab

Dynamic personalization

Dynamic personalization of modules allows you to use automation to personalize messages and filters for modules that are shown/hidden from specific learners.  

InfoNote - To use automation to dynamically personalize modules, Adaptive learning must be installed on your site. To learn more, visit the Adaptive learning article.
  1. Access the module or lesson.
  2. Click Automation from the secondary navigation menu.
  3. Click the Module tab.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Click + Add below the module you want to show or hide to users.
  6. Click Hide module or Show module.

Add action pop-up, Access tab with Hide module and Show module highlighted

  1. Select the module from the dropdown.
  2. Choose to add a canned or custom message.
    1. You can also choose not to send a message.
  3. Click the + icon to add a filter.
    1. Filters allow you to add the show or hide action based on account type, location, organization, language and more.
  4. Click Save to add the action.

Show module pop-up

To verify which learners can view the module:
  1. Access the module.
  2. Click the Visibility tab.
  3. In the Shown section, you can verify if the learner was added manually or via automation in the Added column.
Course, Modules, Module overview, Visibility tab with the Added column highlighted for Shown users

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Note that if you delete a Show/Hide action, it automatically removes the Show/Hide entry from the associated module. If you delete a module, when it's cleared out of the trash, its associated Show/Hide actions are also deleted.

Lock/Unlock modules

To customize module access, you also have the ability to lock and unlock modules for users.

To manually adjust module locking settings:
  1. Access a module.
  2. Click the Locking tab.
  3. Determine if you want the module to be Locked or Unlocked by default. 
  4. If the module is Unlocked by default, you can lock the module for specific users.
    1. To lock the module for selected users only, click + Add in the Locked section.
    2. Use the people picker to select learners.
  5. If the module is Locked by default, you can unlock the module for specific users.
    1. To unlock the module for selected users only, click + Add in the Unlocked section.
    2. Use the people picker to select learners.
Courses, Modules, Module overview, Locking tab

You can also use automation to determine when modules are locked/unlocked in a course. To automate module locking settings:

  1. Access the module or lesson.
  2. Click Automation from the secondary navigation menu.
  3. Click the Module tab.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Click + Add below the module you want to lock or unlock for users.
  6. Click Lock module or Unlock module.
Add action pop-up, Access tab with Lock module and Unlock module highlighted

  1. Select a module from the dropdown.
  2. Select when you would like the module to lock or unlock.
    1. The default is to lock or unlock the module immediately, but you can also designate a specific date and time.
  3. Click Save to add the action.

Lock module pop-up

To verify which learners are impacted by the locked module:
  1. Access the module.
  2. Click the Locking tab.
  3. In the Locked section, you can verify if the learner was added manually or via automation in the Added column.
Course, Modules, Module overview, Locking tab with the Added column highlighted for Locked users

Module Completion

By default, a course is considered complete when all its modules are completed. If you would like to make a module optional for course completion:

  1. Access a module.
  2. Click the Completion tab.
  3. Deselect the Require this module to be completed for course completion checkbox.  
Info
Please note that if you mark a module as not required for course completion, it will not block access to other modules even if the "Require modules to be completed in order" option is enabled at a site level.

Course, Modules, Module overview, Completion tab with the Require this module to be completed for course completion checkbox highlighted

If a module is optional, "Not required" will display on the module tile for instructors and learners. 

Course, Modules tile view with Not required highlighted on a module tile

The Completions tab allows you to add Completion actions, which occur when the user has completed the module. For example, you can add actions that award game points and badges to learners when they complete the module. To begin adding a completion action:

  1. Access a module.
  2. Click the Completion tab.
  3. Click + Add in the Completion actions section.
Course, Modules, Module overview, Completion tab with

The Add action pop-up displays. Note that there are multiple tabs of actions.

  1. Click an action to add it to the module. Available actions include:
    1. Add to group: Add the learner as a member of a specific group.
    2. Award badge: Award a badge to the learner.
    3. Award certificate: Award a certificate to the learner.
    4. Award coupon: Award a coupon to the user.
    5. Award points: Award points to the learner.
    6. Enroll in a course: Enroll the learner into a specific course.
    7. Enroll in a path: Enroll the learner into a specific path.
    8. Lock module: Lock a module. Click here for more details regarding drip content. 
    9. Send custom notification: Send a custom notification to the learner.
    10. Remove from group: Remove the user as a member of a specific group
    11. Unlock module: Unlock a module.
    12. Webhook: Invoke an API.
    13. xAPI: Invoke an xAPI.
    14. And more! 
Add action pop-up, Awards tab

Additional completion requirements

Like courses, you can also add specific completion requirements to a module.

For example, you can configure a module to require a certain number of optional sections to be completed in order for the module to be completed. 

To add a completion requirement to the module:

  1. Access the module.
  2. Click the Completion tab.
  3. Click + Add requirement in the Completion requirements section.

The Add completion requirement pop-up displays.

  1. Select the number of optional sections a learner must complete to complete the module.
  2. To designate which optional sections qualify for the requirement, you can use tags. If you want to use tags to designate specific sections:
    1. Type in a tag name.
    2. You can add multiple tags by using a comma between tags.
      1. Please note if you use multiple tags, all of the tags must be present on the module.
  3. Click Save.
In this example, learners must complete at least 2 optional sections tagged with "leadership" to complete the module.
Add completion requirement pop-up with 2 selected for the Number of optional sections to complete with a Tag of leadership

You can add multiple completion requirements.

  1. Click Edit to edit a requirement.
  2. Click Remove to remove a requirement.
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Note that if you add more than one completion requirement, they all have to be satisfied for the module to be considered complete.
Course, Module, Module overview, Completion tab with the Edit and Remove buttons highlighted on the two added completion requirements

Tagging a section

To add tags to a section:
  1. Access a section.
  2. Click the Tags tab.
  3. Click add.
Course, Modules, Module overview, Tags tab with the add button highlighted

  1. Type a tag name into the text box.
    1. Use a comma to create additional tags.
  2. If you want to remove a tag, click the X icon on the tag.
  3. Click save when you are finished adding tags.
Info
Please note that when copying modules, tags are also copied.

Course, Modules, Module overview, Tags tab with two tags added and the save button highlighted


Instructor notes

Instructor notes can be added to modules to share anecdotes, analogies, and other aids between instructors.

Instructor notes cannot be seen by learners.

To add Instructor notes:
  1. Access a module.
  2. Click the Notes tab.
  3. Click + Add.
  4. Use the HTML editor to add a note.
  5. Click Save.
Course, Modules, Module overview, Notes tab with a note example added