Assigning a preset course

What is a preset course?

Preset Checkology courses are curated courses built by the News Literacy Project to help cater to different subjects or highlight different skillsets. You can either assign a preset course as is or you can use one as a template to create your own course (instead of starting from scratch). To preview or assign a preset course, click "Change course" in the course management area.

List of preset courses

  Please note: To get the most up-to-date options and a full summary of each preset course, click the "Change course" button in your course management area and click the "Preview" option next to the preset course you are interested in learning more about. 

Assigning a preset course

To enter the course management area, click on "+Assign course" or "View/edit course" at the bottom of your class tile. Which option appears to you depends on whether or not you have already assigned a course.

               

The first time you enter the course management area after creating a new class, a preset course (the default course) is automatically served to you. 

Assigning the default preset course Assigning a different preset course

To assign the default preset course, click the "Assign to class" button. If you would like to learn more about the default course before deciding, click "Preview course" located right below the "Assign to class" button. 

     

To select/assign a different preset course, click on "Change course." Then, scroll to the section titled "Presets by subject or skillset." Click "Preview" to learn more about a preset course or "Assign" to serve it to your students.

     

Step-by-step guide to customizing a preset course

Follow these 4 steps to customize a preset course:

1. Assign a preset course.

   To customize a preset course, first start by assigning the preset course you wish to modify.

   (Read more about this step in the above section)

2. Click "Customize this course."

   Once you have assigned the preset course you wish to modify, click "Customize this course." 

   

3. Give your "new" (customized) course a name/description.

   Because you are customizing a preset course, Checkology will prompt you to create a new name for your course in order to differentiate it from the original preset. That way, you will be able to find both the original preset and your customized preset when assigning a course in the future.

   To complete this step, give your course a name and add a description (optional) and, then, make sure the preset course you want to start editing is listed in the bottom box titled "Starting from a preset?" When ready, click "Save" to be taken to the course builder.

   

4. Customize/edit the preset course.

   The course builder will be preloaded with the preset course you assigned. In the course builder, you can add or remove course content or change the order of content.

   • To add content, drag and drop the content you wish to add from the library (left side) to the course (right side).
   • To remove content, click the  next to any content you wish to remove in your course (right side). This will return it to the library (left side).
   • To change the order of content, click and drag content up or down within your course (right side).

     Please note: your customized course will automatically be assigned to your class as indicated by the grey "Assigned" image at the top of the screen.