3. Course Elements

• Common Fields
• 3D object
• Assignment
• Audio
• Book
• Checklist
• Code
• Duplicate Here
• File Download

Common Fields

The following information is on almost every element block, and will be defined here:

1. Name: The name of the item. This is visible to students.
2. Editor: You can use either a standard, HTML-based editor, or you can use Markdown. Markdown is an amazing format, but it's not for everyone.
3. Summary: This "Summary" text is always visible on the course page, so we recommend keeping it to around a paragraph in size. 
4. Groups: If selected, only the Groups attached will be able to view this block.
5. Style: This allows you to set the block's header color.
6. Visible: Can any students see this block?

For more information on Style, click the "Tools" tab on the course page. There you will see examples of all available header colors.  

3D object

The 3D Object block lets you put high-resolution, beautiful 3D Objects into your course, which can then be viewed by students.

It has one field: File, where you upload the 3D model of your choice. This comes with several strict requirements:

1. File type: Must be "GLB." (glTF Binary). GLTF (non-Binary), USDZ, STL, DAE, etc. are not supported, and will likely never be supported.
2. File size: Must be 32MB or smaller.

You can find GLB files from several places.

1. Many 3D software packages have the ability to export GLB.
2. Sketchfab is a fantastic website for finding 3D Models, and they all have GLB download options:
   
   

   
   

3. The Virtual Museums of Małopolska, in particular, is a fantastic Sketchfab account with a wide variety of common objects, with very reasonable attribution requirements.

As for why other 3D File Formats will not be supported and must be uploaded as "File Download" items:

1. Parametric 3D files (i.e. from SolidWorks or Alibre) aren't meshes, but must be interpreted. Even in professional 3D applications, this is so complicated, they often outsource this code.
2. Other formats, like STL, have no shading, lighting, or texture information within them. The result is a perfectly solid-white object with no discernable edges.  
3. glTF (GLB's parent group) is an interesting format, but it's split across multiple files, all of which must be present for the glTF to render correctly. GLB is a compressed glTF with all of the files in one large file.

Assignment

The Assignment block lets students upload files for review and grading. 

When creating this block, you have several unique fields:

• Due: Items cannot be uploaded past this date without either being blocked, or being flagged as late.
• Put in Gradebook: If this is left unchecked, the assignment will not be graded. This can be useful for collecting optional information, such as a survey.
• Show Due Time: Due is only enforced if students can see when an assignment is due.
• Allow Late Submissions: If checked, students can upload past-due items, but they will be flagged.

After opening the block, you will see a window that looks something like this:

This page has five blocks.

• At the top (a blank bar in this case), is the assignment summary if present.
• On the upper-left, is a dropdown to select a student. New uploads you haven't looked at yet, are marked with "[NEW]" next to their names.
• On the upper-right, is a field to enter a grade for the student. You can enter grades with a numerator higher than the denominator for extra credit.
• On the lower-left, is a "Files" window. Students can upload multiple files here - and you can also upload files in return. Files are marked with when they were submitted, and who uploaded them. This can be done repeatedly in a back-and-forth manner.
• On the lower-right, is a "Discussion" window. This can also be done repeatedly, in a back-and-forth manner, to discuss an assignment and how it should be graded.

 

Audio

The Audio block lets you upload either an audio file to be played back in the LMS. It only accepts a File, which can be either an MP3 or an AAC under 32MB in size. The audio player appears inline on the course page, with colors matching the student's theme.

Book

A Book lets you place large amounts of text and images into a course, in a way that does not disrupt the course layout.

After creating a book (which has fields that are common to all elements) and opening it, you will see an experience like this:

On the Overview tab, is the same summary visible on the course page. If you click Add a new page, you can add pages to your book.

These pages will then be displayed in the navigation area, and can be re-organized.

Checklist

Checklists provide an easy way for students to keep track of their progress. Checklists can also be graded on whether a student has checked off all items on the list. Checklists, however, cannot have the ability to check off an item restricted. Items can be added in the Items field, while Put in gradebook lets you give points based on how many items a student has checked off. All items are weighted equally.

Code

Code is a powerful block - but with great power comes great responsibility.

With Code, you as a teacher can embed your own HTML, CSS, and JavaScript into an external page. You can also use the Full page checkbox to choose whether to show that code underneath a header, or to be on a completely otherwise-unstyled page. 

For example, imagine you put in the HTML field:

You will see this upon opening the element:

If you have Full page marked, you will see this:

As you can tell, this is quite a bit of freedom. But we trust you - and our old learning platform, Moodle, always supported this in summary blocks (but in a much worse way). 

Duplicate Here

Duplicate Here is the only block that isn't actually a block. This is just a quick way to copy another block to this section:

File Download

File download is a very powerful block, with much more to it than meets the eye.

You initially have two fields:

1. File: Obviously, the file to download
2. Parental verification: This cool feature disables direct viewing and downloading of the file, and sends an access link to the student's parent's email. This can be useful for Answer Keys. While we cannot prevent against situations where a student can read their parent's email, the password for those Answer Keys would probably be emailed that there anyway.

If you upload any random file, it will give an option to download the file as it was uploaded; with two exceptions:

1. Office files: If you upload a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or PowerPoint file, the LMS will use the same engine that powers LibreOffice to convert it into a PDF for web viewing. A banner will be visible on the top of the page offering the ability to download the original file.
   
   

   

   
   
   
2. PDF files: If you upload a PDF file, the web viewer will be available, but editing features for you as a teacher will also be available for you to mark up that PDF file in your web browser. These editing features are only available when you upload a file that was originally a PDF.