University of Colorado at Boulder
Marine Street Science Center, 456 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309 ● 303-735-3813
CULearn QuickStart
GETTING STARTED
Request a CULearn Course
Instructors can request CULearn courses using the Faculty Course Toolkit available
on CUConnect https://cuconnect.colorado.edu/uPortal/index.jsp. Log on to
CUConnect and follow the ITS instructions for Requesting a CULearn Course
http://www.colorado.edu/its/culearn/registration.html to submit your request. To
get a better of idea of how the process works, you can also watch a screencast
demonstration on Requesting CULearn Courses
http://academictechnology.colorado.edu/humanities/tutorials/culearn-request/.
*Important Notice for Fall 2010 CULearn Course Requests*
Due to updates with the CUConnect portal, requests for CULearn courses for Fall
2010 will be facilitated via a Web request form rather than through the Faculty
Course Toolkit.
For additional information and a link to the Course Request Form, please
visit:http://www.colorado.edu/its/culearn/registration.html
Attend a CULearn Workshop
Visit the ITS site for Faculty/Staff Hands-on Training Workshops
http://www.colorado.edu/its/workshops/ to enroll in a workshop that will
introduce you to the features and functions of CULearn.
Access your CULearn Course
After ITS notifies you that it has created your CULearn course, you can log onto it by
following the ITS instructions for Accessing Your CULearn Courses
http://www.colorado.edu/its/culearn/getstarted.html.
Preparing Your Course Materials for Upload to CULearn
CULearn accepts almost all file types for upload, but a more important consideration
is whether or not students have the same software programs you do that will allow
them to open and view your files.
Accessible File Types: For word processing and presentation files you can make
your files more accessible by re-saving them in one of the following formats before
uploading to CULearn.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): Many programs allow you to save
documents and presentations in basic HTML. Doing so will allow any student
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with a browser to access your content. However, resaving files in this format
will often change or remove layout options. Also, some graphics may not
display correctly or at all.

RTF (Rich Text Format): Nearly all word processing programs offer this
option for saving documents. Any word processing program can open an RTF
document and much, if not all, of your document layout will be maintained

PDF (Portable Document Format): This is probably the best format to use as
it maintains all layout options and can be easily viewed by students using
Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader
http://get.adobe.com/reader/?promoid=BUIGO.
Mac Computers - Saving Files as PDF
Mac computers with OS 10 or higher have the built-in ability to save files as PDFs.
Follow the instructions for Saving a Document as a PDF File
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1035.html on
Apple’s support site.
PC Computers – Saving Files as PDF
Most PC applications require additional software to save files as PDFs. Microsoft
offers a free plug-in for Office 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4d951911-3e7e4ae6-b059-a2e79ed87041&displaylang=en, and Adobe offers a subscription-based
online service http://www.adobe.com/acom/createpdf/. PC users may be able to
find a free PDF converter by going to Google and searching for “free save files as
PDF.”
SETTING UP YOUR CULEARN COURSE
Choose Your Course Tools
When you first log onto your course, CULearn will ask you to select the course tools
you want to use. These course tools represent ways that you can allow students to
interact with each other and course content. You can read the tool descriptions and
choose any of the tools that appeal to you, however this tutorial addresses only the
following tools:





Syllabus
Folders
Learning Modules
Discussions
Assignments
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
Web Links
Do not feel locked into or limited by the tool selections you make on this screen. You
can add or remove tools at any time by following the ITS instructions for Selecting
Course Tools
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/coursetools.html. To
get started, consider selecting just the tools we will be exploring in this tutorial.
Terminology
Note that CULearn often refers to these tools as “content items” or “content links.”
This is a bit of a misnomer as it is easy to misread the word “content” in this
instance as referring to course materials. When reading the instructions in the
following pages, keep in mind this translation:


Content Item/Link: Usually refers to a tool such as a Discussion,
Assessment, or Assignment that you can add to your course and use to
explore or interact with your course materials
File: Refers to your course content, either in the form of an uploaded file or a
web page.
Add Teaching Assistances and Section Designers.
The teaching assistant and section designer roles are ways of allowing people to
access your course to help you maintain, run, and troubleshoot it. Review the ITS
description of Teaching Assistant and Section Designer Permissions
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/roles.html to get an
idea of what these roles can and cannot do in your course. If you decide to add these
roles to your course, follow the ITS instructions for Adding Teaching Assistants and
Section Designers
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/customization/enrollm
embers.html. To get a better of idea of how this process works, you can watch a
screencast demonstration on Adding Teaching Assistants and Section Designers
http://academictechnology.colorado.edu/humanities/tutorials/culearn-add/
BUILDING A COURSE MATERIALS REPOSITORY
Use the CULearn File Manager
In CULearn, the File Manager is your repository for all of the materials you want to
use and distribute to your students online. As you build and teach your course, you
will be able to use the materials you place in the File Manager as well as control
when, how, and where in the course students will see them. Students have no access
to the File Manager.
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Take a moment to look at the ITS overview of the CULearn File Manager
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/filemanager/navigate.
html. Note that only ten items appear in the CULearn File Manager View at one time.
If you upload more than ten items into the file manager (as you are most likely to
do), you will need to use the controls at the bottom-right to browse for the materials
you want.
Build a Folder Structure
Before you begin uploading files into the File Manager, think about how you might
want to organize your files. You can build a hierarchy of folders and sub-folders in
the File Manager just like you can on any computer. Once you build your structure
you can then upload and sort your files in a way that makes it easier for you to find
them later. Since this is your own personal organizational space,just use a filing
system that makes sense to you.
Add a Folder
To add folders to the File Manager for organizing your materials, click Create
Folder in the menu bar, enter the title of the folder, and click OK. To create folders
inside of folders, navigate into the folder by clicking on it and then click Create
Folder.
Rename a File a Folder
Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the folder and select Rename. Enter the
new name in the dialog box and click OK.
Move a Folder
Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the folder and select Move. Select the new
location in the folder list within the dialog box and click OK.
Delete a Folder
Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the folder and select Delete. Click OK in
the dialog box.
UPLOADING YOUR COURSE MATERIALS
Upload Your Course Materials
Follow the ITS instructions for Uploading Your Course Files to the File Manager
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/filemanager/upload.ht
ml to place your materials into this repository. You can add, delete, update, and
modify your materials anytime you want. You can also upload archived, compressed,
or zipped folders so that you can move multiple files to the File Manager at once.
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MANAGING YOUR COURSE MATERIALS
Move Your Course Materials into Different Folders
If you upload a file into the wrong folder, change your mind about what folder you
want a file in, or if you originally did not use a folder structure but decide to
implement one later, follow these ITS instructions for Moving Your Course Files
Around in the File Manager
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/filemanager/movefiles.
html.
Edit or Change Your Course Materials
Need to make a change to one of your course materials after uploading them? First
make your changes to the copy of the file on your hard drive. Then in CULearn’s File
Manager, navigate to the folder where the file resides and follow the same ITS
instructions for Uploading Your Course Files to the File Manager
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/filemanager/upload.ht
ml.
A dialog box will prompt you to resolve a naming conflict, which means CULearn
wants to know if you intend to overwrite the existing file in File Manager with the
new, edited file. Choose the Replace Existing radio button and click OK. The file will
automatically be updated in any place you have used the file in the course.
Add Course Materials “On the Fly”
You don’t need to upload all of your files in advance, though it is a good practice. You
can upload files to CULearn at anytime and from anywhere in the course. The source
files you upload will still be placed in the File Manager regardless of where you
upload or make them available to students in the course.
BUILDING YOUR CULEARN COURSE
Course Home Page
The course home page is the first page students will see when they log on to your
course. From the Build tab you can access the course home page by clicking Course
Content in Course Menu on the left of your screen. Note that you can collapse the
menu to see just icons or expand it to see icons and text by clicking the hotlink on
the menu’s vertical border. On this page you can add any of the course tools below
by clicking Add Content Link on the page menu bar at the top of the window.
(Remember that in CULearn, a “Content Link” usually refers to adding a Course Tool
to your course).
Generally the home page contains at least the following:
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

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Link to the syllabus created in the Syllabus tool
Folders, Learning Modules, or a combination of both for organizing and
holding course content
Course tools that you want to use to address that specific content, such as
Discussions or Assignments. These course tools may be inserted into Folders
or Learning Modules, as well
Follow the ITS instructions for Adding a Content Link
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/contentlink.html to
add a link to any of the course tools to your course home page, folders, or learning
modules.
Create a Syllabus
The Syllabus tool lets you make your syllabus available to students online. There are
two ways to create a syllabus in CULearn:


Upload an existing file (saved in an accessible format)
Use the online syllabus creator tool (create a syllabus in html)
Whichever method you choose, you can follow the ITS instructions for Creating a
Syllabus http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/syllabus.html.
Instructions for adding content links for specific tools are below.
Organize Your Course Content
There are two basic Course Tools for organizing your content in CULearn. You can
use these tools either individually or in combination:


Folders: Simple folders that mimic how you sort and store files on your
personal computer
Learning Modules: More robust textbook-like structure for arranging
content such as web pages, files, and links to other CULearn features into a
linear progression
Additionally, there are two basic methods for organizing either Folders or Learning
Modules:


Chronologically: One folder or module for each week or other time period
for the course
Topically: One folder or module for each topic in the course
For either tool or method you choose, the instructions are below.
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Use Folders to Organize Course Content
The steps for creating a Folder are similar to those for creating a folder in the File
Manager. In fact, if you need to change the name, delete, or move a Folder, you can
refer to the instructions for Building a Course Materials Repository in addition to
the instructions below. When following the ITS instructions for Creating a Folder
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/folders.html#create,
note that you do not have to have a file or tool on your course home page to move or
add it to your new folder. You can click on the folder to navigate into that folder and
add files or tools from there.
You can add the following to your folder:


Files
Course Tools (Content Links)
Files: Adding files to a Folder is the same as adding files to a Learning Module.
Follow the ITS instructions for Adding a File
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/addfile.html.
Whenever you add a file to your course, you will be prompted by the Get Files dialog
box to choose a location for accessing the file. You will have three options:



My Files: Personal files that you have uploaded to CULearn but not to a
course. You are usually not prompted to upload files to this location as the
default location is Class Files.
Class Files: Course materials you have either uploaded to the CULearn File
Manager as part of building your course materials repository or that you
have uploaded “on the fly” while building your course.
My Computer: Course materials that are on your personal computer. Note
that whenever you select a file on your personal computer, that file will
automatically be uploaded to the File Manager. After you have uploaded a file
once, you should go to Class Files whenever you want to reuse that file in
another location in the course.
Course Tools: If you want to add a tool such as Discussions or Assignments to a
folder, follow the ITS instructions for adding links to course tools using Add Content
Link http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/contentlink.html.
Order Folders: If you want to change the order of folders on your course home
page, click the drop-down menu next to a folder and click the appropriate Move
arrow. If you want to change the layout of your home page, use the ITS instructions
for Customizing the Page Layout
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/customization/pagedis
play.html.
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University of Colorado at Boulder
Marine Street Science Center, 456 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309 ● 303-735-3813
Use Learning Modules to Organize Course Content
It might be helpful to think of Learning Modules as lessons in a print or online
textbook as they allow you to arrange content and files in a specific progression.
Learning Modules are a little more complex to use than Folders as they are designed
to:


Direct students through a linear progression of course materials
Incorporate more advanced tracking and grading features
This tutorial will not address these more advanced features. Follow the ITS
instructions for Creating Learning Modules
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/buildmodules.html.
You can add the following to your learning modules:



Course Content Web pages
Files
Course Tools (Content Links)
Course Content Web Pages: The primary content of learning modules should be
web pages that hold written content that you want students to progress through in a
specific manner. You can build these pages using the ITS instructions for Creating
Web Pages in Learning Modules
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/htmlfiles.html. Note
that CULearn refers to the practice of creating web pages as “creating a file,” which
is a bit of a misnomer.
Files: Adding files to a Learning Module is the same as adding files to Folders.
Follow the ITS instructions for Adding a File
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/addfile.html.
Whenever you add a file to your course, you will be prompted by the Get Files dialog
box to choose a location for accessing the file. You will have three options:



My Files: Personal files that you have uploaded to CULearn but not to a
course. You are usually not prompted to upload files to this location as the
default location is Class Files.
Class Files: Course materials you have either uploaded to the CULearn File
Manager as part of building your course materials repository or that you
have uploaded “on the fly” while building your course.
My Computer: Course materials that are on your personal computer. Note
that whenever you select a file on your personal computer, that file will
automatically be uploaded to the File Manager. After you have uploaded that
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file once, you should go to Class Files whenever you want to reuse that file in
another location in the course.
Note that if you add a file at the front of a learning module, students will be
prompted to download that file before seeing any of your content. It is a good
practice to add an HTML page to the front of any learning module that introduces
the module before moving into any files for download.
Course Tools: If you want to add a tool such as Discussions or Assignments to a
folder, follow the ITS instructions for Adding Content Links
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/contentlink.html.
Order Learning Modules: After you create your learning modules you may decide
that you want to change their order or add Headings to help organize the content.
Follow the ITS instructions for Organizing Learning Modules
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/organizemodules.html
to organize the flow of the module to your liking.
Use Discussions
Discussions can enhance a course by allowing students and instructors to engage in
dialogues about course content. You can create as many topic-specific Discussions
as you want on the course home page as well as in Folders and Learning Modules.
For example, you might create a separate discussion for each week, topic, and subtopic in your course. You may also elect to use Blogs and Journals, which fall under
the same heading as Discussions.
To use the Discussions tool:
1. Click Discussions in the Course Tools panel.
2. Click Create Topic.
 Note: You can also organize your Discussions into Categories by creating
categories here or later when you set up the discussion.
3. Select the radio button to create a Threaded Topic, Blog Topic, or Journal
Topic.
4. Enter a title and description as well as choose any options for Grading, Peer
Review, or Topic Behavior Options.
5. Click Save.
You don’t have to create your Discussions in advance, either. When you create a
Folder or Learning Module you will have the option of adding existing Discussions
or creating new ones using the Adding Content Links
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/contentlink.html
function.
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Use Assignments
The Assignments tool is useful in that it helps track distribution and submission of
assignments and automatically creates a column in the Grade Book for the
assignment. Any grades and comments you enter in the Assignments tool will also
appear in the Grade Book.
Create an Assignment: Follow the ITS instructions for Creating Assignments
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/assignmenttool/create.
html. To get a better idea of how the process works, you can also view the
screencast on Creating Assignments
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/assignmenttool/create
demo.html.
You don’t have to create your Assignments in advance, either. Just like when
creating Folders or Learning Modules, you will have the option of adding existing
Assignments or creating new ones using the Adding Content Links
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/contentlink.html
function.
Edit an Assignment: If you need to make changes to an assignment after you have
created or released it, follow the ITS instructions for Editing Assignments
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/assignmenttool/edit.ht
ml. Editing an assignment changes the text of the assignment but does not delete
any previous student submissions, grades, or comments.
Grade an Assignment: After students have submitted their assignments, you can
review and grade them using the ITS instructions for Grading Assignments
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/assignmenttool/grade.
html. At this point you can choose to return the assignment to the student for
further editing, save the assignment for further review and editing, or input a grade
for the student and return the assignment. To get a better idea of how the process
works, you can also view the ITS screencast on Grading Assignments
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/assignmenttool/grade_
assignment_skin.swf.
Use Web Links
Web links allow you to link to external web pages so that you can refer students to
those pages for reading or review.
Add Web Links: Follow the ITS instructions for Adding a Content Link
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/contentlink.html and
choose the Web Links option. If you have already added a web page, you can select
that page in the dialog box and click Add Selected. Otherwise click Create Web Link
and fill out the form. Be sure to place a check in Open in a new browser window so
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that clicking on the link will not take students out of CULearn. You can add the Web
Links tool to your Course Home Page, Folder, or Learning Module.
You don’t have to create your Web Links in advance, either. When you create a
Folder or Learning Module you will have the option of adding existing web links or
creating new ones using the Adding Content Links
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/contentlink.html
function.
Order Web Links: If you want to change the order of web links, click the dropdown menu next to a folder and click the appropriate Move arrow. If you want to
change the layout of web links, use the ITS instructions for Customizing the Page
Layout
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/customization/pagedis
play.html.
GRADING USING THE CULEARN GRADE BOOK
Why Use the CULearn Grade Book?
If you are thinking about using the CULearn Grade Book tool, view the screencast
Five Reasons to Use CULearn for Grading
http://academictechnology.colorado.edu/humanities/tutorials/5-reasons-to-useculearn-for-grading/ to get an overview of the benefits of using the tool. You can
take a primer in basic navigation of the grade book by following the ITS instructions
for Navigating the Grade Book
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/navigation.
html.
Enter Grades Manually
The discussion of the Assignments tool above briefly addressed one aspect of using
the CULearn Grade Book. For a more in-depth discussion, refer to the ITS
instructions for Entering Grades in the Grade Book
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/entergrade
s.html
Importing and Exporting Grades
If you like to keep track of grades in your own Excel spreadsheet, have TAC grades
from scanned tests to import into CULearn, or want to export the grades from
CULearn for uploading into Web Grading, follow the ITS instructions below:
 Import Grades from Personal Excel Spreadsheets
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/importgra
debook.html
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 Export Grades into Excel Spreadsheets
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/exporting.
html
 Import Grades from TAC Scanned Test
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/tacresults.
html
 Export Grades for Web Grading
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/webgrades
export.html
Managing the Grade Book
If you need to make adjustments to the grade book or add columns, follow the ITS
instructions below:
 Managing the Grade Book
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/manage.ht
ml
 Creating Grade Book Columns
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/gradebook/columns.ht
ml
CUSTOMIZING, ENHANCING, AND MAINTAINING YOUR
CULEARN COURSE
This tutorial addressed only CULearn’s major features and functions. For
instructions on more advanced topics like creating and using groups, building
assessments, or enabling the SafeAssign plagiarism prevention service, refer to the
ITS CULearn Faculty Support Site
http://www.colorado.edu/its/docs/culearn/facultysupport/index.html.
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