Creating Courses

Creating a Course by Converting a Document or Presentation

 

The znanja course authoring tool allows you to create content by importing your existing Microsoft Word (.doc and .docx) and PowerPoint (.ppt and .pptx) documents. This provides a quick and easy method to convert your existing documents into eLearning.

Once you have some material that has been converted, you can also create courses from your existing content. This allows you to mix and match sections from separate documents that have been imported, providing a truly customizable learning experience.

Before you upload, make sure your document follows znanja’s guidelines so that it can be successfully converted. Document guidelines are found below. (These guidelines can also be accessed by clicking Help on the conversion page.)

 

 

Importing Tips for Word Documents

The document’s table of contents and headings will be used to separate the course into different pages.

For best results, make sure to use appropriate heading styles throughout the document. The course converter will begin a new page in the eLearning course at each heading in the original document.

 

 

 

 

Text response questions can be easily made by inserting a 1x1 table to the document, which the znanja converter will turn into a text box for a student to type their response in the course. If a paragraph directly precedes the table, the converter will assume the text is the question being asked. Any border and width formatting applied to the table in your Word document will also be applied to the text response box in your course.

 

 

 

 

Supported content (Word Documents)

Below is a list of content the znanja converter recognizes. Any features not listed may or may not be converted. If znanja is unable to convert content, it will be ignored.

·      Headings

·      Paragraphs

o   Borders

o   Text alignment (left, center, right, justified)

·      Formatting

o   Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough

o   Font color

·      Lists

o   Bullets

o   Numbered lists

o   Nested lists

·      Images

·      Tables

o   Borders

o   Table and cell widths

o   Cells spanning multiple columns

·      Symbols

o   Wingding symbols

o   Unicode symbols

 

 

 

Importing Tips for PowerPoint Documents

Each slide of the PowerPoint presentation will become a new page in the eLearning course.

 

Supported Content (PowerPoint document)

Here is a list of content the znanja converter recognizes in PowerPoint presentations. Any features not listed may or may not be converted. If znanja is unable to convert content, it will be ignored.

·      Basic formatting

·      Images

·      Tables

o   Cell background color

o   Cell border properties (including width, style, and color)

o   Font styles

o   Header row, total rows, banded rows

o   Banded columns, last column, first column

·      Paragraphs and Headings (with the proper font styles)

 

Maximum File Sizes

Your file size must be within the following limits for conversion to be successful. No other document types are supported.

·      Microsoft Word documents

o   .docx = 100mb

o   .doc = 2mb

·      Microsoft PowerPoint documents

o   .pptx = 100mb

o   .ppt = 2mb

 

 

How to Create a Course by Converting a Document

1.      

To begin, click Create under the Courses section on the sidebar.

 

2.               

Click Convert.

 

3.               

For best results, make sure your document follows the formatting guidelines. When you are ready to proceed, enter a name for the course.  

 

4.               

Then click Browse to select a Word or PowerPoint file to upload.

 

5.               

Browse to the file, select it, and click Open.

6.               

Next, click Advanced to access additional options. 

 

There are three options in this menu:

·      Course code: Some organizations classify their content with a code system. If so, you can enter the course code here.

·      Course description: Give an overview of what the course is about. This will be visible in the course list.

·      Maximum heading level:  At which heading level do you want a new page to start? For example, if you select Heading 1, a new page will start at each Heading 1. If you select Heading 3, a new page will start at each H1, H2, and H3. This option only applies to Microsoft Word documents.

7.               

When you are ready, click Upload.

 

8.               

Once the upload is complete, you can choose what sections to include in the course. You can rearrange sections from the document you just uploaded by dragging and dropping headings under the Selected sections list on the right-hand side of the page.

 

You can click the X to remove sections.  

9.               

You can add and remove chapters from your document by simply clicking the checkboxes in the Your sections list on the left-hand side.

 

10.            

You can also click the Existing Inventory tab to use content from other courses that you have previously uploaded. See Build for more information.

 

11.            

Once you have selected which parts of your document you would like to be included in your new course, you can also choose a course theme from the list at the bottom of the page. 

 

12.            

Once you are satisfied with the course, click Finish.

 

13.            

 The course will be created and added to the My Courses page.